I’m looking for The One

I’m looking for one more lady author to round out my little group of authors to study. It just needs another shot of estrogen I feel. This isn’t necessarily a “best” list, this is a particular list that I’m going to try and describe and see if the human algorithm here can point me right.

The list:

• J.M. Barrie; Peter Pan—maybe the greatest opening line of all time. Writes with an unmatched playfulness that never feels like it’s trying.

• Ursula K LeGuin; A Wizard of Earthsea—effortless pacing. Subtle in her prose but precise, she’s not hitting you over the head with lavish description or metaphor.

• Hunter S. Thompson; The Rum Diary—a knack for using just the right detail to evoke the feeling he wants for a scene. Has this crackling and unapologetic rhythm.

I’m really drawn to invisible mastery. I prefer subtlety and precision over lavishness of detail and description. These authors are also uniquely stylized, each a one-of-one when it comes to their voice.

By contrast—and this is NOT criticism—Jane Austen writes (masterfully) in the style of her time. She pushed her genre forward with her storytelling but not necessarily with her prose.

By also contrast—and this IS criticism—Hemingway innovated with his style, but in my opinion was a lousy storyteller.

So, yeah. Idk. I’ve picked up Shirley Jackson, Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, and a lot of others, but I’m still trying to find another one that just floors me immediately, that’s just like, “wow”, not from shock value but just from the strength of prose.

The authors above do that to me. Has any of this made you think of a book by a lady author, maybe even one that gets overlooked in your view?