Summary

Chapter 1

Esther Greenwood is in New York City. She and eleven other girls have won a fashion magazine contest by writing essays, stories, poems, or fashion blurbs. Their reward is a job in New York City for a month with all of their expenses paid. The girls all live together at a hotel called The Amazon. Esther is meant to be having the time of her life and enjoying this once in a lifetime opportunity, but she cannot bring herself to do so. She realizes that there is something wrong with her and all she can think about are the Rosenbergs who were about to be executed by electrocution.

One of the girls that Esther befriends is Doreen. She is an attractive blonde from the South. She berates Esther for completing her writing assignments on time. The other girls, mainly Betsy from...