Women have always been writing. Whether they write diary entries with personal thoughts, journal entries with observations about life, essays, or books of any genre, they contribute a great deal to literature. Some have used male pseudonyms to secure a place in a male-dominated literary world where readers were often biased against women writers. Others use pen names to maintain their privacy, separate their writing from their professional careers, explore different genres, or protect their brand. Many have been incredibly successful and produced some of the best books around. Here are some of the best books by women writers.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was known in literary circles during her lifetime, but her work gained its widest recognition after her death by suicide at age 30. The Bell Jar was her only novel; most of her other work is poetry. It’s a semi-autobiographical story in which the main character, Esther Greenwood, struggles with societal expectations, identity, and personal autonomy while dealing with mental illness in the 1950s.
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
This collection of Dickinson’s poems is essential reading for fans of the poet. She was distinctive both in her themes of nature, death, and immortality and in her style. The collection contains nearly 1,800 poems showcasing her slant rhyme, unusual punctuation and vocabulary, short stanzas, and vivid imagery, all of which leave a powerful emotional impression on readers.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
In this moving memoir, Didion describes the loss and grief she experienced after her husband died suddenly of a heart attack while their daughter lay in intensive care. Through the idea of “magical thinking,” she explores the irrational thoughts and beliefs she held during that time, such as refusing to accept that her husband was really gone.
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The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
This psychological thriller follows a con artist who murders another man and takes over his identity, then tries to avoid discovery and escape the consequences of his crimes. It’s best to read the book first, but even if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll still understand why it’s special. The book is even better than the film.
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Buck was born in West Virginia to Presbyterian missionary parents, who returned to China when she was an infant. China would become the focus of her books. The Good Earth follows a farmer who struggles through poverty with his family, a demanding concubine, and the political upheaval of early 20th-century China. Later, he tries to pass his land on to his sons and preserve a way of life that depends on the earth to provide.
Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic As Power by Audre Lorde
Lorde was a professor, writer, and poet, as well as a philosopher, intersectional feminist, and civil rights activist. She seamlessly wove themes of self-discovery, identity, and the reclamation of personal power into her work. In this essay, she argues that the erotic is a profound and deeply misunderstood source of power and knowledge, one that has long been suppressed and mistaken for the obscene.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Born in the United States to Chinese immigrant parents, Tan explores Chinese culture, folklore, and the strict expectations parents place on their daughters. The Joy Luck Club is a novel told in alternating vignettes by four Chinese immigrant women and their American-born daughters. The title comes from the mothers’ club, where they play mah-jongg, eat, and tell stories.
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston
A haunting memoir that artfully blends Chinese folktales with the author’s own life story, this book follows a Chinese American girl struggling to balance her own identity with her parents’ expectations. Because its exact genre is hard to pinpoint, it was eventually classified as nonfiction, with the folktales providing personal, familial, and cultural context.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Mexican American author Sandra Cisneros wrote this novel as a series of vignettes. It follows a 12-year-old Chicana girl going through puberty and grappling with gender roles, identity, race, social class, and sexuality.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
A Little Life shows how a circle of friends can share their own world of struggles as they try to stay close despite success, wealth, pride, and addiction. More specifically, it follows four friends in New York City dealing with substance abuse, sexual assault, and depression. Yanagihara moves through time with flashbacks, third-person omniscient narration, and occasional first-person sections. At the center of it all is Jude, a traumatized, mysterious, and disabled legal genius. The novel explores male friendship alongside difficult subject matter, including trauma, self-harm, and suicide.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Harlem Renaissance produced a treasure trove of excellent works by African American authors, both male and female. Writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and documentary filmmaker Zora Neale Hurston writes in a style that combines dialect and lyrical prose, preserving African American culture. She is best known for Their Eyes Were Watching God, the story of Janie, a woman who returns to her hometown and recounts her life to a friend. Beginning with her sexual awakening and continuing through her search for love and her struggles in abusive relationships, Janie eventually discovers her identity, autonomy, and freedom.
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