Early Chick-Lit / Late Kitchen Sink Novels (1950s-1960's)

I've been sucked into an early chick-lit vortex and I've run out of books but I'm not willing to leave yet!

I'm looking for something similar to The Group by Mary McCarthy, Peyton Place by Grace Metalious, Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann, and The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe (and the rest of their similarly themed titles).

The 'scandalous' (abortion, unwed sex, drugs, etc) parts, shocking for their time, are great, but it's really the fantastic amount of detail during the time period that I love. Who else was there out there who wrote about young working class adulthood in the 1950s and 1960s?