I recently read “By Any Other Name” by Jodi Picoult and my all time favorite book is “Gone with the Wind.” Both have female main characters which enthralled me. Which books would you all recommend I check out?
Anything by Kate Quinn… but The Alice Network and The Diamond Eye were my favorites.
Katherine_the_Grater on
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrel. Largely about Shakespeare’s wife, Hamnet was their son.
Texan-Trucker on
I’ll second Kate Quinn and also suggest consider books by Christina Baker Kline, Lisa Wingate, and Kelly Rimmer. They all specialize in historical fiction with strong female characters or composite characters
astereae4 on
You might like Sarah Waters
PotatoK12 on
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
MyPartsareLoud on
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Giver of the Stars by Jojo Moyes
superbetsy on
If you like Gone With The Wind, you might enjoy Forever Amber. It’s set in 17th century England, and touches on a ton of historical elements like The Black Death, The Great Fire of London, and the whole Charles II era. It taught me a lot about world history that my public school education never touched on. Amber is a kind of Scarlett-esque character… smart, savvy, and perfectly comfortable exploiting men to gain the status she wants. It’s an all-time favorite of mine, made even more delightful because it was banned as “pornography” in the 40’s (it’s not even explicit, but you know how it is… how dare women engage in consensual, albeit sometimes transactional, sex?!)
Infinite-Progress420 on
The Red Tent… An absolute classic. Takes place in Biblical times and based on scriptures but it is pagan and earthy and an absolutely incredible read.
Ok_Row8867 on
“The House of Mirth”, by Edith Wharton. The main character, Lily Bart, is one of my favorite literary characters. That’s not to say she’s always likable, though…
PhD_Bri on
Check out Rhys Bowen’s stand alone novels. Lovely historical fiction centered on female leads.
Remarkable_Search860 on
Kristin Hannah and Kate Quinn write very strong female leads. I love them both.
Most-Artichoke6184 on
The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah.
GlitteriestFluff on
Margaret George is a really well-researched novelist and her ‘Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles’ is one of my favourite books. It’s a strange thing to say about a historical novelist, especially one who doesn’t play fast and loose with the facts, but she’s so inventive. Her ‘Memoirs of Cleopatra’ was also really excellent.
I normally love Maggie O’Farrell but found Hamnet hard going. The Marriage Portrait was a lot better and matches what you are looking for, but still didn’t match her non-hisotrical novels IMO
I second Forever Amber, and if you like that, then you might like Fanny by Erica Jong, and The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber.
prehistoric_monster on
Dumas’s series on Queen Margot and Marie Antoinette
comrade-sunflower on
I’ve never met anyone who didn’t love The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s got several female leads, a mom and four sisters.
15 Comments
Anything by Kate Quinn… but The Alice Network and The Diamond Eye were my favorites.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrel. Largely about Shakespeare’s wife, Hamnet was their son.
I’ll second Kate Quinn and also suggest consider books by Christina Baker Kline, Lisa Wingate, and Kelly Rimmer. They all specialize in historical fiction with strong female characters or composite characters
You might like Sarah Waters
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Giver of the Stars by Jojo Moyes
If you like Gone With The Wind, you might enjoy Forever Amber. It’s set in 17th century England, and touches on a ton of historical elements like The Black Death, The Great Fire of London, and the whole Charles II era. It taught me a lot about world history that my public school education never touched on. Amber is a kind of Scarlett-esque character… smart, savvy, and perfectly comfortable exploiting men to gain the status she wants. It’s an all-time favorite of mine, made even more delightful because it was banned as “pornography” in the 40’s (it’s not even explicit, but you know how it is… how dare women engage in consensual, albeit sometimes transactional, sex?!)
The Red Tent… An absolute classic. Takes place in Biblical times and based on scriptures but it is pagan and earthy and an absolutely incredible read.
“The House of Mirth”, by Edith Wharton. The main character, Lily Bart, is one of my favorite literary characters. That’s not to say she’s always likable, though…
Check out Rhys Bowen’s stand alone novels. Lovely historical fiction centered on female leads.
Kristin Hannah and Kate Quinn write very strong female leads. I love them both.
The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah.
Margaret George is a really well-researched novelist and her ‘Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles’ is one of my favourite books. It’s a strange thing to say about a historical novelist, especially one who doesn’t play fast and loose with the facts, but she’s so inventive. Her ‘Memoirs of Cleopatra’ was also really excellent.
I normally love Maggie O’Farrell but found Hamnet hard going. The Marriage Portrait was a lot better and matches what you are looking for, but still didn’t match her non-hisotrical novels IMO
I second Forever Amber, and if you like that, then you might like Fanny by Erica Jong, and The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber.
Dumas’s series on Queen Margot and Marie Antoinette
I’ve never met anyone who didn’t love The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s got several female leads, a mom and four sisters.