Katey Kontent

Katey Kontent is the main character in "Rules of Civility." She is tall and attractive, with chestnut coloring. In 1938 she is twenty-five, living on her own in Manhattan. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother left the family and her father passed away when Katey was nineteen. At the beginning of 1938, she works in the secretarial pool of Quiggin & Hale, but she eventually quits and uses her wits to land a job with a Russian literature editor, and then with an editor at Conde Nast, helping to launch a new magazine. Similarly, Katey works her way up in social circles, using her charm, humor, and intelligence to fit in. When she needs time alone, she visits churches between services.

Katey and her friend, Eve Ross, strike up a friendship with Tinker Grey, a charming young man who brokers coal mines and such. Eve calls dibs...