Women’s Rights | Book Chatter

Enormous Wings
By Laurie Frankel
Henry Holt & Co., May 2026, 304pp.

The Short of It

Funny, sharp, and unexpectedly moving, this novel tackles a deeply divisive issue with both humor and emotional weight.

The Rest of It

At seventy-seven, Pepper Mills is preparing for a new chapter at Vista View, a retirement community in Austin. She still has her health, a devoted family, and plenty of spirit, but even she has started to wonder if it is finally time for a safer, more supportive place to live.

What Pepper never expects is love.

When she meets Timothy, affectionately known as Moth, she finds herself swept into a romance that feels as surprising as it is genuine. After spending decades building a life centered around everyone else, Pepper suddenly has the chance to focus on her own happiness. Her adult children support her. Even her ex-husband, who also lives at Vista View, seems encouraging.

For once, life feels wide open.

Then everything changes.

A sudden curveball forces Pepper into a decision she is absolutely certain about, but one that is illegal in the state of Texas. What follows is both deeply personal and politically charged, especially given the risks her age already places on her. Still, Pepper is not the type to back down quietly. She is bold, funny, stubborn, and more than willing to fight for what she believes is right.

The novel shines in its quieter moments at Vista View, where Pepper’s friendships and late-in-life romance add warmth and humor. But Frankel does not let the story remain light for long. What begins as a charming and witty tale quickly transforms into something far more urgent as themes of women’s rights and bodily autonomy take center stage.

Pepper is an unforgettable protagonist: empathetic, outspoken, vulnerable, and fiercely determined. Frankel balances the sweetness of the romance with the seriousness of the larger issue, creating a story that feels both entertaining and important.

While I wish the ending had taken a slightly different direction, this is still a book I would strongly recommend. Its message is timely, thought-provoking, and impossible to ignore.

Source: Review copy sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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.

Chatting with friends about books and life…