Not a "she is so strong because she grew up with five brothers". Not a "she is so dedicated because this was her father's dream". Not a "she is creative because that's the only way for a woman to survive in her profession". I want a book with a woman protagonist— fictional, nonfictional, anything works— whose skills or smarts are just a thing, a casual thing, that oh she just happens to be skilled or smart, no backstory explaining why, she just is, that's her
As an example, Queen's Gambit by Walter Trevis. Giving this example because I loved how basically every page of the book is about Beth's talents, but not about why she is talented or who she became talented for, she just is, that's Beth, it's central to her as a character whilst also being no more rationalised than her hair colour or snack choices are. Another similar example would be Contact by Carl Sagan
by Lesbihun
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I like Lyra Belacqua, the protagonist of His Dark Materials series.
i’m not sure if it 100% fits the bill or how much you like fantasy, but i am always reccomending the deadly education series by naomi novik when people want strong female protagonists. El is extremely powerful and doesn’t really have an explanation of why (though there is a consistent theme of cosmic balance in the series). she is prophesied to be an evil sorceress as a child but rejects her supposed fate. she has to actively choose to not just kill or enslave people because she could, she wants to be good and prove to people she isn’t what they think (or what she thinks they think of her). great series.
The character Susan Calvin in many of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot stories is cold, calm and a fricking genius with robots. She saves the day a lot by being super smart and a brilliant robopsychologist.
Rowan and Bel from the Steerswoman series by Rosemary Kirstein. Absolutely fantastic books.
It’s fantasy but anything by T. Kingfisher fits this.
{{Hild by Nicola Griffith}} – Yes, Hild is told from childhood that she is “the light of the world” which sets her on the path to being a “seer” but she grows up to be very smart and physically strong primarily because she just is that way.
I’m biased since it’s one of my favorite books of all time, but I think Little Women fits the bill perfectly.
Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg (at least I can’t remember it explicitely being explained)