THE FIFTIES: A Women’s Oral History ...

THE FIFTIES: A Women’s Oral History by Brett Harvey (HarperPerennial: $12; 228 pp.). Free-lance journalist Brett Harvey spoke to 92 women about work, sex, marriage, politics, education and motherhood. A surprising number of the women felt they drifted through the key decisions in their lives, rather than consciously made them: It was easier to do what was expected than to fight the system. Some of their memories seem so remote, it’s difficult to believe only 40 years have a elapsed.