The Female Persuasion, Meg Wolitzer

The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer was recommended by an article in The Atlantic.  In terms of classification this would probably be put as a feminist novel.  My understanding, however, is that this is simply a well written book with a good story.

Started: 6/24/2019

Completed: 7/10/2019

Recommendation: Mild Recommendation

Recommended By:  The Atlantic

Review:

This was a well conceived book.  I did not like the ending and that has had an impact on my thinking of the whole book.

The end felt rushed.  It felt like there was so much more to be explored, but a bow was needed so it was applied.  There is no doubt that the book focuses on overcoming adversity from many different perspectives and with several different personality types.  Maybe it is the need to make a feel good book, but it always seems that the characters do, indeed, overcome the adversity with which they are faced no matter what the character flaws highlighted.  That feels contrived.  Thus the book avoids being too much of a drama, but it falls apart for me because no one is actually overwhelmed by the dire circumstances in which each character appears.

Personally, this book offered some insights into feminist thinking, but, really, it isn't all that different from the thinking I had been doing.  It emphasized to me, however, that these thoughts need to be considered and more often at the forefront of my mind.