I have picked this up more than once and considered reading it - even started it on one occasion. I gave up -but this time, because it was a book group suggestion, I stuck with it. It is not an easy read, but it is rewarding. I am so glad I persevered, and now understand why it's stood the test of time and considered an important book.
I wouldn't call it a feminist book. It's about a group of Vassar educated women of the 1930s, and the society they inhabited and how the issues of those days affected their lives. Believe me, those issues resonate today, and probably did for our mothers, and probably will for our daughters- particularly those about child rearing and feeding.
Some of the characters I found tedious and annoying, but I think they were bravely meant to be. Most were moving and some were uplifting and funny. This book is a complex, intricate, many shaded work of verbal tapestry, and if you read it I wonder which character will appeal to you most and why. That question was so entertainingly answered at our book group.