This is a strange one, kids: Norma Newcomb's A Special Kind of Love from 1964 gives us one of the least appealing heroines in the genre, whose "special kind of love" seems to be contempt for everyone.

The Heroine: Helen Wilder is a social worker who is - how do we put this delicately? - a bitch. Or, as the book would have it,

It took persistence and determination to find jobs for her handicapped clients, and sometimes social worker Helen Wilder stepped on a few toes in the process. Usually she was forgiven because, for one thing, she was a very pretty brunette.

With due respect for the difficulties a woman in a man's world faced, there is no logical explanation for why Helen is so consistently abusive to her secretary, colleagues, clients and suitors.

Why, for instance, does she mock her assistant's love of opera? "To needle earnest little Polly, Helen said contemptuously, 'Well, opera's a wretched art form, anyway.'" She frequently describes her clients as "useless" and "worthless human beings" - all part of her plan: "After all, the outside world isn't gentle with the handicapped, and they must be trained to cope with an unkind world. The sooner the training is begun, the better it is for the patient."

The Profession: Helen works for a hospital rehabilitating disabled clients with her charming brand of abuse. We are frequently told of her "commitment," "kindness" and how much everyone adores her, but only see her playing weird mind games with people and trying to break their spirits.

The Hero:Helen is pursued by Stan Antonelli, a "slick young lawyer" whom the establishment distrusts. Not surprisingly, Helen treats him poorly, but he is devoted to her.

The Wrinkle: Another suitor of Helen's, the wealthy industrialist Harold Hiktrow, says he'll take all his funding out of the social work program unless Helen marries him. Meanwhile, a former client of Helen's, Mrs. Gray, has been accused of theft at her job, putting the agency's reputation on the line. While dealing with these problems, Helen has to find work for Rory O'Shea, a handsome lout whose career as a gigolo has been ended by a car accident ("lamentably opportunistic and amoral, and quite stupid to boot," as Helen describes him); the bratty heiress who can't deal with Rory's handicap ("I suspect you're the selfish type"); and a suicidal opera singer who needs to find confidence in herself.

The Resolution:Helen shames Harold into coming to his senses, Mrs. Gray is exonerated by a colleague Helen bullies into confessing, Rory is forced to become a watchmaker against his will, rich Virginia Haskins becomes Helen's assistant, Virginia's parents sponsor the singer's career, and Helen and Stan get married. As she says to the spoiled Ginny in summation, "They're cases, Ginny. That's how it must be. We can't become emotionally involved in every case we have. That's the road to insanity." Maybe...but couldn't she be a little nicer about it?

The Heroine: Pam Pomeroy, feisty brunette journalism major with an interest in current events. Pam is highly efficient and wears "dark-rimmed, oversized glasses." (Yay!)
The Industry: Pam comes onboard the campaign as a sort of girl-Friday, working on speeches, press, image and every other facet of the race. She also becomes the resident expert on environmental concerns

The Hero: Red-haired, leontine young state senator Lex St. John, who has an idealistic interest in environmental issues and wants to break the political mold. "For too long there's been this image of the southerner in public office - long hair, string tie, the old colonel, suh, concept - that's existed mostly in the minds of northern urban liberals." Whereas Lex St. John is a reformer!

The St. Johns' measure will mark this state as a commonwealth concerned with clean air, pure water, and preservation of our priceless marshlands. This year we can take that first step back toward living in the kind of environment the Creek Indians knew when their heartland stretched along our river valley, when their sacred 'holy-ground', the source of their spiritual and material refreshment, lay richly in the salt marshes and estuaries, the shorelines of our coastal areas. We can go back, we must go back, if we are to go forward together.

The Cast: Pam lives with glamorous, blonde Caroline, a possible romantic rival who ends up with another state senator. In addition, there's Phil Zienta, the campaign's patronizing P.R. guy, whose respect Pam has to earn; some millionaire who funds everything; and Pam's down-to-earth widowed mother.

The Villain: The Sills Syndicate, a mobbed-up developer who wants to build on the waterfront and put a landfill on the coastline.
The Plot: Pam's initially a typist in a steno pool, when a chance encounter with Lex St. John impresses the senator, who's been looking for someone "with a flair for words, a sense of the dramatic, a dash of decision, initiative, integrity - and all this, combined with a knowledge of the Washington scene." They form a team and Pam develops feelings for her boss. "She'd take her chances, doing everything she could to get Lex elected, and try not to inject the personal angle at a time when he needed every thought, every energy, every purpose, to get elected." This includes putting together a homespun grassroots campaign, with a homey campaign headquarters called "the Store" decorated with antique rocking chairs, to emphasize Lex's down-to-earth candidacy. Quickly the principled Lex makes enemies in high places, which eventually leads to his kidnapping in an attempt to keep him away from a crucial vote on an environmental bill. With Pam leading the charge, his team manages to find and rescue Lex, bring down corruption and make sure virtue prevails. In an attempt to throw her off the scent, heavies knock Pam down with a car; she's banged up but undaunted, and all ends with Lex confessing his love, proposing, and, one assumes, a flourishing political partnership.

Distinguishing Details: Caroline on smoking: "I'd had this little cough and my doctor ordered me to quit. He asked how many I smoked a week, and I said maybe two packs. That funny man suggested I cut down to six cigarettes."
-Pam wears numerous knit frocks, most notably a "shrimp-colored polyester knit" with matching pumps and cardigan.

The Industry: Why, the fascinating world of advertising copy, of course! Lee works directly for department stores, so it's a different ball game from Mad Men.

The Tone: This is definitely a real "industry" CRFYM: a lot of the story is taken up with explaining the fast-paced advertising jargon, going through Lee's responsibilities, giving a picture of the industry as a whole. "Of course Lee conceded it was terribly important that they make their days; if they didn't they would soon be out of jobs. If they had sold eight thousand dollars' worth of merchandise the year before, they were expected to sell at least the same amount on the corresponding day of the present year."

The Heroine: Lee Devins, a pint-sized redhead with a "saucy, tip-tilted nose" and a temper to match! After being a star on her college paper and earning a "Phi Bet" Lee is impatient with having to pay her dues.

The Juvenile Lead: Hal Morgan, the insouciant young free-lance artist who shows Lee New York.

The Costars: Lee lives with a friend named Myrna, an aspiring stylist working at a fashion magazine, and her aunt, a Medievalist, in a private house on Gramercy and Third! (Apologies to non-NYers but that's unthinkably amazing.) She also pals around with a young career gal named Kelly who shows her the ropes.

The Plot: Lee comes to New York full of energy and ambition, ready to conquer the world of advertising copy. To her dismay, she finds that most of the stores she applies to are more interested in hiring her as a typist than the copy-writer she knows she can be. A lucky break sends her to a department store to write "schlack" (tabloidy sales copy.)

"It means, well, it means junk it up. Hit 'em over the head. It means a lot of bold, black type, lots of explamation points, lots of sensationals. You know, how low can advertising get!"

This in turn leads to a job at Chapin's Department Store. "

Lee's days were crowded: reading proof in the morning; calling recalcitrant buyers for copy; answering the phone that rang continually with complaints or requests from buyers; attending meetings; seeing new merchandise and getting the story on it; reading fashion magazines and the seemingly almost endless flood of fashion letters containing style information. Sometimes it seemed to her there was no time for writing copy."

Lee's clever copy for Christmas toys ("Caesar, the great elephant, who was in gingham clad/Marched thunderously bellowing beside the doll in plaid") and an expensive watch ("A Miniature Price For This Exquisite Sample of the Jeweler's Art") nets her stockings and jewelry as her own account. However, someone seems to be sabotaging her...

The Wrinkle: It soon becomes clear that Lee's going to have trouble from a beautiful copywriter named Amy who used to date Lee's boyfriend Hal! When someone starts leaking Chapin advertising slogans to their arch rival, White's, it's clear Lee's being framed...but why? And by whom!

The Resolution: Why, by Amy and some boyfriend at Whites! It's all an elaborate (and I do mean elaborate) plan to unseat one of the higher-ups, frame Lee, and somehow advance herself. She admits all this in a defiant monologue at book's end after falling for a ruse of Lee's involving fake jewelry copy and...you get the idea. Lee is vindicated! She and Hal get engaged at Hamburger Heaven (Burger Heaven, Empire Staters!)

The Extras: One of the niftiest things about this CR is the picture of 1950s New York you see with Lee - Greenwich Village and its assorted bohemians (they eat spaghetti at an "artists' hangout"); museums; the automat; venerable restauarants like Luchow's. The real estate, of course, makes your side hurt. Here's Kelly's Village apartment:

"A big, old-fashioned room with the casement windows, the little white marble Empire fireplace flanked by bookshelves, the large denim-covered divan, the parquet floor, scatter rugs, and white tables. She knew the fire would be blazing merrily."

Grade: B+/A-. The writing's solid, the career background's thorough, the intrigue subplot not overly ambitious, and the picture of 50's New York is a total treat. Best of all, it's packed with strong female career characters. Although Lee has some trouble getting started, this doesn't seem to be due to her sex as much as her youth, since the industry seems dominated by women at all levels.

Young Gwen Wright has always dreamed of opening her own wedding consulting business. Raised by a miserly grandmother who won't let her go to college despite "a sharp, quick brain, an almost uncanny memory and an ability for figures," Gwen works at a department store, where she develops an interest in helping brides. When her grandmother dies and is — surprise! — rich, it's her chance to open shop (gray-carpeted with rose-pink draperies of lustrous satin and Provincial furnishings.)

Gwen's a workaholic with a dull boyfriend named Steve whom she treats horribly. "He was as solid as the bank he worked for; he was kind and good humored and, in spite of his masculine strength, a good man. He was always at hand when she needed him and had proved his live for her in a hundred unexpressed ways."

But he's never made her pulse race like the man who wanders into her shop! "He was extremely good-looking, almost the best-looking man that Gwen had ever seen...Gwen reacted in an entirely feminine manner.Her smile came back in answer to his. She felt herself melting under the glow of his admiring glance. In that moment, she was less business woman than just plain woman."

Turns out "Whit Tolliver" wants Gwen to plan an elaborate wedding for his sister Laurie, a socialite who was paralyzed in a car accident. Laurie proves to be a petulant jerk:

"About the reception. We'll serve champagne - imported, naturally. And hors d'oeuvres, and perhaps small fancy cakes. No dinner. I think it's gauche - people stuffing themselves at a wedding. And I don't want too many caterers' hirelings swarming all over the place."

Gwen had taken her notebook from her handbag and opened it to a clean page. She wrote into it: "Unobtrusive caterers." And under that she wrote, "No gaucherie."

She has equally strong ideas about the gown. "It was full-skirted. 'So that the braces won't show,' Laurie explained. It was sketched on Medieval lines, a high, tight bodice with designs of elaborate embroidery on the sleeves and up the front, from the hem to the neckline. 'To hide the fastening there. A zipper I suppose. You'll have to figure that out. And I want it in a rich, heavy material. Figured satin brocade, I think. You can get something with flowered figures on it and have the embroidery match the pattern."

Gwen gets her friend Maryellen Johnson — who we learn has a shady brother, Flloyd - to make the uber-60s gown. But when Gwen brings her friend to the Tollivers, Maryellen and Whit have an instant connection and Gwen is stricken.

We see Gwen working on various other weddings — for an ebullient young shopgirl, and for the hapless Steve's cousin. We learn why Gwen doesn't stock mother of the bride outfits: "She had learned at Bonner's that they were usually the most difficult and time-consuming of the wedding party. Middle-aged women were often hard to fit and their ideas about what they wanted were not as flexible as those of younger people."

In the meantime, poor Steve comes around again. "Honey, I'll tell you frankly that I thought you were getting into a nutty sort of business, but I don't know now. There's more to it, isn't there, than just a way of making money and getting to be successful? You're making girls happy, and I guess that's the important part of it. Does that sound schmaltzy? I guess it does, but that's the way I happen to see it." She promptly dumps him.

Because she's fixated on Whit Tolliver! Every article in the shop seemed to mock her. She could scarcely bear to look at the lovely white gowns which would be worn by other girls lucky enough to have had their romances turn out right. Nor at the crowns of orange blossoms or silk flowers or seed pearls. Nor at the illusion veiling in its misty swirling. The blue garters with their tiny rosebuds and clusters of lace which seemed, for some reason, to enchant the future brides merely sickened her."

Although sickened by garters, Gwen perserveres with Laurie's wedding, as it becomes increasingly clear that Flloyd Johnson is up to No Good. And I regret to inform you that at this point the book is taken over by an exceedingly tedious blackmail adventure in which Gwen has to play detective and figure out what leverage Flloyd has over the Tollivers (spoiler: an old affair/murder and a scandalous grandfather in an insane asylum who he's threatening to bring to the wedding), her store gets trashed, and she's repeatedly threatened, menaced and saved by Steve.

Yes, the wedding goes off without a hitch. Cops apprehend Flloyd outside the church, return the old man to the mental hospital, and the guests are none the wiser! Gwen, obviously, settles for Steve

"It's only fair to tell you I want to keep my shop and my service. But it doesn't have to be a full-time job thing. I'd keep the reins in my own hands, but that shouldn't take me away from the important things...in the order o importance would be you and our marriage, and then children, if we're lucky enough to have them. And then, after that, my own career. I promise you, my dearest, that's the way it will be."

Steve is delighted with her priorities. They embrace passionately. Gwen laughs and says, "I was just thinking of a paraphrase for that old slogan: 'The wedding you plan may be your own."

Weddings By Gwen [Alibris]