In recognition of Women’s History Month, we asked GBH staff to recommend some of their favorite authors who are women. Responses immediately flooded in covering an expansive range of genres. From works by authors who bring a touch of magic to stories that scare us to tales that reveal the most flawed of characters, there will certainly be new discoveries for everyone. Let us know if you find something new to add to your reading list by clicking here.
ISABEL ALLENDE: “Takes you to magical places”
Magical realism
Allende specializes in magical realism, a genre that combines the realistic with the fantastic. GBH staff member Maria Uribe from our accounting team, loves Allende’s ability to bring readers into a magical world while also giving insights into the author’s culture.
Books to try: Paula. The House of Spirits. Eva Luna. Maya’s Notebook.
DAPHNE DU MAURIER: “Beautifully written and haunting”
Gothic mystery and psychological suspense
Some authors capture readers’ imaginations and become immediate favorites. This was the case for Tara Mayes, from our marketing and communications team. She found du Maurier’s language captivating. Mayes even has a poster on her wall with the first line from the book Rebecca.
Book to try: Rebecca
LAUREN GROFF: “Contemporary writer who should live on in the classical canon”
Literary fiction
The characters are what make Groff’s writing unique for CRB Classical 99.5 host Edyn-Mae Stevenson. They feel “raw and gritty and sometimes terrible, but always impossible to look away from.” Stevenson pledges to read everything this author ever releases.
Book to try: Matrix
IRIS MURDOCH: “Inner lives in microscopic detail”
Psychological novels
Anna Fort from our digital team loves the way this author cuts through the chaos, zooming in on the tiniest, most ordinary fragments of a person’s life to reveal their significance. Murdoch’s psychological and philosophical fiction novels feel intimate with a quiet magic beneath the every day. Fort says Murdoch’s writing is “fascinatingly philosophical without being heavy.”
Books to try: The Sea, The Sea. Under the Net. The Bell.
TAMORA PIERCE: “Young women as the heroes, not just the love interests”
Young adult high fantasy
Hannah Albright from our legal department says Pierce’s books were really important to her as a teenager. She found it so unique to see young women as the protagonists in a book, the ones that saved the day.
Books to try: The books in the Tortall Universe, especially the four-book series, The Song of the Lioness
SALLY ROONEY: “Captures the nuances of human interaction”
Literary fiction
According to Natalie Obedos in our broadcast department, Rooney is special because she can somehow make her feel “perpetually nostalgic for things I have never experienced.” Fans of Rooney’s work often cite her ability to present life in a very real way and to lay bare the very subtlest of personality traits.
Books to try: Normal People. Intermezzo.
MARY SHELLEY: “Awesome insights into how life shapes work”
Science fiction
Dana Barraco from our technology group suggested this author for a slightly unusual reason. Barraco recently read a dual biography, Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon, that looked at the life of Mary Shelley and her mother, feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft. It inspired a deeper fascination with Shelley’s work and how her life experiences influenced it.
Book to try: Frankenstein (as well as Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon)
REBECCA SOLNIT: “Prose that is lyrical and smart”
Nonfiction, especially essays and memoirs
This author was recommended by multiple staff members. Cauley Powell from our legal department loves that Solnit’s content choices reflect her commitment to human rights, the environment, and feminism. According to Powell, Solnit’s writing “articulates feelings I’ve struggled to name.”
Books to try: Recollections of my Non-Existence: A Memoir. A Field Guide to Getting Lost. Wanderlust. Men Explain Things to Me.
CAITLIN STARLING: “Jump between genres”
Gothic fantasy, science fiction, and psychological thrillers
Jill Swan, one of GBH’s executive assistants, read her first Starling book at the start of the COVID shutdowns in 2020. The timing seemed strikingly apropos as the novel centered on a woman on an empty planet who was only able to speak through an earpiece to one person. Starling is exceptionally skilled at switching genres, from Gothic horror to alien planet sci-fi to medieval fantasy to hospital horror.
Books to try: The Luminous Dead. The Starving Saints.
KAREN TEI YAMASHITA: “Lively and vivid with dream-like qualities”
Mixed genre, including magical realism, history, social protest, and humor
Spencer Johnson from our development team was one of the first to respond to the call for author suggestions. Johnson noted that Yamashita’s speculative and literary fiction involves “characters that navigate strange, unnatural circumstances in very rational, human ways.“ Through the Arc of the Rain Forest is a particular favorite as it combines an exploration of climate issues with surrealism.
Books to try: Through the Arc of the Rain Forest. Sansai and Sensibility: Stories. I Hotel.
Still Looking for More? Check out these other authors.
Contemporary literary fiction/Contemporary romance
- LISA GENOVA: Still Alice. Every Note Played. Left Neglected.
- MARLOWE GRANADOS: Happy Hour.
- ABBY JIMENEZ: The Friend Zone. Just for the Summer. Part of Your World.
- ELIZABETH STROUT: Olive Kitteridge. My Name Is Lucy Barton. The Burgess Boys.
Crime fiction/psychological thrillers/mystery/horror
- TANA FRENCH: The Hunter. The Searcher. In the Woods.
- ELIZABETH GEORGE: The Inspector Lynley series.
- RACHEL HARRISON: Black Sheep. Cackle. Such Sharp Teeth.
- LOUISE PENNY: The Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series.
Fantasy
- SUSANNA CLARKE: Piranesi. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
- R.F. KUANG:The Poppy War trilogy. Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence.
Graphic novels
- ALISON BECHDEL: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Spent: A Comic Novel.
- MARJANE SATRAPI: The Persepolis series. Embroideries.
Historical Fiction
- GERALDINE BROOKS: Horse. Year of Wonders. People of the Book. March.
- KATE QUINN: The Rose Code. The Alice Network. The Diamond Eye. The Briar Club.
- RUTA SEPETYS: Between Shades of Gray. Salt to the Sea. I Must Betray You.
Nonfiction/Poetry
- JOY HARJO: An American Sunrise: Poems. Poet Warrior: A Memoir. Crazy Brave: A Memoir.
- GISÈLE PELICOT: A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides.
- PATTI SMITH: Just Kids. Bread of Angels. M Train. Year of the Monkey.
Science fiction/speculative fiction
- OCTAVIA BUTLER: Kindred. Parable of the Sower. Dawn.
- N.K. JEMISIN: The Broken Earth trilogy. The City We Became.
- URSULA K. LE GUIN: The Earthsea Cycle series. The Left Hand of Darkness. The Dispossessed.
