This week I thought I’d share with you five wonderful women’s fiction books. These books will take you on a heartfelt journey around the world and through time. I couldn’t resist highlighting older books. If you missed them back in the day, I’m almost jealous that you still have these treats in front of you. If you read them twenty years ago, they may be due for a reread!
Note: If you aren’t sure exactly what women’s fiction is, then read this interview with Kerry Lonsdale in which she defines the genre (hint: it’s not chick-lit and it’s not romance). Happy reading!
“Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that tell of her father, Jacob, and his twelve sons.
Told in Dinah’s voice, Anita Diamant imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood–the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of the mothers–Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah–the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through childhood, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah’s story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate connection with the past.”
The Red Tent is an amazing story inspired by Biblical women. That Diamant can create such a rich tale from so few references is simply mind-blowing. The community these women are able to build in such a harsh patriarchal world almost had me wishing for a red tent. This is a book that will stay with you for a long time.
“Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted black “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sister, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna.”
The Secret Life of Bees is a modern southern literature classic. Kidd’s description of the South is riveting. Issues of race are handled by a deft, powerful hand. The touch of magical realism around the bees adds a uniqueness to the book. Perfect for reading on a hammock in the shade on a warm summer day.
“Sayuri’s story begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Through her eyes, we see the decadent heart of Gion — the geisha district of Kyoto — with its marvelous teahouses and theaters, narrow back alleys, ornate temples, and artists’ streets. And we witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup and hair; competing with a jealous rival for men’s solicitude and the money that goes with it. But as World War II erupts and the geisha houses are forced to close, Sayuri, with little money and even less food, must reinvent herself all over again to find a rare kind of freedom on her own terms.”
Memoirs of a Geisha introduced me to the utterly fascinating life of geisha. It is a love story like no other. It is so good, in fact, that at least once a year I find myself googling Arthur Golden to see if he’s written anything else. The answer, alas, is always no. Update: July 13, 2020 I just got a message from Arthur Golden, who tells me he has not one but two books in the works. Fan girl swoon!
“On an icy winter night in an isolated house in rural Vermont, a seasoned midwife named Sibyl Danforth takes desperate measures to save a baby’s life. She performs an emergency cesarean section on a mother she believes has died of stroke. But what if–as Sibyl’s assistant later charges–the patient wasn’t already dead? The ensuing trial bears the earmarks of a witch hunt, forcing Sibyl to face the antagonism of the law, the hostility of traditional doctors, and the accusations of her own conscience.”
I’ve read a few of Bohjalian’s books–all are gripping, page-turning reads. Midwives, though, carries an emotional resonance that takes it to another level. Medical story meets legal story meets heartbreaking tale. This book has it all and proves that men can successfully write women’s fiction.
“The Time Traveler’s Wife is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity in his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives. This is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.“
The Time Traveler’s Wife is a fascinating melding of love story and science fiction. I was skeptical at first–worried the book would be cheesy. It is not!! Warning though, that this epic tale found me ridiculously sobbing by the end.
What are your favorite backlisted books?