Best Women Author Recommendations

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

—Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, 1818

Historically, women (and people of color) have been sorely underrepresented on many reading lists. To help change that, we're highlighting women authors who more than deserve your attention. 

Discover classic women authors who flew under the radar with male pen names, and re-discover those who broke the mold and dominated their genres (hello, Agatha Christie!) or invented new ones (see: the history of Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein). 

You can also browse books by Black women, by early Irish female writers, or even books by royal women. For more modern and global women’s fiction, we suggest books that pass the Bechdel test, books by Elena Ferrante, and even books by women crime writers. Regardless of what you’re looking for,  all of the recommendations below will add some much-needed feminine perspective to your reading list.

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Immerse yourself in the world of the Elm Creek Quilters.

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The author of Woman on the Edge of Time was way ahead of her own.

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The oft-honored author deserves a place on your shelf.

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Centered around ethical dilemmas and family dramas, these novels deserve spots beside your Picoult collection.

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The grande dame of Caribbean literature passed Monday night at a hospital outside Marseille.

Read an Interview with Mary McGarry Morris

"What some may label ‘dark stories’ are usually the stories of people all around us." —Mary McGarry Morris

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"I have no intention of being a footnote in someone else’s life.” —Martha Gellhorn, on her relationship with Ernest Hemingway

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There’s more to discover outside of your favorite author’s six books.

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She'll love getting lost in these stories.

Where to Start with Isabel Allende

“You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend, or not.” —Isabel Allende. 

Every Book by V.C. Andrews, In Order

It’s been said that much of her real life was just as tragic as the lives of the protagonists in her debut novel Flowers in the Attic. 

Angela Thirkell and Her 29 Adventures into Barsetshire

Writing so rich makes us wish we could live in Barsetshire too.