Off the Record, Sara Goodman Confino (Review by Skylar Wetzel)

Sara Goodman Confino wrote a fantastic 1960s romantic comedy book, Off the Record, and I can’t get over the scandal and how she tied the title of the book into it. Picture this. It’s the Cold War in DC, and our leading lady, Judy, is an independent, college graduate journalist trying to evade her Jewish mother’s advances to marry a man and have babies. She joins a typewriter division of a newspaper company and meets many young, adventurous women who are unmarried. One of her new friends convinces her to sneak out to an old speakeasy bar, called Off the Record, under a hotel right next to the White House. Come to find out, this same bar is where all the politicians (married or not), including the president and vice president, find girls to hook up with and share secrets. Judy is not so easily caught up with men and, quite frankly, has no time for them, but then an inside tip for a groundbreaking story accidentally falls in her lap, and she decides to play the game to get all her answers.

This book is an adventure and has a strong mystery plot with Judy blindly jumping into danger headfirst. I love the personality the author gave Judy, and I relate to her so much. She’s headstrong and determined to carve her own path in a male-dominated field, and won’t accept the answer no. She feels frustrated by the bounds society has placed on her, but is unwilling to let her dreams go. Judy works harder and is a better journalist than most of her male peers to establish her credibility as a writer. This all shows as she digs through a story to prove herself at the publishing company. Don’t worry, there is still a love interest, but Judy is hesitant to truly let him into her life.

I highly recommend this book! You will also love this book if you enjoy the show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. There are a lot of common themes, and the underlying frustration of a woman trying to hack it in a man’s world.