Scan barcode
A review by spatterson12
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
4.0
More in line with 3.75 for me.
The Female Persuasion was a bit slow, but by Part 2 I was in it and understanding the rhythm more. With longer chapters than I’ve been reading lately, it felt as though each one was dedicated to examining how each character learned and defined feminism in their life and how that definition can change or evolve throughout time.
The story is centered on Greer, starting with her freshman year in college and following the next decade of her life. She became to idolize the popular feminist Faith Frank and through this following she learned the importance of listening, letting people tell their stories on their terms, and developing her “outside voice.”
Space is given to her boyfriend Cory, as he endures a family tragedy that derails his life plans for after the Ivy League, and to her best friend Zee, as she discovers how she can serve her communities through activism work that her cookie cutter parents can approve.
There were a few moments I didn’t care for, like that Greer sulked about her parents messing up her college dreams - because in all reality she had been taking care of herself when she was a young child. It didn’t make sense she wouldn’t have helicoptered the college application process and made sure everything was done perfectly correct. Or how the writing would randomly take you out of a moment to mention “btw, in the future this happens.” And then a few others that would be spoilers.
I also don’t need 1000 mentions of the boots Faith wears, but that’s just me.
The Female Persuasion was a bit slow, but by Part 2 I was in it and understanding the rhythm more. With longer chapters than I’ve been reading lately, it felt as though each one was dedicated to examining how each character learned and defined feminism in their life and how that definition can change or evolve throughout time.
The story is centered on Greer, starting with her freshman year in college and following the next decade of her life. She became to idolize the popular feminist Faith Frank and through this following she learned the importance of listening, letting people tell their stories on their terms, and developing her “outside voice.”
Space is given to her boyfriend Cory, as he endures a family tragedy that derails his life plans for after the Ivy League, and to her best friend Zee, as she discovers how she can serve her communities through activism work that her cookie cutter parents can approve.
There were a few moments I didn’t care for, like that Greer sulked about her parents messing up her college dreams - because in all reality she had been taking care of herself when she was a young child. It didn’t make sense she wouldn’t have helicoptered the college application process and made sure everything was done perfectly correct. Or how the writing would randomly take you out of a moment to mention “btw, in the future this happens.” And then a few others that would be spoilers.
I also don’t need 1000 mentions of the boots Faith wears, but that’s just me.