A review by turquoiseshell
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

3.0

I did not think this book was very good, and I don’t think it contributes anything to the world. The characters are not even unlikable... just boring. The author must think she’s so smart to have anticipated the criticism she would inevitably get for this book in a meta sort of way. By this I mean that throughout the book the characters point out that others call their work “rich white lady feminism” and call them out for their collective privilege and lack of diversity. The characters lazily write this off, as Meg Wolitzer must also have done. Ironic, isn’t it, that just as the two female characters’ books and work didn’t contribute anything new or productive to the world, neither did this novel itself. The novel attempts to speak on our current political climate but just seems silly and dated. Maybe that was the point, but if so, it wasn’t effectively done. If the main character had gone to work for “Femme Fatale,” maybe it would have been a more interesting book... but the main character would never have done that, because she’s boring and lame.