The Group- Mary McCarthy (read 04/01/20)
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭐- 3.75/5 :) (TW for attempted rape scene, for more info look at the end)
The Plot: goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/387348.The_Group
On the blurb, it is described as a novel that follows the lives of a group of eight Vassar graduates as they begin their adult lives and as they grow apart during the years, only to come back together when one member of ‘the group’ dies, “to mourn the loss of a friend, a confidante, and most importantly, a member of the group”.
Over the near 500 pages, the book follows each member of the group as they grow up into adults, and join the precarious working world of America during the Depression. The book begins in 1933 with the marriage of Kay (a member of the group) to her husband Harald, and moves on from there, following each member of the group as they grow up into the adult world, and ends with the death of one of the girls, during the beginning of World War Two.
While, yes, technically the plot is true, for me I assumed that it would be a bit more like a modern domestic thriller, where the novel is split between before and after, and how all ‘the group’ split up and came back together. It is clear that I fell for the trap that ‘assumed’ lays. However, once I got over my assumptions I quickly came to enjoy the novel. The plot was nicely paced and I didn’t get too confused over the characters (there’s like 3 that all begin with P, it can get a bit difficult to remember, especially when they all get married and have children, etc) and the broad array topics that the book covered was great, all from, the growth of the modern woman, from graduating university into the working world, to birth control and motherhood, to a slice of America’s New Deal politics, and opinions on the beginnings of the Second World War, watching on as Europe crumbles.
The Group. My favourite character was most definitely Lakey, but each girl had something about them that just spoke to me, whether that was a passage from their narrative, or from the character themselves as a whole.
The beginning and ending, (dw no spoilers!) they worked very well and made the story whole.
The men. Hated them. Only good one was Polly’s father. Hated Harald the most, then Sloan. Reinforces the fact that while a modern woman was emerging, it was very much still a man's world and a very sucky one at that.
Liked it! Only problem was a personal one and that was me assuming that the novel was going to be something that it wasn’t. Other than that, it was a really interesting perspective in how the upper class of America survived the Depression and how the modern woman came to be. My favourite scene was the last chapter, which tied the whole book together and really shows the evolution of the group, and highlighted the contrast of the book’s beginnings to its end. Still hate Harald. Definitely up there for most disliked characters.
I will say that there is an attempted rape scene during the novel, nothing too graphic, but the way that it was dealt with (while it fits in with the world that the characters are in) is unhealthy and might trigger someone reading. :(
