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Recommendation RequestNovels with feminist themes?
I feel like every fiction book I pick up that's been published in the last 5-10 years that's deemed "feminist" has a very... underwhelming and surface-level approach to feminist themes. Pretty much any book with a female protagonist and male antagonist or a "sapphic" subplot ends up labeled as "feminist" these days. Not to mention, if it's at all a historical setting, there's so many anachronisms in these in particular because they'd rather appear feminist at the detriment of any thought of what an actual feminist of the time period in question might be like. I think this is mainly a result of when "feminism" was less a political movement and more a pop culture trend in the mid-2010s, and most authors writing these books being libfems.
What I want to read more is fiction that isn't necessarily "feminist" outright or by marketing, but that has even subtle themes that could be considered feminist that are actually approached with depth and nuance rather than the simultaneously heavy-handed and shallow version that these books spoon-feed to their audience, because I feel like those books are insulting my intelligence.
I'd love to hear recommendations for books and authors! They don't have to be recent, and I'm willing to read from any genre!
Just adding in some Australian novels:
The Harp in the South by Ruth Park My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin The Watchtower by Elizabeth Harrower
No book is perfect, but I love these for their portrayals of women's inner lives and choices (or lack thereof)
Circe by Miller The Gate to Women's Country by Tepper
Circe is one of my favorite books! Will definitely check out The Gate to Women's Country!
It's a product of its time--at least one cringe moment--but the setup of the world will take your breath away!
Anything by Marge Piercy, but especially Braided Lives (my all-time favourite book, and I read a lot) and Vida. She’s what people seem to think Margaret Atwood is, with the bonus of being eminently more readable.
(Have at me, Atwood stans: it’s a hill I’m prepared to die on 😂)
I second the mention of Piercy. (And as for Atwood, I confess that other than Surfacing, The Edible woman, and then Handmaid's Tale, I haven't been able to get into them. I keep trying, but ...)
I’ve loved Marge Piercy since I was a very young woman. I’m so glad to see another fan here. She definitely doesn’t get the credit she deserves.
Piercy’s “Woman on the Edge of Time” is considered a feminist classic and is taught in college courses.
I've actually never heard of her 😭 But thank you for bringing her to my attention I'll check those out!
Not a typical answer, but a Thousand Splendid Suns. Written by a man (Khalid housseni, sp?) but to me, it was deeply woman-centric.
The stories in the novel take place before, during, and after the Taliban rise to power in Afghanistan. This book changed me and I have chills just remembering it.
Heavy TW for sexual assault but I’m sure you’re prepared for that in any feminist text.
I started but haven't finished that book. Was convinced to read based on the quote, “‘Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always.’” I am loving it so far. But is definitely a difficult read.
Yup, I definitely expect those sorts of topic to come up in feminist works, and as long as it's handled appropriately in any book, I'm okay with reading about it. Thanks for the rec! I've had this author on my list for a while, but I'll definitely prioritize this book higher!
I’m just about to finish A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ni Ghriofa and was thinking about making a post about it. I think that it is the most unapologetically female text I have ever read. I would love to hear what others think about it.
Anything by Sheri S. Tepper. We all talk about Gate to Women's Country but Beauty, Gibbons Decline and Fall, Grass, Sideshow, and whatever other ones I have, are all really good stories with really interesting feminist themes.
Older but good feminist reads from African women writers:
Nervous Conditions (Tsitsi Dangarembga, Zimbabwe)
Woman at Point Zero (Nawal Elsadaawi, Egypt)
Thanks for the recs! Woman at Point Zero looks especially intriguing, so I'll definitely be looking into getting it!
I know this thread is a bit older and you are probably the only one who might see this, OP, but I just finished The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai and it is about a women's suffrage movement in a fantasy kingdom with magic. I grew up in a super conservative, religious, and misogynistic community and felt it was so very accurate in how the men and the handmaiden women acted, and seeing how the Daughters of Izdihar had to keep fighting against so many unfair obstacles reminded me of a lot of real-world current and historical women's rights movements. I do so wish women could kill misogynists with magical earthquakes and tsunamis in real life.
Some of Margaret Atwood's books are interesting – I liked Surfacing, for example, but she's written lots of other books if that's not for you.
Alice Munro (e.g. Lives of Girls and Women) and Margaret Laurence (e.g. The Stone Angel) have also written books about women.
All three of these women are second-wave or older Canadian women.
I second The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper.
Older authors also include Mary Stewart and Helen MacInnes. They're not feminist but they do have strongly written female characters.
I've read some of Atwood's poetry, but have never known where to start with her fiction, so having a recommendation is helpful.
I'm definitely trying to read more older authors, I like keeping up with contemporary fiction for the aspect of having a community of readers to talk about books with, but I definitely need some more variety so I'll look into all these authors! Thanks!
I haven’t read it since it came out in the 90s, but I really liked Alias Grace. I also second Munro and Laurence. The voices of my formative years.
Oh - I’ll also recommend Ruth Ozeki. A Tale for the Time Being stuck with me for a long time. It involves linking female lives across time and space, which I often find satisfying.
I highly recommend Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette.
Also:
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
Joan is Okay by Weike Wang
The Silence of the Girls is actually sitting on my bookshelf as we speak, in my piles of books I've yet to read, but I'll pick that up next! I'll look into the others as well, thanks!
Should someone mention Doris Lessing in the line-up of feminist greats? Silent generation so very involved in the formation of the Second Wave, she’s even a Nobel Laureate.
“The Golden Notebook” has long been considered a classic feminist novel, but I always loved her space opera “Canopus in Argos: Archives”. The pentology has a timeline of aeons of two warring sentient races fighting over whether Earth (and humans) will be good or evil. Definitely some feminist themes too.
Ursula K Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness examines how life would be different if females weren’t tasked with all of the heavy lifting of reproduction. This is an on-going theme of hers.
OP, I agree with you on the shallow takes of recent so-called feminist novels. They’re so over-hyped and not even clever. I’m looking at you “The Power”.
Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I’m off to Amazon to explore some of them.
My late maternal grandmother was Silent Generation and her influence is one of the reasons I'm strongly feminist, so I'll definitely look into Doris Lessing!
Ursula K Le Guin has been on my radar for a while, but I actually hadn't heard of that particular book so thank you for that rec as well!
And yup, for me I remember reading The Calculating Stars a year or two ago and being so utterly disappointed that everyone was calling it "empowering" when as a woman with an actual physics degree I found it extremely disappointing and felt like I should have just rewatched Hidden Figures instead. And so many I've read since have been just as if not more disappointing.
The Change, by Kirsten Miller. Three menopausal women acquire superpowers as they go through 'the change' and fight crimes against women. It's so fantastic.
"Three" by Annemarie Monahan. Three different possible lives lived by one woman that all collide and merge.
This may be a very odd choice but I’m going to recommend it anyway: We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver.
It’s subtly feminist in my opinion, looks at motherhood in a very different way, how society always blames mothers/women, looks at all the BS mothers are expected to put up with from their husbands and sons, how women are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. It’s obviously a distressing subject matter so may not be your cup of tea, it starts off slow but I really think this book is a true masterpiece. I’ve reread it a few times.
Shriver is one of the most incredible authors out there imo - she creates the most vivid characters. The book is 100% better than the film, which (as much as I like Tilda Swindon) really doesn’t do it justice.
I'd say pretty much anything by Lionel Shriver is well worth the read. Female of the Species, Game Control, Double Fault, Motion of the Body come to mind.
I remember watching this movie a while back. Will definitely give the book a try!
The book is fantastic! Like I say, slow start but if you stick with it you will be amazed! :)