After reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott at 12 years of age, the child in me wondered about the issues that women face every day. Soon, my reading list encompassed shining examples from the feminist oeuvre. From fiction to non-fiction, I read indiscriminately. It not only allowed me to negotiate and analyze gender issues but also made me learn about hegemonical structures that plague our society. Every person needs to understand these issues to be a better human. To help one in this journey, I have created a recommendation list of ten best fiction and non-fiction feminist books.
P.S.: We understand some of you may be a bit apprehensive about taking this jump. We urge you to do it. Maybe start with just one book for now?
So, here is the list of best and most empowering feminist books to read:
#1 The Awakening by Kate Chopin
About The Book:
Title: The Awakening
Author: Kate Chopin
Genre: Psychological fiction, Feminist
Publisher: Herbert S. Stone & Co.
Pages: 303
Goodreads Rating: 3.7/5
Shattering delicate Victorian sensibilities, The Awakening put forward a gripping portrayal of a woman trapped in a stifling marriage and her subsequent negotiations with infidelity and even motherhood. Apart from its extremely unconventional takes, the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, also depicts the struggles of women who harbor increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood. Set against the backdrop of 19th century America, the book analyses the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century American South.
Why do we Recommend This Book?
With its psychologically revealing analysis of women’s lives in America, the book is one of the greatest groundbreaking works of feminist literature. Deeply illuminating, the book makes men and women realize the issues that infuse women. It analyzes the identity of women as independent beings.
If you want to buy/gift, The Awakening, click on the link below: 👇
#2 The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
About The Book:
Title: The Bell Jar
Author: Sylvia Plath
Genre: Psychological fiction, Roman a clef, Feminist fiction
Publisher: Heinemann
Pages: 244
Goodreads Rating: 4.03/5
A cult favorite, The Bell Jar was first published in 1963. The story is about Esther’s breakdown and her subsequent descent into madness. It is a gripping narrative about ambition nurtured and lost. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that Esther’s insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting classic. While the book starts with Ester depicted as an intelligent woman on the edge of greatness, she soon burns out and is engulfed by the emptiness that surrounds her.
Why do we recommend this book?
A deeply harrowing and relatable narrative, the book explores the role of women in society and criticizes the dictums that govern their lives. Issues of depression and feminine psychology are dealt with with the utmost grace.
If you want to buy/gift The Bell by Sylvia Path, click on the link below: 👇
#3 The Color Purple by Alice Walker
About The Book:
Title: The Color Purple
Author: Alice Walker
Genre: Epistolary novel, Domestic Fiction, Race theory
Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Pages: 304
Goodreads Rating: 4.24/5
A revolutionary epistolary novel by Alice Walker is the Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance, and silence. Through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown, the novel draws readers into its rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery, and Sofia, and their experiences. The book spans decades and focuses upon domestic and sexual abuse, racial issues, and over everything, companionship. Through the characters of Shug Avery, Celie, Nettie, and Sofia, the novel perfectly elucidates the problems mentioned.
P.S.: This book is available on Kindle Unlimited. If you have subscribed to it, then you can read this book for free.
Why do we recommend this book?
It is imperative to note here that the book explores severely delicate issues with the utmost grace. It enhances our understanding of Celie’s plight as a doubly marginalized woman. The layered negotiations of female sexuality are also analyzed in the book. This book should be an entry point to feminist literature for everyone.
If you want to buy/gift, The Colour Purple by Alice Walker, click on the link below: 👇
#4 The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
About The Book:
Title: The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Genre: Speculative fiction, Dystopian novel, Tragedy
Pages: 311
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Goodreads Rating: 4.12/5
Set in a futuristic dystopian society, The Handmaid’s Tale is a warning tale against the dangers of an authoritarian economic state. Legitimizing the rule of the Gilead by spouting religious dictums, this society treats women as mere reproductive machines. The protagonist in the book is Offred, a handmaid whose sole role is to give children to the Commander and his wife. She, like hundreds of others, was one of the very few fertile women who were ‘reared’ to be the reproductive agents alone. They were divested of their identity. The book follows this haunting and nerve-wracking world and plays the role of a cautionary tale.
P.S.: This book is available on Kindle Unlimited. If you have subscribed to it, then you can read this book for free.
Why do we recommend this book?
A chilling depiction of a world that could be, Margaret Atwood’s work shakes one to their core. The terrible condition of women and their subsequent tragedy, although dramatized, is hauntingly similar to the prevalent conditions. Powerfully written and a cult favorite, this book is also for the fans of dystopic fiction.
If you want to buy/gift, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, click on the link below: 👇
#5 The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
About The Book:
Title: The yellow Wallpaper
Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Genre: Gothic, Feminist Fiction, Psychological fiction
Publisher: New England Magazine
Pages: 18
Goodreads Rating: 4.1/5
A woman and her husband rent a summer house, but what should be a restful getaway turns into a suffocating psychological battle. In a gripping psychological narrative, the woman becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper in the room. Her negotiations with her mental illness and society’s nonchalant attitude towards women’s health form the crux of the story. This chilling account of postpartum depression and a husband’s controlling behavior in the guise of treatment will leave you breathless. The Yellow Wallpaper documents the shocking tale of a woman’s descent into madness and critiques the popular “rest-cure” – a once frequently prescribed period of inactivity thought to cure hysteria and nervous conditions in women.
P.S.: This book is available on Kindle Unlimited. If you have subscribed to it, then you can read this book for free.
Why do we recommend this book?
The Yellow Wallpaper is Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s contribution to the canon of feminist literature. It narrates the trials and tribulations of women trapped in a patriarchal system and their active or passive confinement. Deprived of a voice in a patriarchal society, the protagonist uses interiority to question and criticize her servile reality. An exceptionally short commitment, the book will never really leave you.
If you want to buy/gift, The Yellow Wall-Paper, click on the link below: 👇
The next five books are non-fiction works one must read to get better acquainted with the issues that plague our society.
#1 A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
About The Book:
Title: A Room of One’s Own
Author: Virginia Woolf
Genre: Feminism, Women
Publisher: Hogarth Press
Pages: 172
Goodreads Rating: 4.19/5
A Room of One’s Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf. First published on the 24th of October, 1929, the essay was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two women’s colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928. While this extended essay in fact employs a fictional narrator and narrative to explore women both as writers and characters in fiction, the manuscript for the delivery of the series of lectures, titled Women and Fiction, and hence the essay, are considered nonfiction. The essay is noted in its argument for both a literal and figural space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by patriarchy. The book makes us aware of the role of education in the lives of women.
Why do we recommend this book?
A feminist classic, the book expounds upon the importance of education and autonomy in a woman’s life. Financial security also follows suit. It is a must-read for everyone.
If you want to buy/gift, A Room of One’s Own, click on the link below: 👇
#2 Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay
About The Book:
Title: Bad Feminist
Author: Roxanne Gay
Genre: Humorous, Feminist
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Pages: 336
Goodreads Rating: 3.9 / 5
Pink is my favorite color. I used to say my favorite color was black to be cool, but it is pink—all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read Vogue, and I’m not doing it ironically, though it might seem that way. I once live-tweeted the September issue.
In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman of color while also taking readers on a ride through the culture of the last few years and commenting on the state of feminism today. The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society but also one of our culture.
Why do we recommend this book?
Here you will find tales where women are depicted having a very complicated relationship with things commonly read as ‘unfeminist’. Extremely funny and a glaring indictment of the cultural milieu we live in. Bad Feminist effectively communicates what it means to be a feminist. A must-read, this could easily be one’s entry point to feminist literature.
If you want to buy/gift, Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay, click on the link below: 👇
#3 Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny by Kate Manne
About The Book:
Title: Down Girl: Logic of Misogyny
Author: Kate Manne
Genre: Feminist philosophy, Cultural studies
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Pages: 368
Goodreads Rating: 4.26/5
Misogyny is a hot topic, yet it’s often misunderstood. What is misogyny, exactly? Who deserves to be called a misogynist? How does misogyny contrast with sexism, and why is it prone to persist–or increase–even when sexist gender roles are waning? This book is an exploration of misogyny in public life and politics, by the moral philosopher and writer Kate Manne. It argues that misogyny should not be understood primarily in terms of the hatred or hostility some men feel toward women generally. Rather, it’s primarily about controlling, policing, punishing, and exiling the “bad” women who challenge male dominance. And it’s compatible with rewarding “the good ones,” and singling out other women to serve as warnings to those who are out of order. It’s also common for women to serve as scapegoats, be burned as witches, and be treated as pariahs.
Why do we recommend this book?
An enlightening theory on the issues that are very much in discussion in the 21st century. It also very effectively makes women realize how patriarchy is a tool designed to separate women from each other. It carefully analyzes the nuances of sexism, misogyny, and patriarchy. Most importantly, the book successfully attempts to analyze the societal division between ‘good girls’ and ‘bad girls’.
If you want to buy/gift, Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, click on the link below: 👇
#4 Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit
About The Book:
Title: Men Explain Things to Me
Author: Rebecca Solnit
Genre: Feminist theory, Women’s rights, Media Studies
Publisher: Haymarket Books
Pages: 130
Goodreads Rating: 3.85/5
In her comic, scathing essay “Men Explain Things to Me,” Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don’t, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters. She ends on a serious note— because the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, “He’s trying to kill me!”
P.S.: This book is available on Kindle Unlimited. If you have subscribed to it, then you can read this book for free.
Why do we recommend this book?
A hilarious and genuine work on gender studies, this collection of essays gave rise to the now-famous term – ‘mansplaining’. The book effectively attempts to analyze the reasons behind men’s belief that they always know better. It also provides an insight into marriage inequality and contemporary violence. This book will not only enlighten you but also force you to introspect.
If you want to buy/gift, Men Explain Things to Me, click on the link below: 👇
#5 The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer
About The Book:
Title: The Female Eunuch
Author: Germaine Greer
Genre: Feminist, Culture and sociological studies
Publisher: MacGibbon & Kee
Pages: 432
Goodreads Rating: 3.70/5
When Germaine Greer’s “The Female Eunuch” was first published, it created a shock wave of recognition in women, one that could be felt around the world. It went on to become an international bestseller, translated into more than twelve languages, and a landmark in the history of the women’s movement. The Female Eunuch theorizes that sexual liberation is the only route to women’s liberation. She criticizes the suburban, capitalist, and picket-fence archetype of families and blames them for repressing women sexually. It effectively makes them eunuchs. Direct, bold, and humorous, this revolutionary 1970 book is a trailblazer.
Why do we recommend this book?
Although this book is written decades ago, it has sadly not lost its relevance even today. This book is a landmark achievement in feminist literature.
If you want to buy/gift, The Female Eunuch, click on the link below: 👇
Here’s to dismantling patriarchy, one book at a time!
P.S: Some books recommended here are available on Kindle Unlimited. If you have subscribed to it, then you can read these books for free. Check out this article: Is Kindle Unlimited Worth It?
To conclude here are the 10 best feminist books:
| 1. | The Awakening by Kate Chopin | Buy This Book |
| 2. | The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath | Buy This Book |
| 3. | The Color Purple by Alice Walker | Buy This Book |
| 4. | The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood | Buy This Book |
| 5. | The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman | Buy This Book |
| 6. | A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf | Buy This Book |
| 7. | Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay | Buy This Book |
| 8. | Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny by Kate Manne | Buy This Book |
| 9. | Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit | Buy This Book |
| 10. | The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer | Buy This Book |
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