In Her Words: Women’s Fiction Highlights

Updated February 26, 2023
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Agnes Grey
Brontë, Anne
Paper Book
Anne Brontë's classic debut novel about life as a Victorian governess, with a new introduction by historian and biographer Juliet Barker.When Agnes Grey's family falls on hard times she insists on being allowed to find work as a governess, but her idealistic spirit is challenged in her first...
A room made of leaves : a novel
Grenville, Kate
Paper Book
What if Elizabeth Macarthur-wife of the notorious John Macarthur, wool baron in the earliest days of Sydney-had written a shockingly frank secret memoir? And what if novelist Kate Grenville had miraculously found and published it? That's the starting point forA Room Made of Leaves, a playful...
Circe
Miller, Madeline
Paper Book
This #1 New York Times bestseller is a "bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story" that brilliantly reimagines the life of Circe, formidable sorceress of The Odyssey (Alexandra Alter, TheNew York Times). In the house of Helios,...
Little women
Alcott, Louisa May
Paper Book
The illustrations for this series were created by Scott McKowen, who, with his wife Christina Poddubiuk, operates Punch & Judy Inc., a company specializing in design and illustration for theater and performing arts. Their projects often involve research into the visual aspects of...
Moxie
Mathieu, Jennifer
Paper Book
Now a Netflix Original Film directed by Amy Poehler! "Moxie is sweet, funny, and fierce. Read this and then join the fight."--Amy Poehler An unlikely teenager starts a feminist revolution at a small-town Texas high school in this novel from...
The bell jar
Plath, Sylvia
Paper Book
One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels A beautifully designed Harper Perennial Deluxe Edition of this haunting American classic: a realistic and emotional novel about a woman battling mental illness and societal pressures written by the iconic American writer Sylvia Plath. ...
Does My Body Offend You?
Mayra Cuevas
Paper Book
A timely story of two teenagers who discover the power of friendship, feminism, and standing up for what you believe in, no matter where you come from. A collaboration between two gifted authors writing from alternating perspectives, this compelling novel shines with authenticity, courage, and...
Enola Holmes and the black barouche
Springer, Nancy
Paper Book
"A young girl who is empowered, capable, and smart...the Enola Holmes book series convey an impactful message that you can do anything if you set your mind to it, and it does so in an exciting and adventurous way."--Millie Bobby Brown Enola Holmes is back! Nancy Springer's...
Cinderella is dead
Bayron, Kalynn
Paper Book
"Wholly original and captivating." - Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of A Curse So Dark and Lonely Girls team up to overthrow the kingdom in this unique and powerful retelling of Cinderella from a stunning new voice that's perfect for fans of...
Pandora's jar : women in the Greek myths
Haynes, Natalie
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Funny, sharp explications of what these sometimes not-very-nice women were up to, and how they sometimes made idiots of . . . but read on!"--Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale The national bestselling author of A Thousand Ships returns with a...
Hearts of Gold
French, Jackie.
Ebook
Scary monsters
De Kretser, Michelle
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2022 Kirkus Prize for Fiction Shortlisted for the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award Shortlisted for the 2023 Rathbones Folio Prize Longlisted for the 2022 Gordon Burn Prize (UK) A profoundly original exploration of racism, misogyny, and ageism-...
Ship of destiny
Hobb, Robin.
Paper Book
The third book in a seafaring fantasy trilogy that George R. R. Martin has described as "even better than the Farseer Trilogy--I didn't think that was possible." As Bingtown slides toward disaster, clan matriarch Ronica Vestrit, branded a traitor, searches for a way to bring the...
The Women Could Fly
Giddings, Megan.
Paper Book
Reminiscent of the works of Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, and Octavia Butler, a biting social commentary from the acclaimed author of Lakewood that speaks to our times--a piercing dystopian novel about the unbreakable bond between a young woman and her mysterious mother, set in a world in...
The personal librarian
Benedict, Marie
Paper Book
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world as she helps build a world-class collection. But...
The mercies : a novel
Hargrave, Kiran Millwood
Paper Book
After the men in an Arctic Norwegian town are wiped out, the women must survive a sinister threat in this "perfectly told" 1600s parable of "a world gone mad" (Adriana Trigiani).   Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty-year-old Maren Magnusdatter stands on...
Vox
Dalcher, Christina.
Paper Book
ONE OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY'S AND SHEREADS' BOOKS TO READ AFTER THE HANDMAID'S TALE "[An] electrifying debut."--O, The Oprah Magazine * "The real-life parallels will make you shiver."--Cosmopolitan Set in a United States in which half the population...
When women were dragons a novel
Barnhill, Kelly Regan
Paper Book
A GOODREADS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * A fiery feminist fantasy tale set in 1950s America where thousands of women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of a woman's place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are.   ...
Girl, woman, other
Evaristo, Bernardine
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE "A must-read about modern Britain and womanhood . . . An impressive, fierce novel about the lives of black British families, their struggles, pains, laughter, longings and loves . . . Her style is passionate, razor-sharp, brimming with...
Ella enchanted
Levine, Gail Carson.
Paper Book
This beloved Newbery Honor-winning story about a feisty heroine is sure to enchant readers new and old.  At her birth, Ella of Frell receives a foolish fairy's gift--the "gift" of obedience. Ella must obey any order, whether it's to hop on one foot for a day and a half, or to chop off...
Not Safe For Work
Kaplan, Isabel.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * FINALIST FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION'S FIRST NOVEL PRIZE * "An intoxicating exploration of male-dominated workplaces . . . NSFW is gripping, with a lot to unpack, making it excellent book-club fodder."--TIME Named an...
Hag-seed : The tempest retold
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The beloved author of The Handmaid's Tale reimagines Shakespeare's final, great play, The Tempest, in a gripping and emotionally rich novel of passion and revenge.   "A marvel of gorgeous yet...
Her body and other parties : stories
Machado, Carmen Maria
Paper Book
Finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction "[These stories] vibrate with originality, queerness, sensuality and the strange."--Roxane Gay "In these formally brilliant and emotionally charged tales, Machado gives literal shape to women's memories and...
Ithaca
North, Claire.
Paper Book
From the multi-award-winning author Claire North comes a daring reimagining that breathes life into ancient myth and gives voice to the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men. It's time for the women of Ithaca to tell their tale . . . "North...
Madam
Wynne, Phoebe
Paper Book
"The simmering menace and mystery kept me absolutely gripped...a smoldering novel that I could not put down." --Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne "Rebecca meets The Secret History: gloriously dark, gloriously Gothic." --Sara Collins...
Mrs Dalloway
Woolf, Virginia
Paper Book
Direct and vivid in its telling of the details of a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, the novel manages ultimately to deliver much more. It is the feelings that loom behind those daily events--the social alliances, the shopkeeper's exchange, the fact of death--that give Mrs. Dalloway texture and...
Ship of magic
Hobb, Robin
Paper Book
The first book in a seafaring fantasy trilogy that George R. R. Martin has described as "even better than the Farseer Trilogy--I didn't think that was possible." Bingtown is a hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships--rare vessels carved from...
Salt slow
Armfield, Julia
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award From White Review Short Story Prize winner Julia Armfield, a brilliant, provocative debut story collection for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Kelly Link. In her electrifying debut,...
The witch's heart
Gornichec, Genevieve
Paper Book
Angrboda's story begins where most witch's tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to give him knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into a remote forest. There she is found by a man Loki, and her initial distrust grows into a...
The Black Coats
Oakes, Colleen.
Paper Book
ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE. IF YOU HURT US, WE'RE COMING FOR YOU. Moxie meets Female of the Species in this powerful, thrilling, and deeply resonant novel about a secret society of girls who plot revenge on the men who hurt them. The enigmatic Black Coats have been exacting...
Spinning silver
Novik, Naomi
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "One of the year's strongest fantasy novels" (NPR), an imaginative retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale from the bestselling author of Uprooted.NEBULA AND HUGO AWARD FINALIST * NAMED ONE OF PASTE'S...
The case of the bizarre bouquets
Springer, Nancy
Paper Book
Don't miss Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquess! Now a Netflix original movie starring Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, and Helena Bonham Carter! Enola Holmes--younger sister to Sherlock Holmes--is back on another case! Everyone knows Dr....
The case of the cryptic crinoline
Springer, Nancy
Paper Book
Don't miss Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquess! Now a Netflix original movie starring Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, and Helena Bonham Carter! Enola Holmes--younger sister to Sherlock Holmes--is back on another case! Enola Holmes's landlady,...
The color purple
Walker, Alice
Paper Book
Read the original inspiration for the new, boldly reimagined film from producers Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, and Fantasia Barrino. Celebrating its fortieth anniversary, The Color Purple writes a message of healing,...
Gender swapped fairy tales
Fransman, Karrie
Paper Book
Discover a collection of fairy tales unlike the ones you've read before . . . Once upon a time, in the middle of winter, a King sat at a window and sewed. As he sewed and gazed out onto the landscape, he pricked his finger with the needle, and three drops of blood fell onto the...
The dictionary of lost words
Williams, Pip
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * "Delightful . . . [a] captivating and slyly subversive fictional paean to the real women whose work on the Oxford English Dictionary went largely unheralded."--The New York Times Book Review "A marvelous...
The invisible life of Addie LaRue
Schwab, Victoria
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER USA TODAY BESTSELLER NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER THE WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, NPR, Slate, and Oprah...
The end of men
Sweeney-Baird, Christina
Paper Book
"The End of Men is a fiercely intelligent page-turner, an eerily prescient novel, at once thoughtful and highly emotive." --Paula Hawkins, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Girl on the Train Set in a world where a virus stalks our male population, The End...
The handmaid's tale
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
Now a Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss. The Handmaid's Tale is an instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from "the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction" (New York Times) The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its...
Six of crows
Bardugo, Leigh
Paper Book
See the Grishaverse come to life on screen with the Netflix series, Shadow and Bone -- Season 2 streaming now! Meet Kaz Brekker and his crew: Jesper, Inej, Wylan, and the star-crossed Nina and Matthias, on the heist of a lifetime in Six of Crows from #1...
Kim Jiyoung, born 1982 = Palsip yi nyeon saeng Kim Jiyeong
Cho, Nam-ju
Paper Book
One of the most notable novels of the year, hailed by both critics and K-pop stars alike, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 follows one woman's psychic deterioration in the face of rampant misogyny. In a tidy apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, millennial "everywoman" Kim Jiyoung spends her days caring for...
The lost sisterhood : a novel
Fortier, Anne
Paper Book
From the author of the "New York Times" bestseller "Juliet" comes a mesmerizing novel about a young scholar who risks her reputation--and her life--on a thrilling journey to prove that the legendary warrior women known as the Amazons actually existed. Oxford lecturer Diana Morgan is an expert...
The priory of the orange tree
Shannon, Samantha
Paper Book
The New York Times bestselling "epic feminist fantasy perfect for fans of Game of Thrones" (Bustle). NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: AMAZON (Top 100 Editors Picks and Science Fiction and Fantasy) * CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY * BOOKPAGE...
Joan makes history
Grenville, Kate
Ebook
In this rollicking, irreverent tour de force, Kate Grenville rewrites the familiar past. Joan is a wife and mother of no great distinction, but in the life of her imagination she is on the front line of events, effortlessly subverting the solemnity of momentous occasions and cheerfully altering the...
The once and future witches
Harrow, Alix E.
Paper Book
"A gorgeous and thrilling paean to the ferocious power of women. The characters live, bleed, and roar. "―Laini Taylor, New York Times bestselling author A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best...
The Penelopiad
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
Penelope's slyly brilliant side of the story, from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Blind Assassin and The Handmaid's Tale.
Daughter of the forest
Marillier, Juliet
Ebook
Daughter of the Forest is a testimony to an incredible author's talent, a first novel and the beginning of a trilogy like no other: a mixture of history and fantasy, myth and magic, legend and love. Lord Colum of Sevenwaters is blessed with six sons: Liam, a natural...
Violeta
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * This sweeping novel from the author of A Long Petal of the Sea tells the epic story of Violeta Del Valle, a woman whose life spans one hundred years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century. "An immersive saga...
Ines of my soul
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
Nacida en Espana, y proveniente de una familia pobre, Ines Suarez sobrevive a diario trabajando como costurera. Es el siglo dieciseis, y la conquista de America esta apenas comenzando. Cuando un dia el esposo de Ines desaparece rumbo al Nuevo Mundo, ella aprovecha para partir en busca de el y...
Island beneath the sea : a novel
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
"Allende is a master storyteller at the peak of her powers." -- Los Angeles Times From the sugar plantations of Saint-Domingue to the lavish parlors of New Orleans at the turn of the 19th century, the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende (Inés of...
Home fire
Shamsie, Kamila
Paper Book
"Ingenious... Builds to one of the most memorable final scenes I've read in a novel this century." --The New York Times WINNER OF THE 2018 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST FOR THE 2019 INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD LONGLISTED FOR...
Women talking
Toews, Miriam
Paper Book
The internationally bestselling novel based on real events. Now a major motion picture from writer/director Sarah Polley, starring Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, with Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand. "This amazing, sad, shocking, but touching novel, based on a real...
Who is Vera Kelly?
Knecht, Rosalie
Paper Book
New York City, 1962. Vera Kelly is struggling to make rent and blend into the underground gay scene in Greenwich Village. She's working night shifts at a radio station when her quick wits, sharp tongue, and technical skills get her noticed by a recruiter for the CIA. ...
Liberation
Kealey, Imogen
Paper Book
Inspired by the true story of World War II's greatest heroine, this international bestseller and "cinematic treat" tells the story of Nancy Wake and the impact she had on the world (Publishers Weekly). Hero. Soldier. Spy. Leader. Her name is Nancy Wake. ...
Uprooted
Novik, Naomi
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NEBULA AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL * Naomi Novik, author of the New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed Temeraire novels, introduces a bold new world rooted in folk stories and legends, as elemental as a Grimm fairy tale. HUGO AWARD FINALIST * NAMED...
The Underground Railroad
Whitehead, Colson
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * "An American masterpiece" (NPR) that chronicles a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. One of The New York Times's 10...
The testaments
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE * The Testaments is a modern masterpiece, a powerful novel that can be read on its own or as a companion to Margaret Atwood's classic, The Handmaid's Tale. More than fifteen years after the events of...
Sherwood
Spooner, Meagan
Paper Book
Fans of Danielle Paige, Marissa Meyer, and Alex Flinn will devour New York Times bestselling author Meagan Spooner's next fierce fairy tale-inspired story, which Illuminae author Amie Kaufman calls "a kick-ass, gender-flipped feminist retelling." Robin of Locksley is dead. Maid...
The red tent
Diamant, Anita
Paper Book
Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that are about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoils of ancient...
The case of the left-handed lady
Springer, Nancy
Paper Book
In her follow-up to The Case of the Missing Marquess, Springer brings readers back to the danger and intrigue of Victorian London as she continues the adventures of Sherlock Holmes's sister.
The case of the gypsy good-bye
Springer, Nancy.
Paper Book
Don't miss Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquess! Now a Netflix original movie starring Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, and Helena Bonham Carter! Enola Holmes--younger sister to Sherlock Holmes--is back on another case! As Enola searches...

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