Meg Wolitzers’s thirteenth novel is about young women and feminism. The main character is Greer Kadetsky, who we first meet in college, and then learn more about with flashbacks to her high school life and follow through her twenties, and then more quickly into her middle age. She is sexually assaulted at a party in her first year and the culprit, who also assaults several other students, is finally caught, but the college gives him a minimal punishment. This raises Greer’s awareness of how women’s issues are minimized and she becomes politicized, aiming to change society. She is led by her best friend Zee, who at some points identifies as a lesbian and was far more politically aware than Greer. When a famous feminist, Faith Frank, comes to campus, the two friends go to see her talk and make a connection with her, which proves to be significant later in Greer’s life.

While the main focus of the book is on Greer, there are also chapters following Zee, Faith, and Greer’s high school boyfriend Cory, who goes to Princeton instead of the rather undistinguished college that Greer ends up at. They all have twists in turns in their lives and their relationships, intersecting with different populations and going through better or worse times.

The Female Persuasion is a novel about modern times, gender relations, money and opportunity, happiness and success. It is a work of high ambitions, smuggled in with a fast moving plot with memorable characters. The writing has plenty of dialog and Wolitzer has plenty of ability to craft highly readable paragraphs. The story goes quickly and it is enjoyable. Especially characteristic of her style is her ability to slip in meditations on the past into the middle of a scene, which keeps the energy level high. It is a smart and provocative book that suggests how old style feminism Is gradually transforming into a different sort of social movement.

If there is a criticism of Wolitzer’s work here, it is that the characters and plot are driven by the need to make points. It’s a novel of ideas and even theories, even with the strong writing skills that make it readable. The sentences and paragraphs are great, but it’s hard to care much about Greer, Zee, Cory and especially Faith. This is especially true of the second half of the novel, which although long, rushes to an end, with the final developments more diagrammed than narrated, as if the book was meant to be a morality tale where the details of the story don’t need filling out. If you find yourself putting down the novel half way through, it may be hard to pick up again.

© 2019 Christian Perring

Christian Perring teaches in NYC.