The Female Persuasion

I was wrong about Meg Wolitzer. Three times.

I've always seen her name on books. Her name is big on books, often bigger than the title. That's a big warning for me. I tend to stay away from books by authors whose name on the cover is bigger than the title. Too popular, I thought. I'm not interested in someone who writes popular fiction. No Wolitzer, I thought.

Then I saw several small reviews of her book. The reviews were very positive. Okay, I'll take another look at this author. I browsed through a list of her titles. The Ten-Year Nap. The Uncoupling. The Wife. Oh dear, I thought. Women's fiction. Maybe a little worse than popular fiction to me are women's stories about women's lives and women's problems. No Wolitzer, I thought.

Then I heard more positive buzz, and I felt compelled to look again. I got a copy of the book and I started to read. Oh no, I thought. Preachy. It's going to be a diatribe for against anyone opposed or even ambivalent to the women's movement. Oh dear. If there is anything worse than popular fiction and women's fiction, it is fiction that has an agenda.

Somehow I read on. And on. By chapter three or four, I realized I was completely wrong about Meg Wolitzer. By chapter six or seven, I was ready to start telling other people about this book. By nine or ten, I found that I was a Meg Wolitzer fan.

What's the story about?

The Female Persuasion is the story of a young woman, Greer Kadetsky, who begins as a shy and quiet college freshman and grows under the influence of her mentor and idol, Faith Frank. But The Female Persuasion is so much more. It's the story of the women's movement, yes, but it's also the story of how one person influences others and it's the story of relationships and how they can become stronger and more important or weaker and almost die and it's the story of how little things can change a life....It's funny and tragic and sad and surprising....

I'm rambling, I think, but it's such a good book that I want to tell you how good it is so that you go and read it, too.