Meg Wolitzer’s New Novel Takes On the Politics of Women’s Mentorship

It will be tempting for most critics to approach “The Female Persuasion” through the lens of the current political climate — perhaps nigh impossible for them not to.

• Lena Dunham
• The New York Times

Meg Wolitzer’s 12th novel begins with a campus assault that leads to a protest that leads to an intergenerational feminist debate that takes a turn for the toxic.

It’s as if a healthy portion of the Twittersphere were aggregated, swallowed and spit back out as the plot of a literary novel.

And who will blame these critics?

The novel’s protagonist, Greer Kadetsky — who starts the book as a faceless college freshman “absorbed…

• Meg Wolitzer’s New…