Book Chatter

The Female Persuasion
By Meg Wolitzer
Riverhead Books, 9781594488405, April 3, 2018, 464pp.

The Short of It:

I love it when a book makes you feel things.

The Rest of It:

Greer Kadetsky is young and smart and vibrant but she’s resentful because of a mistake her parents made with her financial aid forms. Instead of Yale, she ends up at another university where her boyfriend is not. This separation isolates her and makes it difficult to fit in. One night, she meets a guy who takes advantage of her, and it occurs to her that men like him exist for the sole purpose of treating women like objects, taking what they believe to be rightfully theirs.

In protest, she attends a feminist rally while wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with this loser’s face. Faith Frank is in attendance and Greer is in awe. Faith is older, more refined and brilliant. Her passion while speaking stretches to the back of the room and Greer is changed forever. Completely smitten by Faith, Greer is ecstatic when she is offered an entry-level position with Faith’s magazine.

The Female Persuasion is mostly about Greer and her evolution as a woman fighting for women’s rights but there are some other characters who occupy space in this novel. For one, Greer’s boyfriend, who suffers a devastating loss that changes him in ways that Greer never imagined. Faith’s fight for funding and her endless pursuit of elevating women’s rights is tarnished by one, not-so-slight oversight. Greer’s closest friend Zee, is betrayed by Greer which is so ironic given the circumstances and what Greer does for a living.

This is a large, impressive read. I found myself re-reading passages because some of them beg to be re-read, digested and pondered. When I turned to that last page, I felt deeply satisfied with the story’s ending but also somewhat uneasy about the state of the world we live in. A little sick, really.

I think men will shy away from a book like this but there’s something in it for them too if they give it a chance.

Get a copy and read it.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Sunday Matters

How is everyone doing? The school year is coming to a close. It’s been a good year for The Girl but we are ready for a change of pace.

Right Now:

Kind of a routine day. Church, errands, more church.

This Week:

Theatre has their Senior Showcase this Tuesday. The Girl was asked to be in one of the student directed scenes so we will be going to that. Should be fun. They are doing four pieces from the show Parade.

The Girl made JV volleyball for next year. Yay!

My son is doing well in Orlando but they are having some weather which has forced Typhoon Lagoon to close a few times. Closing means loss of hours so this concerns him a little. Also, he was extended until July 26 which I shared here but most of his good friends were not extended. They all left last week which has caused him to be a little homesick. Understandable.

Reading:

I am in the final pages of The Female Persuasion. I will probably post the review sometime this week. I am digging it.

King’s new book comes out this week! The Outsider sounds very good. I hope it is. No formal read-along but Nadia is going to read it with me! Anyone else plan to get it as soon as it comes out?

Watching:

Did you watch the Royal Wedding? I had plans to get up early, eat gluten-free crumpets and drink tea but 3 a.m. on my day off would have been a bit much.

On another note, Fear the Walking Dead is SO good this season. It was in dire need of something and I guess that something was a new cast and new writers. They’ve added many new characters and with Morgan crossing over from The Walking Dead, it’s really good now.

I am still watching the Roseanne reboot. It seems to be settling down a little. Not with the topics but the actors seem to be falling back into their roles. Initially it was rough going. Painful, even.

Making:

I finally made that big pot of pasta sauce I mentioned weeks ago so we ate pasta many times this past week. One night was grilled cheese sandwiches. I can’t really recall anything else. Food just hasn’t been that high of a priority these days.

Grateful for:

I am very grateful to have found the weird smell in my house. It should be noted that I have a very sensitive nose. I can smell the slightest thing and for weeks I have smelled something foul. Well, I found it. A little “puddle” left by The Otter Pup. Actually, it was a large, dried-up puddle. It has since been removed and now my house is clean smelling again.

Chatting with friends about books and life…