A spry satire on the paradoxes and complexities of the 21st- century feminist movement, The Female Persuasion centres upon the relationship between young, idealistic Greer Kadetsky and her passingly famous feminist mentor, Faith Frank. Rich in perceptive observations about the tensions inherent between different ‘waves’ of feminism, Wolitzer’s novel captures the zeitgeist nimbly and elegantly.
A New York Times bestseller and BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, The Female Persuasion is an electric novel of influence, awakened potential and fatal flaws.
Greer didn't really know why Faith took an interest. But what she knew for sure, eventually, was that meeting Faith Frank was the thrilling beginning of everything. It would be a very long time before the unspeakable end.
Greer Kadetsky is a shy college student when she meets the woman who will shape her life. Faith Frank, dazzlingly persuasive and elegant, has been a pillar of the women's movement for decades, a figure who inspires others.
Hearing Faith speak for the first time, in a crowded campus chapel, Greer - misunderstood yet full of longing for an ambition that she can't quite place - feels herself changed. And then, astonishingly, Faith invites her to make something out of this new sense of purpose, with a career opportunity that leads her down the most exciting and rewarding path as it winds towards and away from her meant-to-be love story with high school sweetheart Cory and the future she had always imagined.
Expansive and wise, compassionate and witty, The Female Persuasion is about the spark we all believe is flickering inside us, waiting to be seen and fanned by the right person at the right time, and the desire within all of us to be pulled into the light. Dealing with issues of consent, control and self-determination, The Female Persuasion is a novel about influential relationships and the ways in which idealism can irrevocably change lives. An enviably good writer of believable characters, as writer Lena Dunham says, ‘Wolitzer is an infinitely capable creator of human identities that are as real as the type on this page, and her love of her characters shines more brightly than any agenda’.
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9781784708306
Number of pages: 464
Weight: 319 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 27 mm
The Female Persuasion has gone straight into my library of favourite novels ever, on a shelf next to David Copperfield, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Lonesome Dove, and Love in a Time of Cholera - Nick Hornby
'The novel’s timeliness cannot be understated...tight but inclusive, and deserves to be placed on shelves alongside such ornate modern novels beginning in college as A Little Life, The Secret History and The Marriage Plot... But when all is said and done, Wolitzer is an infinitely capable creator of human identities that are as real as the type on this page, and her love of her characters shines more brightly than any agenda - Lena Dunham, New York Times Book Review
The Female Persuasion is wonderfully dense and wise, a page-turner that succeeds both at character and ideas. It felt true to life - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Guardian
Deft and funny…trenchant, clever, displaying a pitch-perfect recollection of the idealism of early adulthood and what life subsequently does to undo it - Emma Brockes, Guardian
From the very first page of any novel by Meg Wolitzer, you feel in safe hands. She is skilful and confident…she is exceptionally gifted in the neglected craft of plotting...like a modern-day Edith Wharton, she has an instinctive understanding that tragedy and comedy are different sides of the same coin... How could you fail to love such a writer? - Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday
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