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The Company She Keeps
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The Company She Keeps

novel by McCarthy
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Article History

The Company She Keeps, first novel by Mary McCarthy. Originally published as six separate short stories, the novel appeared in 1942.

Protagonist Margaret Sargent, a young student at a women’s college, “a princess among the trolls,” is based upon the author herself. The stories are barely disguised and acutely observed accounts of the author’s own years as a young New Yorker and describe the failure of a marriage, random love affairs, and a passing flirtation with Trotskyism. Sargent’s search for personal identity and her need for honesty and for distinguishing appearance from reality are the themes of the stories.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.