McCarthy's most celebrated novel portrays the experiences of eight young women from Vassar College, Class of '33. As the story opens, they meet in New York City for the wedding of Kay, one of "the group." The author then describes the lives, loves, and aspirations of these women until they reconvene seven years later in the same city for Kay's funeral. "Juicy, shocking, witty, and almost continually brilliant" (Cosmopolitan).

Mary McCarthy (1912–1989) was an American literary critic and author of more than two dozen books including the 1963 New York Times bestseller The Group. Born in Seattle, McCarthy studied at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and graduated in 1933. After moving to New York City, McCarthy became known for her incisive writing as a contributor to publications such as the Nation, the New Republic, and the New York Review of Books. Her debut novel, The Company She Keeps (1942), initiated her ascent to become one of the most celebrated writers of her generation, a reputation bolstered by the publication of her autobiography Memories of a Catholic Girlhood in 1957, as well as that of her now-classic novel The Group.