In Her Words: Women’s Fiction Highlights

Updated February 26, 2023
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Agnes Grey
Brontë, Anne
Paper Book
When her family becomes impoverished after a disastrous financial speculation, Agnes Grey determines to find work as a governess in order to contribute to their meagre income and assert her independence. But Agnes's enthusiasm is swiftly extinguished as she struggles first with the unmanageable...
A room made of leaves : a novel
Grenville, Kate
Paper Book
*NEW NOVEL RESTLESS DOLLY MAUNDER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024*FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AND WOMEN'S PRIZE-WINNING AUSTRALIAN NOVELIST SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTIONIt is 1788. Twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth is hungry for life but, as the...
Circe
Miller, Madeline
Paper Book
The international Number One bestseller from the author of The Song of Achilles, shortlisted for the Women's Prize for FictionWoman. Witch. Myth. Mortal. Outcast. Lover. Destroyer. Survivor. CIRCE. In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is...
Little women
Alcott, Louisa May
Paper Book
One of the best loved books of all time.Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read Lovely Meg, talented Jo, frail Beth, spoiled Amy- these are hard lessons of poverty and of growing up in New England during the Civil War. Through their...
Moxie
Mathieu, Jennifer
Paper Book
MOXIE movie launching on NETFLIX on 3rd March 2021, directed by and starring Amy Poehler. 'I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!' Zoella '... this is my new favorite book. I'm proud to be a Moxie girl!' Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places...
The bell jar
Plath, Sylvia
Paper Book
A student from Boston wins a guest editorship on a national magazine, and finds a new world at her feet. Her New York life is crowded with possibilities, so the choice of future is overwhelming. She is faced with the perennial problems of morality, behaviour and identity.
Enola Holmes and the black barouche
Springer, Nancy
Paper Book
Pandora's jar : women in the Greek myths
Haynes, Natalie
Paper Book
Natalie Haynes is the nation's muse' Adam RutherfordThe Greek myths are among the world's most important cultural building blocks and they have been retold many times, but rarely do they focus on the remarkable women at the heart of these ancient stories.Stories of gods and monsters are the mainstay...
Ship of destiny
Hobb, Robin.
Paper Book
'Even better than the Farseer books. I didn't think that was possible' GEORGE RR MARTIN The triumphant conclusion to the magnificent Liveship Traders series. The dragon, Tintaglia, released from her wizardwood coffin, flies high over the Rain Wild River. Below...
The Women Could Fly
Giddings, Megan.
Paper Book
"Megan Giddings's prose is brimming with wonder. The Women Could Fly is a candid appraisal of grief, inheritance, and the merits of unruliness." - Raven Leilani Reminiscent of the works of Margaret Atwood, Deborah Harkness, and Octavia E. Butler, The Women Could...
The mercies : a novel
Hargrave, Kiran Millwood
Paper Book
The Sunday Times Bestseller and BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick. For readers of Circe and The Handmaid's Tale, Kiran Millwood Hargrave's The Mercies is a story about a love that could prove as dangerous as it is powerful. Winter, 1617...
Vox
Dalcher, Christina.
Paper Book
'This book will blow your mind' PRIMA 'Disturbing' LEE CHILD 'A petrifying reimagining of The Handmaid's Tale' ELLE 'Left me speechless' DAILY MAIL 'Terrifying' RED 'A novel ripe for the #MeToo era' VANITY FAIR 'Extraordinary' LOUISE O'NEILL 'The...
When women were dragons a novel
Barnhill, Kelly Regan
Ebook
Girl, woman, other
Evaristo, Bernardine
Paper Book
With her historic Booker win, Bernardine Evaristo is the author everyone is talking about. The standout book of 2019, Girl, Woman, Other is the number book you need to read this year. ***WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019*** SUNDAY...
Hag : forgotten folktales retold
Fačy, Bernard
Paper Book
'Engaging, modern fables with a feminist tang' Sunday Times DARK, POTENT AND UNCANNY, HAG BURSTS WITH THE UNTOLD STORIES OF OUR ISLES, CAPTURED IN VOICES AS VARIED AS THEY ARE VIVID. Here are sisters fighting for the love of the same...
Not Safe For Work
Kaplan, Isabel.
Paper Book
The compulsively readable novel about a young woman trying to succeed in Hollywood without selling her soul - perfect for fans of Sweetbitter, My Dark Vanessa and Exciting Times 'Glittering. A funny, spiky, compulsive story about toxic workplaces, lean...
Hag-seed : The tempest retold
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
** Longlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction **Selected as a Book of the Year -- Observer, Sunday Times, Times, Guardian, i magazine 'It's got a thunderstorm in it. And revenge. Definitely revenge.' Felix is at the top of his game as Artistic Director of the...
Her body and other parties : stories
Machado, Carmen Maria
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FICTION PRIZE 2017SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2018'Brilliantly inventive and blazingly smart' Garth Greenwell'Impossible, imperfect, unforgettable' Roxane Gay'A wild thing ... covered in sequins and scales, blazing with the influence...
Ithaca
North, Claire.
Paper Book
Madam
Wynne, Phoebe
Paper Book
Mrs Dalloway
Woolf, Virginia
Paper Book
A brand new series of five of Woolf's major works, in beautifully designed hardback editions On a June morning in 1923, Clarissa Dalloway is preparing for a party and remembering her past. Elsewhere in London, Septimus Smith is suffering from shell-shock and on the brink of madness. Their days...
Salt slow
Armfield, Julia
Paper Book
In her brilliantly inventive and haunting debut collection of stories, Julia Armfield explores the body, mapping the skin and bones of her characters through their experiences of isolation, obsession, love and revenge. 'Wickedly clever prose and a sense of humour that seems to...
The witch's heart
Gornichec, Genevieve
Paper Book
When a banished witch falls in love with legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology. Angrboda's story begins where most witch tales end: with a burning...
Spinning silver
Novik, Naomi
Paper Book
Spinning Silver is a new take on the classic fairytale Rumpelstiltskin, from Naomi Novik, the author of the award-winning Uprooted.Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father is not a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has left his family on the...
The case of the bizarre bouquets
Springer, Nancy
Paper Book
The case of the cryptic crinoline
Springer, Nancy
Paper Book
The color purple
Walker, Alice
Paper Book
Gender swapped fairy tales
Fransman, Karrie
Paper Book
Imagine a world where kings prick their fingers as they sew, wolves wear heels, and princesses race to rescue sleeping princes...
The dictionary of lost words
Williams, Pip
Paper Book
'An enchanting story about love, loss and the power of language' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory Sometimes you have to start with what's lost to truly find yourself... Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood at...
Gender Swapped Greek Myths
Karrie Fransman
Paper Book
A new captivating, inspiring, and totally perspective-shifting volume from the wife and husband team behind Gender Swapped Fairy Tales.
The invisible life of Addie LaRue
Schwab, Victoria
Paper Book
When Addie La Rue makes a pact with the devil, she trades her soul for immortality. But there's always a price -- the devil takes away her place in the world, cursing her to be forgotten by everyone. Addie flees her tiny hometown in 18th-Century France, beginning a journey that takes...
The end of men
Sweeney-Baird, Christina
Paper Book
'A FIERCELY INTELLIGENT PAGE-TURNER' PAULA HAWKINS 'WRITTEN PRE-COVID - GRIPPING, SCARY AND PERSUASIVE' IAN RANKIN 'THE STUFF THAT CLASSICS ARE MADE OF' A.J. FINN 'GRIPPING AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN. WHAT A DEBUT!' SARAH...
The handmaid's tale
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
** THE SUNDAY TIMESNO. 1 BESTSELLER ** Go back to where it all began with the dystopian novel behind the award-winning TV series. 'The Handmaid's Talechanged me profoundly, hopefully for the better'Lee Child, Guardian ...
Six of crows
Bardugo, Leigh
Paper Book
Game of Thrones meets Ocean's Eleven in this brand new fantasy epic from the #1 New York Timesbestselling author of Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising, Leigh Bardugo. As gripping, sweeping and memorable as the Grisha trilogy, Six of Crows...
Kim Jiyoung, born 1982 = Palsip yi nyeon saeng Kim Jiyeong
Cho, Nam-ju
Paper Book
A GUARDIAN 'ONE TO LOOK OUT FOR 2020'  A RED MAGAZINE 'CAN'T WAIT TO READ' BOOK OF 2020   THE MULTI-MILLION-COPY SELLING SOUTH KOREAN SENSATION THAT HAS GOT THE WHOLE WORLD TALKING Kim Jiyoung is a...
The priory of the orange tree
Shannon, Samantha
Paper Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'The new Game of Thrones' Stylist'Puts Samantha Shannon in the same league as Robin Hobb and George R.R. Martin. Shannon is a master of dragons' Starburst'Epic fantasy with added dragons. A...
The once and future witches
Harrow, Alix E.
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Glorious . . . a tale that will sweep you away' Yangsze Choo, New York Times bestselling author of The Night Tiger 'A gorgeous and thrilling paean to the ferocious power of women' Laini Taylor,...
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.
Violeta
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
_______________THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL FROM LITERARY LEGEND ISABEL ALLENDE_______________'Epic, beautifully crafted . . . Gripping from start to finish' DAILY TELEGRAPH'A moving exploration of both the pain and the freedom of...
Island beneath the sea : a novel
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
From the sugar plantations of Saint-Domingue to the lavish parlours of New Orleans at the turn of the 19th century, Isabel Allende's latest novel tells the story of a mulatta woman, a slave and concubine, determined to take control of her own destiny in a society where that would seem impossible....
Home fire
Shamsie, Kamila
Paper Book
_______________WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION WINNER OF THE LONDON HELLENIC PRIZEA BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN, EVENING STANDAND AND NEW YORK TIMES_______________'The book for our times' - Judges of...
Women talking
Toews, Miriam
Paper Book
A profound, unsettling and virtuosic piece of fiction from the award-winning author of All My Puny Sorrows.
Liberation
Kealey, Imogen
Paper Book
Louis & Louise
Cohen, Julie
Paper Book
'It's BRILLIANT. I enjoyed it hugely' Marian Keyes ***** Two people. Two lives. One chance to see the same world differently. Louis and Louise are the same person born in two different lives. One was born female...
Uprooted
Novik, Naomi
Paper Book
A dark enchantment blights the land in the award-winning Uprooted - a captivating fantasy inspired by fairy tales and steeped in Slavic folklore from Naomi Novik, author of the Scholomance trilogy and the Temeraire series. 'A great heroine, new takes on old myths and...
The Underground Railroad
Whitehead, Colson
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2017 WINNER OF THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD 2017 LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER 2016 AMAZON.COM #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016 ...
Revenge of the sluts
Walton, Natalie
Paper Book
Double standards are about to get singled out. As a lead reporter for The Warrior Weekly, Eden has covered her fair share of stories at St. Joseph's High School. And when intimate pictures of seven female students are anonymously emailed to the entire school, Eden is...
The tomb of Hercules
McDermott, Andy.
Audiobook
The testaments
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
** WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019 ** ** SUNDAY TIMESNO. 1 BESTSELLER ** BOOK OF THE YEAR- Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard,Stylist, Sunday Times,Financial Times,...
The case of the left-handed lady
Springer, Nancy
Paper Book
The cotton town girls
Fleming, Leah
Paper Book
A heart-warming story of female friendship in the tumultuous days of the Suffragette movement... Sophia Seddon and Grace Thompson are poles apart - the one a member of the notorious Seddons of Plover Street, the other the vicar's spoilt only child. But their...
The case of the gypsy good-bye
Springer, Nancy.
Paper Book
The long, long afternoon
Vesper, Inga
Paper Book
A gripping and beguiling debut reading group mystery for fans of Tigers in Red Weather and Tangerine.
The princess and the suffragette
Webb, Holly
Paper Book
It is 1913, nine years after the end of A Little Princess saw Sara Crewe escape Miss Minchin's orphanage. Lottie, the smallest girl from the original story, learns about the Suffragette movement from Sara, who returns to visit from time to time. Soon Lottie finds herself sneaking out of the...
The secret of excalibur
McDermott, Andy.
Paper Book

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