A smart and engaging novel from a brilliant writer. Fully formed characters and a story that kept me hooked. I was delighted to have the chance to speak with Meg Wollitzer about the novel as well on The Secret Library podcast. She's not only a skilled writer, but also a sensitive and thoughtful teacher, able to share great insight on the writing process.

The Female Persuasion is being touted as a novel of its time. Reflecting the issues highlighted by the abuse of women by powerful men, now known as the #metoo movement. Wolitzer's book shows that these issues have been prevalent in our culture for hundreds of years, and while women can fight the good fight, the war is never over. I wonder if the character's name Greer and the title, are an homage to Germaine Greer and her book The Female Eunuch ? Faith's boots are certainly a reference to Gloria Steinem.

I saw Germaine Greer speak when I was in college and had a similar reaction as does the character, Greer in this novel. I think that Wolitzer deals with many important ideas in this book, but frankly it was the structure of the book that lost me. Wolitzer loves to have her characters go into long soliloquies during conversations about a variety of topics that is just not how humans normally interact. This book repeats itself frequently and could have used heavy editing. She is one of those writers who loves to tell, rather than show. I would become engaged with a character's story and then it was like, "we are now interrupting this chapter for a commercial break" and she would go off into a long description of another character's life, thus breaking the momentum. Lastly, the pat final chapter, with Greer's book sounding so much like, Cheryl Sandberg's Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, and her life lining up like a traditional chic lit ending was disappointing.

I do think that questions of power and institutions that fail women are issues worth discussing, but the exposition in this novel was not the best vehicle.

This was just okay as a read. It reminded me of The Devil Wears Prada, the dynamic between Greer and Faith. I really did not get Greer's existential crisis and did not feel one bit of empathy toward the fact that she did not get to attend Yale. It was like a white girl problem. Greer seemed so self absorbed and I was uninterested in her trials of young adulthood. I loved how Corey stepped it up and was an adult way before Greer even had that thought. The writing is solid but the characters are sometimes whinny. It seemed like it took me a long time to finish because I wasn't dying to get to read it like I often feel with the books.

I feel like I am in the minority with this book as it has some great reviews, but it just wasn't for me. It was too long for one. And secondly, the characters were just not likeable or I didn't connect with them for some reason. I really struggled to get through it.

I did not finish this book. I've read other Meg Wolitzer books, but this one just didn't capture my attention.

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. 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

Greer and Cory, high school sweethearts, plan to spend the rest of their lives together. They go to different colleges and embark on careers in different countries but their bond remains strong . . . until tragedy strikes and their lives go into unexpected directions.

This was an engrossing, engaging and moving story with characters that grow and painfully learn how to deal with a life that doesn't go according to plan.

Greer Kadetsky is intelligent, unassuming, and bookish. Raised as an only child by self-involved parents, she's used to being overlooked by others. When circumstances put her in the path of famous feminist, Faith Frank, Greer's world and her perspective is turned upside down. No longer is she content to find a full time job to support a writing career while her boyfriend climbs the corporate ladder in New York. Suddenly, Greer is a feminist activist with the mother figure she has always dreamed of.
On the surface, this is a book about the #metoo movement and the problem of a movement with a lack of inter-sectional feminist voices. The Female Persuasion is much more than that; it's also a book about someone holding a mirror up for you in order to allow your inner self to be seen. This novel also serves as a reminder that even the most ideological people have to compromise their morality.
Unfortunately, Wolitzer fails to make Greer sympathetic enough to make the reader react more strongly when Greer realizes her icon has feet of clay. The ending seems rushed and anti-climatic. The male character, Greer's boyfriend, is ultimately the most sympathetic character. Despite some problematic plot holes,The Female Persuasion is a satisfying and timely read.

Greer Kadetsky begins college and while at a program one evening, meets Faith Frank,a woman who will change her life. She is seeking meaning and purpose when Faith, an avowed feminist, formulates a life message that Greer wants to live by.
Greer is madly in love with Corey when a horrific accident happens to his' brother, causing upheaval in both their lives. Greer is lucky enough to reconnect with Faith who offers her a job at her magazine and her life truly begins. It's a book that covers so many topics relevant to womanhood and life today that the reader will be able tor relate to and, at the same time, reflect. upon.

With the incredible amount of hype surrounding Meg Wolitzer’s new book, The Female Persuasion, I was tempted to grab it…then remembered how I felt about the last book of hers that I read. That was the widely praised The Interestings, but in my opinion, they weren’t. But, FOMO took over and after reading things like “Equal parts cotton candy and red meat, in the best way.” (People), I was happy to receive a copy of The Female Persuasion from Penguin Group Riverhead and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The story is the coming of age and move into adulthood of Greer Kadetsky, who had spent her last years in high school in love with Cory, who was the other top student in their class. They had planned to go to college together, hopefully Yale. But Greer is devastated after being accepted to find out that her spaced-out aging hippie parents hadn’t gotten it together enough to fill out the financial forms, so she has to settle for Ryland College. At this point, I had the requisite anger at her parents, but also thought “good grief, Greer, how passive ARE you to just assume that something so important will be done for you?” (especially with THOSE parents).

Greer is a bookish teenager (“books were an antidepressant, a powerful SSRI”) who is smart, funny, and ambitious, but definitely NOT “…one of …those girls who were descried…as being “spitfires,” of, later on, “kickass.” Even now at college, there were girls like this, fuck-you confident and assured of their place in the world.” At Ryland, she experiences a MeToo moment that affects her to the point that, despite her introversion, she speaks when she attends a presentation by Faith Frank, an aging feminist icon (think a less-famous Gloria Steinem), who is impressed with Greer enough to give her a card and suggest they stay in touch.

After lots of drama between Greer and Cory, he goes off to the Philippines in some vague financial management position, and Greer ends up working for Faith Frank’s Foundation. She loves him but has a vague longing that leads her away from the future with Cory that she had always imagined.

One of Wolitzer’s recurring themes is finding yourself as you move into adulthood. Also included are questions of power and influence, ego and ambition, and loyalty between and among women (seriously, Greer’s relationship with Zee was nearly enough to make me despise Greer, even while relating completely to the dilemma she faces).

The story about how Faith came to be the powerful woman she has been for decades is interesting. As a younger woman, Faith had less than stellar experiences with men. She “…has energy so low that she thought: ‘This is sex? This?’ As she lay beneath him like someone pinned by an overturned car.” Her view on relationships between women and men are revealed by her thoughts that “all you ever had to do, to make a bad moment flee, was acquiesce” and her words to her devoted staff as she sets up her Foundation: “Men give women the power that they themselves don’t want.”

Personally, I wasn’t wild about the ending, but am clueless as to what might have been better. For sure I don’t agree with some reviews I’ve read, either rapturous, patronizing, or just weird (personally, I didn’t find the cover design “pudendal”!!) I didn’t think I liked this book that much, although it was an entertaining story, but I did find myself thinking about fairly frequently after I was finished, which made me realize it was better than my initial three-star reaction. Four stars.

Greer's relationships with her best friend Zee, her boyfriend Cory and her mentor Faith Frank. are at the center of this mini-epic about generations of feminist women and the ways they do what they imperfectly, humanly, can to enhance the lives and standing of women in the world.

I couldn't put this one down. It might not be for everyone, as the story is sort of meandering, but man, Wolitzer can write. I really enjoyed the ideas she presented in this and the characters were immediately engaging. I will continue to read whatever she puts out in the future.

A very interesting book that captures the dynamics of feminism across the generations. The story is appealing to readers of many ages.

The book title comes from a manifesto called The Female Persuasion written by Faith Frank, a Gloria Steinem style feminist and mentor to Greer Kadetsky whose story this is. Faith is driven to improve the plight of women worldwide and when Greer goes to work for her right out of college, this becomes her holy grail as well.

Wolitzer has written an epic, smart and timely book at a time when it seems that the clock is being turned back on everything women have worked for since the 1960s. The news is filled with accusations filed years after the fact, years after the women have silently endured the humiliation of unwelcome sexual advances. Greer smolders helplessly after being assaulted as a college student. Years later she reflects, “They always get to set the terms. I mean, they just come in and set them. They don’t ask, they just do it....But it’s still true. Because otherwise, it’s like we’re going to keep repeating this forever.” And to many of us helplessly watching women’s rights under assault and being rolled back, it feels like we’re going t have to keep repeating our work over and over again.

I struggled at times with the multiple storylines which are all fully fleshed out but they make the reading all the more satisfying. There really aren’t that many characters and they all matter.

Greer and Zee, her best friend, imagine a world where a woman “wouldn’t have to think anything physical or sexual about herself at all unless she wanted to. She could dress the way she liked. She could feel capable and safe and free, which was what Faith Frank had always wanted for women.” This is an essential read.

I expected to enjoy THE FEMALE PERSUASION, but not to the extent that I eventually did, finding it refreshingly non-formulaic. "Selectively and furiously shy" Greer Kadetsky meets feminist leader Faith Frank at a college lecture and continues to be influenced by her, even into the contemporary "big terribleness."

The word that comes to mind for this book is <b>generous</b>. The plot follows a group of women who come together around, or near, a doyenne of the women's movement, but does not limit itself to the women. Husbands, boyfriends, brothers - even a turtle commands a surprising role in shaping the lives of people who mean well, try to do well, and get thwarted by the realities.

I hope prospective readers do not get turned off by the idea of "women's movement." It's not just politics. It's love, ambition, talent, mistakes, compromises, and a lot of small, hilarious vignettes thrown in amongst the threads.

Highly recommended. Reminds me, in some ways, of the (yes) generosity of writers like Jane Smiley, who can take a huge landscape and reveal it, letting you love, hate, and understand the characters without forcing you to come to conclusions.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Usually the books I find I'm unable to put down tend to be thrillers that keep me on the edge of my seat, not contemplative dramas like this, but that is exactly what happened with this story. I was immersed in the characters of Greer, Faith, Zee, and Cory. The story is driven both by the characters and their realizations about gender and society and themselves, and, while this isn't one of the traditional factors, the book is driven by ideas. This is actually my first book by Meg Wolitzer, and I'll be going back to her previous works now.

This book featured some fantastic writing, along with engaging characters; however, the plot was all over the place. This book did not follow a particular plot line and it felt like the whole time it was explaining all these things with the intention of making a point, but it never did. I would've enjoyed it more if this book had followed some kind plot that had a conflict and a resolution. The book did a great job of describing what feminism is to different people and showing the context of feminism (or lack thereof) in different kind of situations. It also did exceptionally well in showing the development of feminism ideals overtime in the United States. There a couple of parts where I found the characters to be very short-sighted when it came to there opinions on feminism. Even at the end, I don't think that Greer really had a full grasp on what equality means for all people; not just upper class white women. I did appreciate the growth that all the characters showed by the end of the book, especially Cory. Cory was hands down my favorite character. I did also enjoy the fact the Meg Wolitzer made it very clear that her characters are all flawed, even those that are held in the highest regard by society. Overall, I do recommend this book. It was certainly a joy to read, though it did drag on at some points. I don't think that I learned anything about feminism in particular, nor did I find myself in any of the characters. Perhaps, some people will and they will find their own flaws reflected in this book and will be able to achieve some kind of revelation while reading this. I did not, but it was still a pretty good book. Just not as great as I hoped it would be.

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 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.

I love the contemporary take on feminism that doesn't just feature the angry riot girl. I loved these characters & couldn't put it down! I'll recommend to everyone at the library for an awesome beach read!