Talk

I'm reading in cold blood at the moment, not sure if it's what you're after but it's good. Also The Future Homemakers of America from memory is set then but a much lighter read.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin 1950s small town Irish girl goes to NYC.

It's been made into a film and just come out too.

Also - Small Island, Andrea Levy

Jamaican immigrants arrive in London 1948. Also made into a serial by ... The Beeb?

Carol..Patricia Highsmith

Revolutionary Road?

I was going to recommend future homemakers of America. It's awesome.

Laguna by Barbara kingsolver is all about McCarthy era. But I didn't like it as much as poisonwood bible.

Ooh thank you. Off to check out books on Amazon.

Books written by Neville Shute. E.g. A town like Alice

The YaYa Sisterhood
The Help - may have been a bit later
Danny Champion of the World - probably not really what you want!

The Catcher in the Rye

A summer birdcage or the Garrick year ? Margaret Drabble

I read Iris Murdoch's "The Bell" recently. That was written and set in the '50s. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.

Behind the scenes at the museum by Kate Atkinson. Actually it jumps around a bit between different periods, but the main storyline is set in the 50s and early 60s.

The Women's Room by Marilyn French

A spool of blue thread - Anne Tyler. Late 1950s I think.

The End of the Affair, Graham Greene
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe ( set in Nigeria)
The Golden Notebook, Doris Lessing (longer period including the 50s)

Just reread Ship of Brides by JoJo Moyes on holiday. It's actually set in 1946 which is a bit early but it's really good, super romantic. About Aussie women who met their British fellas during the war and their journey to join their husbands in the UK.

Another vote for The Future Homemakers of America. My turn to Comfort Book!

Agatha Christie is always a good choice imo. Lots set in the 1950s.

Wow, I am going to have a busy time, so many books to read. Thanks again

The Lydmouth novels by Andrew Taylor. Crime series but probably more social commentary. Brilliant.

Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe. Very witty.

Barbara Pym was writing in the 1950s, and set her novels then.

Seconding Iris Murdoch's The Bell - one of the novels I studied for A Level and I loved it.

I love The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy - the adventures of a young American woman in Paris. Very, very funny, but also perceptive.