** TheNew York TimesBestseller ** ** BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime **

'The wit, intelligence and deep feeling of Wolitzer's writing are extraordinary' Jeffrey Eugenides

Greer didnt really know why Faith took an interest. But what she knew for sure, eventually, was that meeting Faith Frank was the thrilling beginning of everything. It would be a very long time before the unspeakable end.

Greer Kadetsky is a shy college student when she meets the woman who will shape her life. Faith Frank, dazzlingly persuasive and elegant, has been a pillar of the womens movement for decades, a figure who inspires others. Hearing Faith speak for the first time, in a crowded campus chapel, Greer misunderstood yet full of longing for an ambition that she cant quite place feels herself changed. And then, astonishingly, Faith invites her to make something out of this new sense of purpose, with a career opportunity that leads her down the most exciting and rewarding path as it winds towards and away from her meant-to-be love story with high school sweetheart Cory and the future she had always imagined.

Expansive and wise, compassionate and witty,The Female Persuasionis about the spark we all believe is flickering inside us, waiting to be seen and fanned by the right person at the right time, and the desire within all of us to be pulled into the light.