A Charmed Life is a 1955 novel written by the American novelist Mary McCarthy.

"[1] The story begins with the simple trials and tribulations of everyday life experienced by John and Martha Sinnott.

Martha becomes pregnant, and rather than having a baby whose paternity is ambiguous, she decides to have an abortion.

The story ends with Martha dying in a car accident on her way home from the Coes' house, with the money for the abortion and the address of the clinic in her pocketbook.

[3][4] Mary McCarthy (born June 21, 1912, Seattle, Wash., U.S.—died Oct. 25, 1989, New York, N.Y.) was an essayist, author, and critic known for writing on political, moral, and intellectual dilemmas through the use of humor and acerbity.