Novelist Rona Jaffe Dies

Dec. 30, 2005 — -- Rona Jaffe, the writer whose 1958 debut novel about young women's struggles in the city, "The Best of Everything," was a smash best seller, died in London today. She was 73 years old.

Jaffe's first novel, which was written while she was 19 years old and working as an associate editor at Fawcett Publishing in the 1950s, told the tale of five ambitious women employed at a New York publishing company.

"The Best of Everything" was perhaps the first American novel to depict the urbane, edgy, pre-feminist young woman trying to make it in the working world -- and paved the way for the likes of "Valley of the Dolls" and "Sex and the City."

The novel "The Best of Everything" was later made into a movie starring Joan Crawford. The New York Times last summer published an anniversary homage to Jaffe on the anniversary of the publication of "The Best of Everything."

Jaffe, a resident of Manhattan's upper East Side, recently completed a play. She had recently given readings of it and was starting a new novel. She previously published 16 novels, including "Mr. Right" and "The Room-Mating Season."

Her Rona Jaffe Foundation Awards are given annually in recognition of the special contributions women writers make to society.

The cause of death is unknown. Her body will be returned to her family in New York where services will be held next week.