Rachel Cook’s Her Brilliant Career: The Extraordinary Women of the Fifties is a nonfiction book following the lives of ten incredible women during the 1950s who, like Katherine Ann Watson, dared to imagine more for themselves than a life of domesticity. Katherine Ann Watson is considered quite extraordinary by the Wellesley community for her commitment to herself and her career, above and beyond any desires to settle down and have a family. Without further ado, let’s get into the list. You can still enjoy all of these books even if you haven’t seen the film, but I hope that if you have this list might serve as a place where you can continue to explore some of the themes of the movie. This move encompassed so many of my own interests – art history, feminism, academia, and America during the 1950s – that I thought it might be fun to put together a reading list inspired by the film.

I thought this movie was completely wonderful – the 1950s New England setting was gorgeous, the cast was incredible (including not only Julia Roberts but other well-known names such as Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Ginnifer Goodwin), the writing was clever, and the feminist undertones were, in my opinion, very well-done.

College Girls by Lynn Peril