Books from United States

The Best of Everything follows five young women working in a New York publishing company during the late 1950s as they navigate professional ambition, romance, and the expectations placed on women in postwar America. Caroline Bender dreams of building a meaningful career, while her colleagues struggle with relationships, financial insecurity, and the pressure to find suitable husbands. Their experiences reveal a world in which women are encouraged to pursue independence but are still judged by their marital status and appearance. As the characters encounter workplace discrimination, emotional disappointments, and difficult personal choices, they begin to question what success and happiness really mean. Jaffe offers an unvarnished portrait of women’s lives in a rapidly changing society, exploring the conflict between individual aspirations and conventional expectations. The novel examines gender inequality, ambition, and the price women are often expected to pay for trying to have both a career and a fulfilling personal life.