Books to Read for Women’s history Month
Books from the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge that are Perfect to Read for International Women's Day and Women's History Month
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Francie Nolan lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with her Mother, Katie, her Father, Johnny, and her brother, Neely. Surrounded by poverty, a drunkard father, and precarious and harmful figures, Francie’s inhabitance in the world of books and writing sets her apart from everyone else. So, she does what any book lover would do: she asks for more. Though this coming of age story is filled with new adventures and triumphant achievements, it's also marked with painful realizations and loss.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
In our journey to nineteenth-century England, we are accompanied by the Bennet family. Elizabeth and Jane, the two eldest Miss Bennet's are the most likable and whom we are most partial to their inner thoughts and feelings. They are followed by Mary, Kitty, and Lydia: a trio of girls who respectively are fervently pious, uncontrollably flirty, and prone to follow bad influences. Along the way, we meet Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, suitors to Jane and Elizabeth. All of the present couples and couples-to-be are compared and analyzed, their traits and interactions offered up as examples for the reader to classify the different kinds of relationships in one of the most famous literary love stories
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Dinah’s story is encapsulated by one single line in the Bible. Like so many other women, her story, her voice, was considered less important than that of the male members of her family. Dinah’s story is one that tells of the importance of female bonds, opening yourself up to love, and finding your place in the world.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Goodreads Summary: “Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has borne the unthinkable and not gone mad, yet she is still held captive by memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Meanwhile Sethe’s house has long been troubled by the angry, destructive ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.
Sethe works at beating back the past, but it makes itself heard and felt incessantly in her memory and in the lives of those around her. When a mysterious teenage girl arrives, calling herself Beloved, Sethe’s terrible secret explodes into the present.
Combining the visionary power of legend with the unassailable truth of history, Morrison’s unforgettable novel is one of the great and enduring works of American literature.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Edna Pontellier from Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is everything that society claims a lady should be: married, a mother, and so engrossed in those two roles that the true self begins to fade away. But all that seems like an act to Edna, a role she must play, but this is the role that others have seen her in for years, so there is a certain belief- even to Edna- that it must be true, that it must be everything. As Edna begins to examine her life, she begins to wonder if there might be a way out of this endless abyss in which she currently exists.
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
As the novel opens, Sidda and her mother’s relationship is on the brink of destruction. Though their relationship has been strained at times since a traumatic event in Sidda’s childhood, this fight threatens to destroy everything. Hurt and confused, Sidda retreats to a cabin by the lake, halting her engagement to Conner and shutting herself off from the world. Sidda voluntarily withdrew into the silence, to tend to her wounds and to find answers to all her questions.
Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook
Eleanor Roosevelt was a woman of her own mind. By the time she was 10, Eleanor had become all too acquainted with the death of loved ones: her mother, father, and brother all died within a two-year period. The Eleanor I knew spoke up about injustice, welcomed those whom society rejected, and was a central figure in the history and politics of the United States of America. But the Eleanor behind all these extraordinary titles was so different than what I had imagined. Here was a woman plagued with everyday problems we all face: meddlesome in-laws, raising a family, finding her true purpose. Here was, well, a woman- not an invincible hero or a perfect goddess, but a human being with all the trials that are attributed to our mortal and imperfect world.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Covering several generations of the del Valle family, The House of Spirits is a portrait of family joys and heartbreaks, politics and war, love and loneliness- experiences as symbiotic to life as the sand is to the sea. The novel focuses on several of the del Valle women: those that have other-worldly qualities. Rosa the beautiful, as she is often called in the novel, is depicted as possessing the beauty, grace, and appearance of a mer-person. Clara, Rosa’s younger sister, has visions of future events and sometimes moves or levitates household objects with her mind. Though Clara’s story, and that of her descendants, is the main focus of the book, it was the tale of Rosa the beautiful that affected me the most.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, the story of the March sisters and their loved ones, has been a treasured book for generations. We begin our journey with the Marches in the midst of the American Civil War. Their father is away at the war, but Marmee, their mother, lovingly watches over the girls, helping them grow into, you guessed it, little women. But each girl has her own lessons to learn, her own journey to take, and plenty of fun to have along the way. Meg enjoys the finer things in life, Amy’s passion lies in the arts, and little Beth adores her music. But Jo, Jo is a writer. And most important, to Jo and to the plot of the book, are her stories.
Out of Africa by Isac Dineson
Dinesen, the pen name of Karen Blixen, moved from Denmark to a farm in Kenya. Her other works, some under other pseudonyms, have received acclaim, but Out of Africa is one of her most famous books. Full of stories from her years in Africa, Out of Africa is more than just memories from a place where one has lived. It is a love letter to a land that seemed to have always been calling to her from across the vast distance, “Come, and be who you were born to be.”
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