In popular literature, McCarthy is in the tradition of courtesy books and the novel of manners such as those by Austen and, in another sense, Richardson and Fielding. Domestic affairs had been a staple for popular literature, and especially for the novel, since its beginnings. The tradition became particularly American when, in such works as East Lynne, the tale of the young girl gone wrong in the big city became a staple of popular literature.

Emily Dickinson and Edith Wharton, on the other hand, demonstrate the value and difficulty of striking out against traditional standards.

McCarthy has, however, set precedents of her own, since The Group has become a password for what is trendy and daring. One of Philip Roth's heroines openly invokes McCarthy as an authority on contraception, and the young girl-big city motif appears in the novels of Rona Jaffe.