The Female Persuasion: A Novel

A New York Times Bestseller

"A powerful coming-of-age story that looks at ambition, friendship, identity, desire, and power from the much-needed female lens." --Bustle

"Ultra-readable." --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 admire--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 women's movement for decades, a figure who inspires others to influence the world. Upon hearing Faith 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. 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 she'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. It's a story about the people who guide and the people who follow (and how those roles evolve over time), and the desire within all of us to be pulled into the light.
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480 pages

Average rating: 6.23

52 RATINGS

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3 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

sandbergcg
Nov 19, 2023
This book gave me a lot of things to think about. While we may think we know how we want our life to go, we don't really know.
Anonymous
Aug 01, 2023
10/10 stars
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 ...read more
jpinckneygil
Mar 28, 2023
8/10 stars
Definitely a story that is hard to describe but still had me turning the pages to see what would happen next or where it was going. Very much centers on white-centered feminism, but still very much a coming of age story with some relatable moments.

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