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Mad Men (2007)/S3E10 · The Color Blue/Betty in the bath: The Group
Mad Men · Season 3, Episode 10, "The Color Blue"

Betty in the bath: The Group

Betty Draper (January Jones) · The Drapers' bathroom

Betty in the bath: The Group. Evidence card from Mad Men: The GroupGet credit for sleuthing this sceneDrop the frame
Mad Men · S3 E10Sleuthed by @shelfsleuth
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What it tells you

Betty reads Mary McCarthy in the tub in The Color Blue, the episode where she finds the key to Don's desk drawer and the box of Dick Whitman's life inside. The A.V. Club clocked the book. A woman who just learned her husband is someone else, reading about college friends let down by their husbands one chapter at a time. McCarthy did her homework.

Sources: The "Mad Men" Reading List, New York Public Library · Mad Men: The Color Blue, The A.V. Club · 10 Books 'Mad Men' Characters Have Read on the Show, Bustle · Mad Men: The Literary Hits, Chicago Public Library
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Cover of The Group by Mary McCarthy

The Group

Mary McCarthy · 1963 · novel

McCarthy's 1963 novel follows eight Vassar women from the class of 1933, her own class, through bad marriages and worse advice. It spent nearly two years on the New York Times bestseller list. Betty went to Bryn Mawr, so this is one Seven Sisters graduate reading about eight others and recognizing every husband.

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Sleuthed by @shelfsleuth · 2026-10-22

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All 26 books
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