The Western canon heavily skews towards male authors, with female authors rarely considered as worthy. I think I can say that none of us are surprised… However, I will do what I always do and take my opportunity to share the works that deserve our attention. (It is Women’s History Month, of course- you should be reading works written by women year-round, though…) These are 7 classic books written by women that you should read!
7 Classic Books Written By Women
I will posit this up front: this list does skew towards white, western authors. I myself am working on broadening my reading scope, and as more translations are being released, there are so many more books from women around the world that are available to us.
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (Fiction)
When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.
Why You Should Read This…
Austen is an exceptionally perceptive author and so perfectly highlights how complex we are as people. Many will write off Pride and Prejudice (and the rest of Austen’s works) as romantic comedy, but that could not be further from the truth. Read this for the interpersonal layers that run through all of our lives.
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (Fiction)
‘Never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome, yet appalling hideousness’
A twisted, upside-down creation myth, Mary Shelley’s chilling Gothic tale lays bare the dark side of science, and the horror within us all. It tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, who plunders graveyards to create a new being from the bodies of the dead – but whose botched creature causes nothing but murder and destruction. Written after a nightmare when its author was only eighteen, Frankenstein gave birth to the modern science fiction novel.
Why You Should Read This…
The first science fiction novel ever written, Frankenstein is lauded for a reason- it delves into the human condition in a way that few other novels have in the two centuries since its publishing. Read this when you need to ponder why humans are the way we are.
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë (Fiction)
Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, where she endures loneliness and cruelty, and at a charity school with a harsh regime. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane’s natural independence and spirit – which prove necessary when she finds a position as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre (1847) dazzled and shocked readers with its passionate depiction of a woman’s search for equality and freedom.
Why You Should Read This…
I am not a massive Brontë fan but I can admit that Anne, Charlotte, and Emily’s novels are considered some of the greats for a reason. I personally find that Jane Eyre balances the bildungsroman (aka a novel that follows growth from youth to adulthood) with psychological elements in a fascinating way, I would recommend it over Wuthering Heights. Read this when you want to explore how our external circumstances affect our inner life.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, Mary Wollstonecraft (Non-Fiction Essay)
Writing in an age when the call for the rights of man had brought revolution to America and France, Mary Wollstonecraft produced her own declaration of female independence in 1792. Passionate and forthright, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman attacked the prevailing view of docile, decorative femininity, and instead laid out the principles of emancipation: an equal education for girls and boys, an end to prejudice, and for women to become defined by their profession, not their partner. Mary Wollstonecraft’s work was received with a mixture of admiration and outrage – Walpole called her ‘a hyena in petticoats’ – yet it established her as the mother of modern feminism.
Why You Should Read This…
This political tract was written in the wake of the French Revolution and sadly remains relevant to this very day given the state of women’s rights and… the state of the world. Wollstonecraft’s arguments are still some of the strongest feminist points I’ve seen. Read this when you want to understand why feminism is good for both women and men.
Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu (Fiction)
In the early eleventh century Murasaki Shikibu, a lady in the Heian court of Japan, wrote what many consider to be the world’s first novel, more than three centuries before Chaucer. The Heian era (794–1185) is recognized as one of the very greatest periods in Japanese literature, and The Tale of Genji is not only the unquestioned prose masterpiece of that period but also the most lively and absorbing account we have of the intricate, exquisite, highly ordered court culture that made such a masterpiece possible.
Genji is the favorite son of the emperor but also a man of dangerously passionate impulses. In his highly refined world, where every dalliance is an act of political consequence, his shifting alliances and secret love affairs create great turmoil and very nearly destroy him.
Why You Should Read This…
While this book is quite the undertaking at over 1,000 pages, it is worth it. Written around the year 1000 AD and is a poignant exploration of how love can greatly affect your life as a woman. Read this when you want to be immersed in one of the best stories ever written.
The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Short Story)
‘The color is hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the pattern is torturing’
Written with barely controlled fury after she was confined to her room for ‘nerves’ and forbidden to write, Gilman’s pioneering feminist horror story scandalized nineteenth-century readers with its portrayal of a woman who loses her mind because she has literally nothing to do.
Why You Should Read This…
This short story is equally terrifying and familiar, and I think it should be mandatory reading for everyone. Although women being imprisoned for being “nervous” seems like a foreign practice, we are heading back that way. Read this when you want to remember why women’s physical and mental health issues need more support than ever.
Anne of Green Gables, LM Montgomery (Fiction)
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.
Why You Should Read This…
For, well, all of history, girls have been considered less important than, well, everyone. While she might be considered flighty and fantastical, Anne Shirley touches the lives of everyone that she meets and it shows what a difference we can make when we are ourselves. Read this when you want to remember the value that we can offer, no matter what age we are.
♠
Want more books written by women? These are some of my favourite women’s history books!
What classic books written by women do you like to recommend?
Cheers,
The Historian
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