The Female Persuasion: A Novel

by Meg Wolitzer

Hardcover, 2018

Status

Checked out

Publication

Riverhead Books (2018), 464 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. HTML:A New York Times Bestseller   â??A powerful coming-of-age story that looks at ambition, friendship, identity, desire, and power from the much-needed female lens." â??Bustle â??Ultra-readable.â?ť â??Vogue    From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Interestings, comes an electric novel not just about who we want to be with, but who we want to be. To be admired by someone we admireâ??we all yearn for this: the private, electrifying pleasure of being singled out by someone of esteem. But sometimes it can also mean entry to a new kind of life, a bigger world. Greer Kadetsky is a shy college freshman when she meets the woman she hopes will change her life. Faith Frank, dazzlingly persuasive and elegant at sixty-three, has been a central pillar of the womenâ??s movement for decades, a figure who inspires others to influence the world. Upon hearing Faith speak for the first time, Greerâ??madly in love with her boyfriend, Cory, but still full of longing for an ambition that she canâ??t quite placeâ??feels her inner world light up. And then, astonishingly, Faith invites Greer to make something out of that sense of purpose, leading Greer down the most exciting path of her life as it winds toward and away from her meant-to-be love story with Cory and the future sheâ??d always imagined. Charming and wise, knowing and witty, Meg Wolitzer delivers a novel about power and influence, ego and loyalty, womanhood and ambition. At its heart, The Female Persuasion is about the flame we all believe is flickering inside of us, waiting to be seen and fanned by the right person at the right time. Itâ??s a story about the people who guide and the people who follow (and how those roles evolve over time), and the desire within al… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member SallyStieglitz
Good writing and good storytelling don’t always go hand in hand, but when they do, their coupling is a transformative experience. This is the gift that writer Meg Wolitzer bestows on readers: a beguiling narrative rooted in marvelous writing. The Female Persuasion (Riverhead, April 2018) unspools
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the intertwined fortunes of several characters, centering on college freshman Greer Kadetsky who, through the difficult business of “adulting,” experiences the highs and lows of entitlement, outrage, enthusiasm, and regret. When we first meet Greer, she is an academic high achiever whose best-laid plans for an Ivy League education have been dashed by a slipshod financial aid application and halfhearted parenting. At the same time, her boyfriend Cory is poised for success at Princeton. While Greer nurses her disappointment at being denied her rightful place at a better table of academia (one not so close to the kitchen) and learns to make the best of second best, an on campus assault refocuses her energies on seeking justice, meaning, and inspiration, all of which she believes she finds in the person of college guest speaker, Faith Frank, a noted feminist with good hair and trademark suede boots. Greer’s uneven journey of self discovery, along with those of erstwhile boyfriend Cory, best friend Zee, and mentor Faith Frank, gently reflects the roles that opportunity, opportunism, ideals, and situational ethics play in the lives we build or that are built for us. Throughout, Wolitzer challenges us to reevaluate our understanding of a life well lived through the trifocal lens of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and self-forgiveness. In sum, highly recommended.

Book Club Suitability- Whether by fortune or design, The Female Persuasion strongly evokes the current touchstones of the #metoo movement. It rightly earns top marks for relatable storytelling and the currency of the issues will yield fertile ground for discussion.
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LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
The Female Persuasion, by Meg Wolitzer, author; Rebecca Lowman, narrator
Although the novel was probably meant to illustrate the abuse of women and to support a change in that environment, I did not feel it accomplished that goal, nor did I feel that it was authentic in its approach. There seemed
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to be too much of an effort to present the liberal agenda regarding sexual expression, language and opportunity for all. Most of the characters appeared to have some kind of a dysfunction, or they were selfish, self-absorbed, and self-serving to some degree. Those that weren’t were out of the mainstream or emotionally unstable for a time.
I found few narratives with pure causes or appropriately moral behavior. Of course corporate greed was a major villain in the book, but so were the people who ran feminist organizations once they entered the mainstream market. Most of the characters were flawed. Many of them were willing to compromise ethics in order to serve their own needs.
While reading this, I questioned why so many female authors seem to feel they have to pepper their books liberally with filthy language, unacceptable under most circumstances, and sex that veers close to what once was called pornography. It diminishes their credibility in my eyes and diminishes the quality of the book. When a book masquerades as an important piece of writing, but is really a political message, using low class language, it is disappointing. I do not feel that I have to use my mouth as a toilet in order to compete or to be strong or acceptable.
At times, I found the dialogue defied reality in its innocent simplicity when it came from the mouths of supposed geniuses. In order to satisfy the needs of the current PC culture, the author included all sorts of liberal themes. The reader is confronted with words like cisgender and trans. There are lesbians and homosexuals. There are Latinos, and of course, they are super moral and hard-working, but poor; there are inappropriate jokes about Jews and race, however, and completely inappropriate language is used in normal conversation. Personally, I have no interest in homosexual sex or in women who are portrayed as weak and mindless, unfeminine and loud. Frankly, I am tired of the progressive agenda infecting all of the literature that is being produced today. When it is not overt, it is hidden in the various messages and themes that are subtly presented. I am being bombarded with a belief system I do not necessarily support 100%.
The “heroine” worship of the characters portrayed as feminists, coupled with their dysfunctional personalities, only made me wonder why the feminist movement ever even caught on. It felt as if in order to participate in the movement, one had to exhibit some kind of anger, disappointment or dysfunction of personality or goal. I wondered, what did feminists really want? From this book, I got the impression it was fame, fortune, and, as a by-product, perhaps more freedom for women. Did the end justify the means?
Abortion, of course, was front and center, portrayed as a magic bullet or cure-all for the world’s ills. Women’s rights, gay rights, civil rights, LGBT issues, gender terms, sexual freedom, misogyny, an unjust judicial system when it came to adjudicating the abuse of women, and drug abuse are major themes introduced but not all are broadly developed; some seemed as if they were introduced as propaganda. Filial devotion and responsibility, parenting or lack thereof, and parent/child relationships were more heavily developed with the emphasis on maturity moving the characters to be more accepting of their own mistakes and the mistakes of others.
The main character is Greer Kadetsky. She is disappointed with her parents’ parenting skills. She wants more attention and discipline than they are willing to provide. Her parents are very much into their own personal satisfaction and pleasure. Greer’s parents are atheists who were often high on marijuana. They are left over hippies. Her best friend, Zee, is a lesbian. She may be Jewish, judging from her name and residence. She comes from Scarsdale, a suburb of Westchester heavily populated by people of the Jewish faith. Both of her parents are judges. They are the stereotypical Jewish family, educated and people of the book. She is portrayed stereotypically as financially solvent, as well. She is wealthy, but unsatisfied with her life which feels meaningless. She tries to please her parents rather than herself. She identifies happily as female but prefers females to males. Both Greer and Zee come from “white privilege”. Greer’s boyfriend is a Latino who has hard-working parents who pay attention to his needs. They are sterling examples until a tragic accident alters all of their expectations and futures. Faith Frank is the woman that Greer idolizes. She is a fraternal twin, from Brooklyn. She is not close to her brother. She is portrayed as aging and self-serving, but also as a great communicator. She is a prominent activist for women’s rights and Greer winds up working with her.
Regarding sexual abuse, many of the women perceive it in varying proportions, from groping to rape, with all intervening stages as almost equal in injustice. They are very offended by what they perceive as bad behavior in most men, however, they sometimes seem to encourage the poor behavior and to tolerate it for the sake of their own advancement. This makes them somewhat complicit in my eyes. I think the book fails in its attempt to adequately promote the causes women wish to highlight. Also, there are men who are abusive to women, who have unreal expectations of what liberties they are allowed to take, but they are not in the majority, in my experience. In the book, the reader is made to feel that every man has the tendency to take advantage of a female.
I did not feel that the author authentically presented this issue of women’s rights. She became too embroiled with reproductive rights and the PC culture, which was to the detriment of the issues in the workplace environment and injustice to women in general. Too many of the feminists were unhappy and sexually confused and the men who supported them did not seem masculine, as if someone with masculine tendencies had to be driven by his sex organ, not his brain or his heart. The ending was too much like a fairy tale with everyone finding their nirvana.
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LibraryThing member kimkimkim
After spending some time thinking about this book all I can really say is that I am completely unsure of what I took away from this if anything. Meg Wolitzer writes well but circles around everything and everyone. After a kazillion digital pages I was disappointed.
LibraryThing member gbelik
I was reading glowing reviews of this book everywhere. Unfortunately, for me, it didn't live up the the hype. It basically tells the story of three women who are involved in the feminist movement and with each other over the course of their college life and careers. I found it rather plodding and
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it didn't give me any new perspectives.
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LibraryThing member ouroborosangel
So...I know this has gotten some really great press...but it was soooooo needlessly long. Obviously, the author had a point to make but I got tired of being beaten over the head with it. There was some quotable material here, therefore the 3 stars instead of 2.
LibraryThing member bobbieharv
Tedium. I loved The Ten Year Nap, and I've loved most of her mother's books, but I just couldn't get into this. Just didn't care about the characters, and the long saga of the arc of their lives was just, sadly, boring.
LibraryThing member bblum
Story of Greer Kadetsky from adolescence to success as a feminist writer inspired by Faith Franks a Gloria Steinem clone. Well written, good perspective on the timidity of many young women. Fortunately, we grow up and face real life problems with smarts and integrity. I will read more from this
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author.
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LibraryThing member libraryhead
Disappointing, thin and overlong. Skips over the most interesting part of the story, how Greer finds her voice and finds her way back to Cory,
LibraryThing member CasualFriday
Second-wave feminism meets third (fourth?) wave in this novel about the complexity of women's relationships with each other. The main character is young, insecure Greer Kadetsky, who meets famous feminist Faith Frank at a college event and later goes to work for her foundation. Greer is best
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friends with an outspoken lesbian and feminist, Zee, but basically blackballs her from working at the foundation out of a kind of petty jealousy that is very human in its imperfection.

Of Wolitzer's books, I still like The Interestings best, but this was good, and a fast read. The character development was strong except for Faith, who didn't always feel real to me. Also, having been there in the flesh, I know that the portrayal of second-wave feminism as dominated by affluent white women with their corporate sponsors is a grotesque caricature. But hey, fiction, and this was fun.
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LibraryThing member BDartnall
"Greer Kadetsky is a shy college freshman when she meets the woman she hopes will change her life. Faith Frank, dazzlingly persuasive and elegant at sixty-three, has been a central pillar of the women's movement for decades, a figure who inspires others to influence the world. Upon hearing Faith
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speak for the first time, Greer--madly in love with her boyfriend, Cory, but still full of longing for an ambition that she can't quite place--feels her inner world light up. Then, astonishingly, Faith invites Greer to make something out of that sense of purpose, leading Greer down the most exciting path of her life as it winds toward and away from her meant-to-be love story with Cory and the future she'd always imagined" -Amazon review
Wolitzer's style draws readers in - Her characterizations and almost tender, sympathetic details help us immediately embody any character she chooses to focus on. I think her portraits of the male characters were almost as strong as the female ones. Very much an examination of the American feminist movement but without the didactic historical novel approach. As I noted in another one of her books, The Interestings, she dwells in New York City- Eastern state(s) setting & moves back & forth between several characters, so some criticize her sometimes wandering plotlines..but I found it engaging, and some of her insightful lines I wanted to copy down somewhere... and ponder later. Her interest in the themes of female friendships takes center stage here - with lots to enjoy. Definitely a book club worthy read!
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LibraryThing member DKnight0918
Struggled with the audio book on this one. I am sure people will enjoy it, though.
LibraryThing member Sheila1957
Very timely book dealing with feminism, sexual assault, taking care of family, dreams crushed, eyes opened. I enjoyed the book. Cory and Zee were the most developed characters. Greer could have been more developed. Faith could have explained things better instead of leaving the rift at the end.
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There were many story lines but Cory and Zee grow up the most and become adults during the book. The others had some ways to go before becoming fully adult. All lost something on their journeys and what they lost was important. Those losses caused some to grow up while others went into downward spirals before their growing up began. Worth the read.
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LibraryThing member froxgirl
Here's the updated version of Marge Piercy's feminist novel Small Changes, 1973, which documented the fictional lives of young people making revolution in their living styles, work, and political activism. Wolitzer, in a witty and most deeply sincere dive into both the past and future of feminism,
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brings us Faith, a Second-Wave Gloria Steinem type, whose appearance at Greer's college inspires her to transcend her shyness (much as Beth did in Small Changes) and plunge into her work at Faith's foundation and her new life in Brooklyn. Greer's boyfriend, Cory, suffers through a heartbreaking family crisis and retreats from his consulting job in Manila to return to their hometown in Central Massachusetts and to a breakup with Greer. The storyline shifts effectively from character to character, including secondaries Zee, Greer's college best friend, Faith's benefactor Emmett, who both move in and out of their lives in critically important ways. I anticipate that this might be my go-to novel for the late middle part of my life, just like Small Changes was for my early twenties. It's hard to believe that Wolitzer, daughter of excellent writer Hilma Wolitzer, and author of nine fine prior novels, could get any better.

Quotes: "She had been absorbed in her own unhappiness, practically curating it."

"The boys aerosolizing themselves with a body spray called Stadium, which seemed to be half pine sap, half A1 Steak Sauce."

"She still owned a whole color spectrum of boots, which let everyone know she had once been a knockout, a sexual powerhouse, and maybe still was."

"Greer had noticed, when she was very young, how, looking straight ahead, you could sort of always see the side of your own nose. It would always be part of her view of the world. Greer understood it was hard to escape herself."

"Did you ever think of poisoning our teacher?" Elise casually asked her one day.
"no, " Greer said.
"Yeah, neither do I," said Elise.

"The male faculty in their oatmeal tweed and low-slung corduroys that revealed their deflated, tenured asses, and from the female faculty in shaggy, earthy, academic, latter-day Stevie Nicks dress, ambling into the long, less frequently tenured rest of their lives."

"This was New York, where famous people drank from the same trough you did."

"Greer wondered if everyone had a certain degree of awfulness inside them."

"People's marriages were like two-person religious cults, impossible to understand."

"Throughout her life, intermittently fearing her parents' eventual deaths, the only positive aspect about that inevitability was that finally there would be no one on earth who would say to her, "Would it kill you to wear a skirt?"
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LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
This is my 4th novel by Wolitzer and though she is an excellent writer in terms of her prose style and use of language, I have never rated any of her novels above a 3.5. Her subject matter focuses on women issues and I enjoy this, but I think I don't rate her higher because I don't always buy into
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her story lines. In this book we are dealing with young women coming into college and dealing with the world of male dominance and the emergence of their desire to connect to issues that impact women. Wolitzer has a key character (Faith Frank) who is a Gloria Steinem type icon of the feminist movement. It shows the key characters(Greer and Zee) dealing with their own sexuality, friendship, and place in the world. It strongly deals with mentorship and the impact that can have on younger people making their way in the world. There are male characters but they are more a sidelight to the story. The book is well paced and a good read but it never totally came together for me. With so many different story lines surrounding the different characters, Wolitzer ends up tying the ending into a tight little bow of resolution. Again, the book deals with lots of different life issues and is a worthwhile read. If you have never read Wolitzer, then I recommend her, especially if you are a female. As an older white male, I enjoyed the book but it did not resonate with me as much as it might for someone else. Always interesting to read a hyped new novel that is already destined to be a movie(Nicole Kidman).
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
As the ME TOO movement continues to make news, this book is a great example of female strength and determination. Well deserving of the praise it has gotten, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
LibraryThing member pomo58
The Female Persuasion from Meg Wolitzer is, for me, a work of many contradictions or contrasts. Not all of these are strictly textual, many involve my interactions with the work. All in all I did enjoy the novel, though I am not sure if it is because of or in spite of it being problematic in many
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ways.

First, the whole white middle class feminism and the first world problem aspects. These are certainly justifiable comments about the work but, I believe, it does not mean the novel is any more or less good based on those very simplistic observations. Rather I think it speaks to both Wolitzer's known world (and writers generally write about what they know so to say she shouldn't write this would be to say she shouldn't write about her experience with feminism, and I am not interested in silencing any writer) and, yes, the world of these particular feminists. More importantly for the novel itself is the story of people, humans experiencing life as they know it. I understand a reader deciding not to read about them, even if it is only because of their privilege within society and feminism. But to do so also for that reason alone is to ignore the common humanity of these characters with every one of us. These are human conflicts and issues as well as being a part of a larger sociological discourse, and to ignore either because of the other seems every bit as exclusionary as the complaints leveled against many such feminists.

Having gotten that out of the way, I was swayed positively by the writing itself. No doubt it is not to everyone's liking, but anyone who makes hyperbolic statements about her "inability" to write or express herself is using absurd hyperbole to vent some other internal issue. I wish people would approach reality when they write these reviews. Wolitzer knows how to write and does so quite well. Not to everyone's taste but then no writer ever has, so that is very good company.

I was less convinced about some of the interactions. I think what I found difficult was that I understood what a lot of the feelings and motivations were but I just wasn't convinced that the chosen actions and words are what the characters would have done. That disconnect kept me from being more enthusiastic about the book.

Yet I also found many scenes to be so wonderful, mostly in the way they portrayed aspects of relationships, personal and working. I could see these scenes, even some of the ones I questioned in the previous paragraph, quite vividly. Some paralleled moments in my own life so touched me a bit more.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in a moderately-paced story about relationships between women, between mentor and mentored, and between one's ideal perception of oneself versus what one becomes (and how we deal with any discrepancy). If you can accept that this is not about a world Wolitzer wouldn't know, and also that there is not much in the way of regret about how things were done, there is a great deal to like here. If you expect a novel to teach you something new about any feminisms of the past or present then you probably won't be satisfied. I can offer a substantial reading list from past courses but even that would have holes and gaps, so maybe take whatever we can from every single source, positively move on from what doesn't help us (without counterproductive hyperbolic criticism for not being what it could never have been), and always look to do what we believe to be right.

Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads' First Reads.
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LibraryThing member LisaSHarvey
A satisfying novel of a young woman trying to figure out who she is, and who she is supposed to be in the world.

SUMMARY
Greer Kadetsky is a shy college freshman at Ryland College. She’s there because her parents could not fill out the financial aid forms that would have yielded her entry into
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Yale. This isn’t where she wanted to be. While at Ryland, she meets Faith Frank for the first time. Faith, 63, is a feminist icon and has been a central player in the women’s movement for decades. Faith can carry a room with her knowledge and wit, and her suede boots were enviable. Greer is captivated by Faith, and after graduation goes to work for her, interviewing women for their stories and writing speeches. Her relationship with Faith as her mentor becomes complicated.

Greer and Cory had been a couple since high school.They had planned on going to college together, but that didn’t happen. Cory was accepted at Yale, while Greer was relegated to Ryland college. Though hundreds of miles apart their relationship survived, and they made plans for after graduation. But once again things didn’t work out as planned for either Greer or Cory. Greer’s best friend, Zee who’s is gay, is also struggling to make a difference in the world. She too wanted to work for Faith Frank.

“I think there are two kinds of feminist. The famous ones, and everyone else. Everyone else, all the people who just quietly go and do what they’re supposed to do, and don’t get a lot of credit for it, and don’t have someone out there every day telling them they’re doing an awesome job.”

REVIEW
THE FEMALE PERSUASION is a novel about a young woman who is trying to find her place in the world. It about a woman trying to figure out who she is supposed to be and who she is suppose to be with. It’s about the obstacles in her life that prevented her from achieving the things she thought she was supposed to be doing. While the writing was great I found reading it to be a struggle at times, and my interest sometimes faltered. The story was long but interestingly raised a variety of social issues that played significant role in the narrative: privilege, personal/professional ethics, and family responsibility to name just a few. The modern day feminism aspect of the book left a little to be desired.

The people in Greer’s life, her best-friend, Zee, her boyfriend, Cory and her mentor, Faith, all played pivotal roles in guiding Greer’s decisions and impacting her life. Greer’s character was at times frustrating, she left me waiting for her to evolve into a stronger, bolder character. All characters were well developed and I particularly liked Cory, and how he handled the difficulties he faced after graduation.

Meg Wolitzer is a New York Times best selling author of The Interestings, The Uncoupling, The Ten-Year Nap, The Position, The Wife and Sleepwalking. I listened to the audio version of the book, which was narrated by Rebecca Lowman. Publisher Penguin Random House Audio. Publication Date April 3, 2018.

“I do it for women. Not everyone agrees with the way I do it. Women in powerful positions are never safe from criticism. The kind of feminism I’ve practice is one way to go about it. There are plenty of others, and that’s great. There are impassioned and radical young women out there, telling multiple stories. I applaud them. We need them. We need as many women fighting as possible. I learned that early on from the wonderful Gloria Steinem - the world is big enough for different kinds of feminist to coexist, people who want to emphasize different aspects of the fight for equality. God knows the injustices are endless, and I am going to use whatever resources are at my disposal to fight in the way I know how.”
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LibraryThing member Alphawoman
Finally found the book in Middletown library while looking for another book.

An I interesting look at several generations fighting for female equality. Very timely considering the Me too movement, the women's march in DC, and interestingly enough I thought of the Never Again movement with its
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youthful enthusiasm, integrity, and lack of jadeness. But what happens? Life smacks up against you with all its excuses, adoration of the almighty buck, and personal agendas.

I liked this book for its unblinking look at relationships and how over time everything changes.

Excellent book. Second I've read by this author. Will seek more.
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LibraryThing member lycomayflower
Very well written and with a lot to say about feminism, female friendships, and mentorship. Very compelling and in many ways a page-turner--I tore through the book in about three days. I found the first section, when Greer was at college, the most interesting, possibly because it was the section
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that was most directly applicable to my own experience. Much of that part of the book had me silently yelling, "Yes! This is what it was like, yes!" with that particular happiness that comes with seeing that someone else understands something important to you. The rest of the book is good too, possibly objectively better, even, but I started to get tired of the whole thing before it was over. This is a book that appealed more to my head than to my heart, and I think it would have been even better if it had managed to rope in my feelings more fully. Still, important, I think, and I book I suspect will generate a lot of discussion and deservedly so.
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LibraryThing member mzonderm
There are two aspects of feminism, says Faith Frank, the elder stateswoman of feminism in Meg Wolitzer's new book. The first concerns individualism, the idea that each woman gets to choose the shape of her own life. The second she calls "sisterhood" and centers around the idea that individual
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feminism can't take place unless women act together for advancement. Similar disquisitions on feminism occur throughout the book, as the characters give speeches, have conversations, and generally try to figure out what feminism even means these days. After all, as one character says, "I assumed there would always be a little progress and then a little slipping, you know? And then a little more progress. But instead the whole idea of progress was taken away, and who knew that could happen, right?" Although the current political environment is never explicitly discussed, it's clear that by the end of the book the real world and fiction have collided.

This book is much more than a feminist screed, though many gems on the subject can be found within its pages. We are also given several deep and complex characters and their relationships, through which Wolitzer explores themes of self-discovery, betrayal, and idealism.
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LibraryThing member ireneattolia
got about 30% through before i realized how much i just did not care about these people, specifically greer.
LibraryThing member Narshkite
Wolitzer continues to tell great stories written beautifully. These are people I know illustrating the true course of feminism but also living authentic lives filled with joy and tragedy and mundanity and lots and lots and lots of hard work.

The Female Persuasion felt, to me (a feminist from back in
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the dark ages) to be the most authentic fictional take on the nearly impossible task of defining feminism in current times, and in helping to illustrate how the feminism of the 60's 70's and 80's, the good the bad and the ugly, plug into what is happening today, and why it all matters. The book also takes on the complexities of female friendship and the complications of mixing our brand of friendship with competition. (Competition is woven into male friendship and no one thinks twice about it, but a woman who presses her advantage over another woman in the workplace is considered evil by women and men alike.) And Wolitzer goes a step further, and includes male feminists Most of us are lucky enough to count some make feminists among our circle of family, friends and colleagues, many of us have raised at least one, but they don't seem to show up much in books. Faith was sexy, not threatening, in the eyes of a secure male feminist, not just because of the killer boots and the good ass, but maybe more because of the intellectual and emotional challenge she presented. I don't want to include spoilers, but I will say I was also gratified rather than heartbroken by Cory's choices about family and duty.

These are big issues, and their treatment within this story was worthy and also entertaining and often very funny. Good stuff.
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LibraryThing member sturlington
I thought this novel, about a young woman coming of age who forms a mentorship relationship with an older, well-known feminist leader, was eminently readable and certainly captures this moment in our culture. Yet... perhaps it was too long, perhaps it focused too much on ancillary characters and
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was thus somewhat repetitive. There was something missing here, some a-ha moment in the center that makes everything coalesce. This just fell short of being a truly powerful read for me.
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LibraryThing member Sbojo32
I really wish GoodReads had half stars, because this would have earned 3.5. However, I just couldn't get it to four. The book is long, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The characters are well-developed. Each main character (Greer, Cory, Faith and Zee) have at least one chapter devoted to their
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backstory, their present and we know their future. Each character is flawed, which is great, because as a reader, you can relate; however, I also didn't find myself truly rooting for any of them. The highlight of the book is relationships - with females. Relationships with a mentor, with a mother, and with other women are the focus of the book. It's obviously a book about feminism, but it's not in-your-face with it. Rather, you think about the power of female relationships. I was left thinking about my own relationships after I finished the book. Overall, a solid read.
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LibraryThing member JosephKing6602
Good characterizAtion; you come care about the characters and what happens to them. Good links to current mores and social movements. Thoroughly enjoyed this novel (I also liked her other books.)

Awards

BookTube Prize (Octofinalist — Fiction — 2019)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Literary Fiction — 2018)
LibraryReads (Monthly Pick — April 2018)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2018-04-03

Physical description

464 p.; 6.38 inches

ISBN

1594488401 / 9781594488405
Page: 0.8368 seconds