Hey all,
So I’m looking for a book about women, but most of what I’ve read tends to revolve around abuse and oppression. Whilst these works are important and provoke needed conversations, I’m a little jaded with reading about women who are suffering.
Are there any books out there that celebrate women, maybe in a coming of age type story? I want to read about life from a female perspective, with themes of womanhood and femininity. I’m not looking for a perfect character or anything like that, flaws and conflict are the lifeblood of good characters and stories, but ideally something that doesn’t involve SA would be perfect.
I do want to say, I think that oppression might be a prevalent theme in a lot of books because it’s something that women deal with all the time irl, and pretending it’s not there is so harmful. I don’t want to erase the fact that these issues exist and I know it’s rich for me to ask for books that don’t feature things that are an ever present cause for concern, and for me to be able to choose a woman’s story that doesn’t involve SA when that happens may be insensitive.
I hope I’ve articulated this well, I don’t want to appear dismissive of the struggles women face. In fact, I want to read more about life from a female perspective. I’m happy to learn and I fear, although I hope not, that a bunch of people will feel this is a disingenuous post.
Some of my more recent reads were The Handmaids Tale, a more dystopian and mainstream novel but I found it incredible – and I Who Have Never Known Men, which I also loved immensely, but was also a more dystopian look, but was so incredibly interesting.
Thanks in advance 🙂
by jordansalittleodd
4 Comments
Are you looking for fiction or nonfiction? I’ve got great recommendations for both.
Rubyfruit Jungle – it’s a bit racist in an “of its time” way but it’s a coming of age story.
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Swing Time – Zadie Smith
How to be both – Ali Smith
Circle of Friends – Maeve Binchy
The Country Girls – Edna O’Brien
I hope I’m not misinterpreting your question but you want a story about women where SA isn’t a plot point or plot driver? The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath has attempted SA but think it is worth reading. It is also racist in a “of its time” way
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett maybe?
It is about a woman recounting to her daughters about a summer she spent as an actress at Tom Lake. While the story starts off as her daughters wanting to know about the time she dated a now famous movie star, at its core it is a coming of age story of a girl. There is a lot of nostalgia and coming into terms with your past and the choices you made. It is a very feel good story.
this is a very strange suggestion, but the first book that came to my mind was {{my best friend’s exorcism by grady hendrix}} – i read it and it felt so true and honest when it came to the experience of having messy teenage friendships as a girl. it’s a horror story, and has some graphic gore scenes, so i’d check the tws for it, but it was so good at making me relive the intensity and all-consuming nature of loving your best friend in the whole world.