The Best of Everything, by By Rona Jaffe

Jaffe was just 26 when she wrote this, her debut novel, and it offers the perfect alternate perspective on the Mad Men era (Don Draper, in fact, is seen reading it in season one). The story follows five young women who work at a big office in Manhattan, and details their lived experience as people with dreams, as sex objects routinely harassed at work, and as willing participants in extramarital affairs and other scandalous behavior. It’s a snapshot of a bygone era with the same depth and attention to detail as the show.