Summary

The novel opens in Chapter 1 on January 2, 1952, when Caroline Bender is among the hundreds of young women reporting for work in New York City. It is Caroline's first day at Fabian Publications, which is the parent company for book publishers and several magazines. Caroline is the first to arrive in the office, and a young woman named Mary Agnes Russon soon shows her around. She points out a vacant desk in the typing pool. Mary Agnes knows all about the people in the office and she points out Mike Rice, editor of a magazine called The Cross. Mary Agnes has lunch each day with her fiancé. They are planning to be married in June of 1953, a year-and-a-half in the future. Caroline tries not to think about her recent broken engagement to a man named Eddie Harris. They were college sweethearts and he had...