Inspiring Female Voices in Literature
International Women's Day on 8th March is a global recognition of women’s achievements, with the aim of championing a better, fairer society for all. This year, the campaign focuses on equity – recognising that each person has different circumstances and creating the opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
With the day fast approaching, now is the perfect time to shine a literary light on some fantastic female authors whose work you may or may not already be familiar with. To celebrate, I’ve put together a short list of some recommended reads.
Singling out a small group of female writers is no easy task and there are so many wonderful names I could talk about for days! There are countless examples. Some of my own favourites include the likes of Dolly Alderton, Margaret Atwood, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Anita Brookner, Lydia Davis, Joan Didion, Elana Ferrante, Patricia Highsmith, Claire Keegan, Audre Lorde, Elizabeth Macneal, Toni Morrison, Samantha Shannon, Mary Shelley, Zadie Smith, Susan Sontag, Donna Tartt and Taylor Jenkins Reid to name just a few.
These selected books take a closer look at a variety of lived experiences of women around the world.
International Women's Day on 8th March is a global recognition of women’s achievements, with the aim of championing a better, fairer society for all. This year, the campaign focuses on equity – recognising that each person has different circumstances and creating the opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
With the day fast approaching, now is the perfect time to shine a literary light on some fantastic female authors whose work you may or may not already be familiar with. To celebrate, I’ve put together a short list of some recommended reads.
Singling out a small group of female writers is no easy task and there are so many wonderful names I could talk about for days! There are countless examples. Some of my own favourites include the likes of Dolly Alderton, Margaret Atwood, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Anita Brookner, Lydia Davis, Joan Didion, Elana Ferrante, Patricia Highsmith, Claire Keegan, Audre Lorde, Elizabeth Macneal, Toni Morrison, Samantha Shannon, Mary Shelley, Zadie Smith, Susan Sontag, Donna Tartt and Taylor Jenkins Reid to name just a few.
These selected books take a closer look at a variety of lived experiences of women around the world.
The View From Down Here by Lucy Webster
Women’s lives are shaped by sexism and expectations. Disabled people’s lives are shaped by ableism and a complete lack of expectations. But what happens when you’re subjected to both sets of rules? This powerful, honest, funny and at times furious memoir from journalist and advocate Lucy Webster takes a deeply personal look at life as a young disabled woman; the struggles, the joys, and the unseen realities that disabled women go through in their day to day lives. Throughout the book, Webster offers examples of her own experiences and perspectives which break down preconceptions around disability. Lucy Webster is a freelance journalist and writer known for her coverage of disability rights and living with disability. She has been writing about these topics for almost a decade. Her voice shines a light on what it really means to move through the world as a long term wheelchair user. |
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
In this extraordinarily candid and highly inventive memoir, Carmen Maria Machado tackles the dark and difficult subject of her experiences in an abusive same-sex relationship. The book itself takes a refreshingly inventive form. While most memoirs adhere to a somewhat predictable structure, In the Dream House creates its own set of rules and breaks away from all established formats. Instead of Machado's life, it focuses on the arc of the relationship. This format makes the book read almost like fiction or even a collection of diary entries. The first element that makes In the Dream House so inventive is that most of it is written in the second person. Much of the story takes place in a beautiful small house in Bloomington, Indiana, where Machado and her nameless girlfriend start living together shortly after they meet. They are young and in love. But darkness is hiding in every well-lit corner of their house, and it comes out constantly to remind Machado of a devastating truth: "Fantasy is, I think, the defining cliché of female queerness." Machado blurs the lines between memoir and essay. . It's raw and reflective, and the use of exploring trauma through tropes is so imaginative. Daring, chilling, and unlike anything else I’ve read. |
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Such a Fun Age is a wonderful novel about two very different women, all their quirks and habits, and what happens when their lives intersect. It’s a very engaging contemporary novel with a lot of nuance. The book highlights many racial issues, from two different points of view: Alix a successful, married white woman and Emira an “undecided” African American woman. Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living showing other women how to do the same. So, she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlain’s toddler one night. Seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, a security guard at their local high-end supermarket accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make it right. With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the awkwardness of working relationships, what it means to make someone ‘family’, the complicated reality of being a grown-up and the consequences of doing the right thing for the wrong reason. |
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Girl, Woman, Other follows twelve characters, most of them black British women, moving through the world in different decades and learning how to be. Each character has a chapter and within the chapters their lives overlap. It soon becomes clear that their experiences, backgrounds, and choices could not be more different. The characters are flawed and complex: for example Bummi, the immigrant parent who would rather her child did anything but bring home a white partner; and later, an affair that explores one of the worst ways one woman can betray another. When each section ends, we leave with a new perspective. I absolutely loved the way this book was written as a mix of prose and poetry, stripped of punctuation. This style helped to emphasise that this is an ongoing story: one woman's life rolling into the next, without end. Girl, Woman, Other is about struggle, but it is also about love, joy, and imagination. |
With International Women’s Day in mind, I would like to take this moment to clap and cheer for the many women creatives, particularly in the world of books, whose work means so much to me as a bibliophile. Alongside the featured books above, I’d also like to steer you towards one of literature's most heralded writers, the personality behind one of literature's great classics, shining a light on female authors in what was previously a male-dominated arena. I am of course referring to Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, one of the most enduring and influential myths of our time. It’s also one of my favourite classic reads, although whilst many think of Frankenstein as simply a work of horror, I have always found it a deeply human and emotional read.
In 1816, alongside her responsibilities to her household in a gendered role common for the time, eighteen-year-old Mary was writing her first draft of Frankenstein, the gothic novel which would eventually see her recognised as one of the early creators of science fiction. However, Frankenstein was not the first, nor was it the last, gothic novel of the period. Shelley first found her inspiration forFrankenstein following a dramatic night of ghost storytelling in Lake Geneva. The genre was expansive and very popular, especially with female readers. The influence of the gothic novel genre continues today in many modern works including titles such as Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry.
The finished novel was first published in 1818 and it is still considered her greatest masterpiece. However, Mary Shelley also wrote an array of other works, including novels Valperga, and The Last Man. She had more than twenty short stories published and several works of poetry and children’s literature, some of which she wrote with her husband, Percy Shelley.
The legacy of the iconic Victor Frankenstein and his creature certainly lives on, and Shelley’s original novel has been adapted, re-imagined, re-interpreted and brought to life over the years in a variety of ways. Her work has inspired numerous films, television programs, video games and derivative works. Frankenstein has influenced popular culture for at least a century, has never been out of print and continues to be studied by academics.
The finished novel was first published in 1818 and it is still considered her greatest masterpiece. However, Mary Shelley also wrote an array of other works, including novels Valperga, and The Last Man. She had more than twenty short stories published and several works of poetry and children’s literature, some of which she wrote with her husband, Percy Shelley.
The legacy of the iconic Victor Frankenstein and his creature certainly lives on, and Shelley’s original novel has been adapted, re-imagined, re-interpreted and brought to life over the years in a variety of ways. Her work has inspired numerous films, television programs, video games and derivative works. Frankenstein has influenced popular culture for at least a century, has never been out of print and continues to be studied by academics.
Whatever stage you're at in the endeavour to read more women, I hope these recommendations will inspire you on your journey as you to continue to seek out more diverse female voices in future.
I always enjoy recommending different books to fellow readers, so if you are ever stuck on what to try next, do feel free to head over to my socials for a few ideas!
I always enjoy recommending different books to fellow readers, so if you are ever stuck on what to try next, do feel free to head over to my socials for a few ideas!