So I’m curious is there are any books written by a male author that is similar to that genre such as The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath, Play It As It Lays Joan Didion, I’m not sure what to call it, maybe books for an existential woman?
I’m very curious to know if this has been done or even can be done well
by raindancemilee
25 Comments
*The Crying of Lot 49* is by a man and is one of the best written female leads I’ve read. It does have some similarities to the Bell Jar, from what I know (I’ve only read Plath’s poems) in that it deals with a breakdown of sorts.
Jeff VanderMeer writes psychedelic speculative fiction, where women worry about both day-to-day problems and End Times problems. The “Southern Reach” trilogy especially deals with broad threats to humanity, and personal threats to their individual psyches. Might be a bit too genre-fiction for what you’re looking for.
For some reason Portrait of a Lady by Henry James popped into my head. For me she’s a mysterious, complex character.
– I like Roddy Doyle’s attitude towards his female characters.
– Chris Guthrie from Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s trilogy A Scots Quair is a solid, real-human-being character.
– Christopher Brookmyre treats women like real people from what I’ve seen of him. so for the most part did Peter O’Donnell; allowing for some general 70’s feel.
The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michael Faber.
The main character is a Victorian sex worker, and he really captures her rage so well without it being overpowering or one-dimensional.
A man who transitioned into a woman, duh
“Accurately”? What the hell does that mean?
Brian Freeman. “The Deep, Deep Snow” and its prequel “The Ursulina” are good examples. I would have sworn the female protagonist(s) were written by a female author if I didn’t know better.
Best woman written by a man to me is in Poor Things but that book isn’t like Play it as it Lays or The Bell Jar. Kala by Colin Walsh wasn’t bad at writing women. It is what Plath would call a pot boiler like the Bell Jar.
Emma in the Zone. Strong young female lead accompanied by her slightly older female mentor in a dystopian tale of revenge. Set in a futuristic Autonomous Zone of Portland, Oregon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RJLQ288
Terry Pratchett
Anna Karenina
The Scarlet Letter
Discworld series by Sir Terry Pratchett. Especially the witch and Tiffany aching sub series. The women in his series comes in all shapes, sizes and personalities. Some of them are larger than life characters that I wish were real and would adopt me. His prose are just outstanding. I don’t think anyone writes like him. The quote “Lady Ramkin’s bosom rose and fell like an empire.” live in my head rent free. It’s even hilarious in context of the story.
Bukowski
Flaubert
Shakespeare ✌️😎
I read She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb. I didn’t pay much attention to the authors name until I finished the book and saw HIS photo on the back page. It was a beautifully written tragic telling of a woman’s life from age 4 to age 40 in her prospective. I had no idea it was written by a man until I was finished with it.
I don’t really often read that genre, so I can’t speak directly to it, but in other genres:
– Terry Pratchett
– Jasper Fforde
– Adrian Tchaikovsky
– James SA Corey (two men, but still)
– Caimh McDonnell
– Mark Stay
– Richard Osman
– Rick Riordan
They all write women like they are actually people. Shocking concept, I know 🙂
A year of rest and relaxation gave me similar vibes to the bell jar but angrier and weirder
fredrick backman. hands down
I really love Norman Rush for this. His novel Mating has one of my favourite female protagonists of all time. It’s about an anthropology grad student (woman) who follows a famous professor (man) into the bush in Botswana, where he has created an all-female utopian commune. Both characters are absolutely fascinating, and their relationship is based on a really deep intellectual connection which is really the core of the story. Also they’re both funny and felt like very real people. This is probably my favourite relationship in literature.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
“The Secrets She Keeps” by Michael Robotham has, by far (IMO) the most well-written female characters by a male author that I’ve come across, and is also just a damn good novel!
He writes them so well that I kind of wonder if this is really a female author writing under a male pen name (OK, I know that’s not the case, but they are *that* good)
I’m a transgender author that writes trans based sci fi books. My MC and her gurl are trans. According to my published i did a very good job of making it work.