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Rowan Beaird’s debut novel, “The Divorcées,” is set in 1951 at a Reno “divorce ranch” — a hotel catering to women seeking to end their marriages quickly by establishing six weeks’ residency in Nevada. Below, Beaird recommends six essential novels of the era.
‘The Price of Salt’ by Patricia Highsmith (1952)
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‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’ by James Baldwin (1953)
‘Bonjour Tristesse’ by Françoise Sagan (1954)
‘Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction’ by J.D. Salinger (1955)
‘The Haunting of Hill House’ by Shirley Jackson (1959)
‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ by Truman Capote (1958)
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