The Female Persuasion

Starred review from December 11, 2017
Wolitzer's ambitious and satisfying novel (following The Interestings) charts a Massachusetts girl's coming-of-age and asks pressing questions about what it means to be an empowered modern woman. When "selectively and furiously shy" freshman Greer Kadetsky first encounters 63-year-old feminist icon Faith Frank's impassioned rhetoric during a guest lecture at her college, she is bowled over by Frank's knowledge and intimidating stature. A few years after graduation, Greer lands a coveted job at Frank's Loci Foundation, a new speakers' forum dedicated to sharing women's stories, and couldn't be more excited about what her future might hold. But life throws a few curveballs. Her high school sweetheart, now a hotshot consultant, endures an unfathomable tragedy and moves back into his childhood home, disrupting the couple's plans to move in together. And, while her job at the foundation started out exhilarating and full of big ideas, the once-wide-eyed Greer has gained a more realistic perspective a few years inâincluding a nuanced understanding of a more human Frank. As in her previous novels, Wolitzer writes with an easy, engrossing style, and her eye for detail seamlessly connects all the dots in the book's four major story lines. This insightful and resonant novel explores what it is to both embrace womanhood and suffer because of it. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME Entertainment.

February 15, 2018
A decade in the life of a smart, earnest young woman trying to make her way in the world.On Greer Kadetsky's first weekend at Ryland College--a mediocre school she's attending because her parents were too feckless to fill out Yale's financial aid form--she gets groped at a frat party. This isn't the life she was meant to lead: "You [need] to find a way to make your world dynamic," she thinks. Then Greer meets Faith Frank, a second-wave feminist icon who's come to speak at Ryland. During the question-and-answer period, Greer stands up to recount her assault and the college's lackluster response, and, later, Faith gives her a business card. Like a magical amulet in a fairy tale, that card leads Greer to a whole new life: After graduation, she gets a job working for Faith's foundation, Loci, which sponsors conferences about women's issues. That might not be the most cutting-edge approach to feminism, Greer knows, but it will help her enter the conversation. Wolitzer (Belzhar, 2014, etc.) likes to entice readers with strings of appealing adjectives and juicy details: Faith is both "rich, sophisticated, knowledgeable" and "intense and serious and witty," and she always wears a pair of sexy suede boots. It's easy to fall in love with her, and with Greer, and with Greer's boyfriend, Cory, and her best friend, Zee: They're all deep, interesting characters who want to find ways to support themselves while doing good in the world and having meaningful, pleasurable lives. They have conversations about issues like "abortion rights, and the composition of the Senate, and about human trafficking"; they wrestle with the future of feminism, with racism and classism. None of them is perfect. "Likability has become an issue for women lately," Greer tells an English professor while she's still at Ryland, and Wolitzer has taken up the challenge. Her characters don't always do the right thing, and though she has compassion for all of them, she's ruthless about revealing their compromises and treacheries. This symphonic book feels both completely up-to-the-minute and also like a nod to 1970s feminist classics such as The Women's Room, with a can't-put-it-down plot that illuminates both its characters and larger social issues.The perfect feminist blockbuster for our times.

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March 1, 2018

Bright and ambitious, Greer Kadetsky, the child of former hippies, attends her fallback school while her high school sweetheart, Cory, an academic powerhouse, enrolls at Yale. During her first weekend in college, she's groped at a frat party by a serial abuser, and she becomes inspired to stand up for herself by a speech given by Faith Frank, a charismatic icon whom Greer later engages in conversation. Greer's burgeoning friendship with a feminist freshman, Zee, also motivates her. After college, Cory sets off to capitalize on his Ivy League degree in international finance, while Greer reaches out to Faith, and both women embark on a new venture, a foundation to empower and support women around the world. It's a testament to Wolitzer's skill that few characters remain unexplored. Greer, Faith, and Cory are all unflinchingly defined. The three true-to-life protagonists face struggles that will interest young adult readers because of the book's weighty and relevant themes. Here, they will also find a powerful character-driven coming-of-age story told in a stark, wry voice. VERDICT Buy for discerning teens and collections serving academic high flyers.-Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2018
Sexually harassed at a frat party her freshman year, wallflower Greer Kadetsky is motivated to speak up about the outrage when feminist icon Faith Frank gives a lecture at her college. She catches Faith's attention in the Q&A, then further captures her interest during a chance encounter afterward. Faith recognizes something in this quietly assertive young woman, something she rewards when Greer approaches her for a job upon graduation. Sadly, Faith's groundbreaking feminist magazine is folding, but Faith and Greer rebound, thanks to a generous offer from a former lover who establishes a philanthropic foundation dedicated to women's causes. Wanting what she's having, Greer's best friend, Zee, pushes her to pass her resume on to Faith, but Greer's protective of her success and never tells Faith about Zee's interest. The betrayal damages their friendship, just as Greer's burgeoning career drives a wedge between her and her longtime boyfriend when tragedy strikes his family. Sweeping yet intimate, Wolitzer's timely saga places her characters at the heart of a new wave of feminism, one clinging to the old paradigms of protest while encompassing current politics of personal responsibility. In a complex web of friends, lovers, mentors, and rivals, Wolitzer compassionately and artfully discerns the subtle strengths at the core of these essential connections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2018

Timid new college student Greer Kadetsky, devoted to boyfriend Cory but otherwise uncertain of her life and herself, has a sudden sense of purpose when she hears leading feminist Faith Frank speak on campus. Remarkably, Faith takes an interest in Greer, setting her on an unexpected new path. Timely reading as circumstances revivify the fight for women's rights; from the New York Times best-selling author of The Interestings.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2018

As a college freshman, Greer Kadetsky is smart and ambitious but timid when it comes to speaking her mind. A sexual assault leads her to a campus talk by iconic feminist Faith Frank, and a personal conversation following the event eventually materializes into a job at Faith's foundation, Loci. While still in thrall to Faith, Greer begins to question the practices and priorities of Loci, which is funded by a corporation with a mixed record. Meanwhile, Greer also struggles with her relationships with boyfriend Cory and best friend Zee. This novel, which feels very much of the moment, wrestles with issues of sexism, the corporatization of politics, and conflicts between second-wave feminism and 21st-century intersectional feminism and progressivism. At the same time, Wolitzer (The Interestings) also delves into mentorship, female friendship, gender roles, privilege, class, and emotional labor (without necessarily labeling them as such). It's a big book, and the detours into the lives of supporting characters sometimes feel like diversions, though it all fits into the broad canvas that the author is painting. She doesn't demonize, even when her characters display deep flaws, and in the end, strikes a note of positivity in troubled times. VERDICT Sure to be in demand: an essential purchase. [See Prepub Alert, 10/22/17.]--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.