What books written by women should my husband read?

[MrsDrThorne]

By his own admission my well educated and pretty well read husband has read naff all books by women. He went to a boys only school with a teacher who was obsessed by a certain male author and didn't study English Literature past GCSE. So bar some Val McDermid, Wolf Hall, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and some Sarah Walters he has read NO books written by women. He reads a lot and likes crime, historical crime eg CJ Sansom, surrealist literature and dry humour. Among his favourite writers are Mikhail Bulgakov, Ian Rankin and Henning Mankell. (He loves a series). He doesn't want to read anything too 'challenging' but is going to try The Handmaid's Tale as we are both loving the C4 adaptation. I don't think he would like Eliot or Austen but am going to insist he tries Wuthering Heights. What else do you think he should try??

Josephine Tey
Kate Atkinson
Elizabeth Gaskell's north and south is great
Some of Tess Gerritson's are riveting
Laura Lippman is great
Ruth Rendall amazing - start with "A Dark-Adapted Eye"
Antonia Frazier's bios are brilliant
Agree Tana French is great
I love Kate O Brien but not sure how others would feel
Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant - one of those workhorse victorian women who supported entire families by churning it out by the page - is one of the funniest novels I have read.

My middle aged uncle read Jane Eyre for the first time and called me the next day saying "I had to stay up all night to finish it, why didn't you tell me this was what the classics are like?"

I think P&P too like Cinderella and romantic for many men to start off with, Persuasion more persuading..

Evelyn Waugh.

Evelyn Waugh?

Only joking. Bookmarking really.

The Beginning Of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald is a bit special. I loved all the Russian details. Especially because Fitzgerald never went to Russia.

I've just read The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood and it's set in a distopian future but it's a bit more accessible than Oryx and Crake and more mature in style than The Handmaid's Tale. In fact, and I say this as a HUGE Atwood fan, after watching the new TV adaptation the book is going to be a let down. I honestly think the TV series may be the best thing I've ever seen on TV and it is different to the book because it has more scope to play with the juxtaposition of Offred's old life and new one.

It's not a novel but Stasiland is a great book. I forget the name of the author but she's definitely a woman.

I'm making a note of all of these. After about 8 years reading no books I'm enjoying having time to read some and there's lots to catch up on!

Definitely The Handmaids Tale.

Fay Weldon.

Can't believe he's from God's Own Country and hasn't read WH! (let me guess he's from Howarth)

I would also recommend The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

Strangers on a Train, or any of the Ripley books by Patricia Highsmith.

I've just finished reading Night Film by Marissa Pessl and loved it, her debut was supposed to be good too.

*Marisha Pessl (concentrated on autocorrect not messing up her last name that I didn't even look at her first name!)

Could he be persuaded by any short stories?

Alice Munro would be a good place to start. She writes beautiful, subtle, powerful short stories - she won the Nobel Prize for Literature a few years ago. I think she's wonderful.

Or, if he's after something (considerably!) darker, point him in the direction of Flannery O'Connor.

Zadie Smith
Donna Tartt (Secret History & The Goldfinch - NOT the middle one)
Sue Townsend

Thank you AtiaoftheJulii - I was trying to remember Anne Cleves' names as a recommendation!!!

I have an English degree and can't stand the Brontes (with Jane Eyre the exception that proves the rule)

Maybe start small with Austen 'Love and freindship' (sic) was reprinted a few years ago and is short and v funny.
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0140433341/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1496998098&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=love+and+friendship+austen&dpPl=1&dpID=51Y1ZW0ruoL&ref=plSrch&tag=mumsnetforum-21

Completely agree with Kate Atkinson

'Chronicles of St Mary's' by Jodi Taylor, female author and protagonist but rollicking good stories. plus someone on here recommended them and I lost all half term reading the entire series, I need to inflict the same on others!

I recently read 'The Dovekeepers' which was fascinating

'The Secret Life of Bees'
'The Poisonwood Bible'
'The Essex Serpent'
'A God in Ruins'

Are all Kindle downloads of mine in 2016 and all by women

Dorothy Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh's follow on books about Lord Peter Wimsey are good for detective fans and beautifully written.

Pallisers -- another Kate O'Brien fan! She's brilliant (well, with the exception of Pray for the Wanderer, which I've never much cared for.)

Essex Serpent is great.

Connie Willis's time-travel historicals are great:
Doomsday Book (medieval and serious)
To Say Nothing Of The Dog (late Victorian fun in the style of JKJ and Oscar Wilde)
Black Out/All Clear (world war two two parter)

What about Sarah Waters? How does he feel about lesbian sex? and gripping plots and great historical flavour of course.

Sian Busby - A Commonplace Killing.

"likes crime, historical crime eg CJ Sansom, surrealist literature and dry humour. "

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

God please don't get him to read The Secret Life of Bees unless you want him never to touch another book written by a woman again

Strange and Norrell is fabulous but a big read and a lot of people struggle with the first 100 pages. OTOH if he's enjoyed Wolf Hall he should be fine.

No no NO to Alice Munroe, as well. These are "women's" authors/books that will not go down well with someone who has never read female authors.

Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton for crime. Sue Grafton's alphabet series is fast heading towards Z so plenty to catch up on.
S.J Parris for historical fiction.
Angela Carter and Sara Maitland for surreal and magical stories (he might particularly enjoy The Moss Witch - short stories inspired by conversations with leading scientists who then discuss the stories in relation to the science).
Sue Townsend and Sue Limb for comedy.

He will probably never read a another female author if you make him read Wuthering Heights.

DH (who has great literary stamina but is not great on female authors) tried to read Wuthering Heights. He got half way through, and said "Hang on! So all these middle three hundred pages are just some old woman talking to a bloke over a cup of tea? Is she doing all the voices?" And his suspended disbelief came plummeting down.

You could also try giving him a copy of "Letters to Alice on first reading Jane Austen" by Fay Weldon. It might inspire him to try JA and understand why JA is such a great writer. It is also a really good intro to Literature in general.

If he doesn't want anything too challenging I'd avoid the older classics and go for some of the amazing female authors of now who write so stylishly that you forget you're reading and just live the story as it unfolds

Rose Tremain - The Colour, Music and Silence, Restoration (beautiful historical novels)

YY to Kate Atkinson - Life After Life (surrealist lit)

and definitely Donna Tartt! The Secret History. Such a brilliant, engaging story.

I loved the Goldfinch but my DH gave up half way through...
If he likes crime how about Beth Gutcheon? Her "Still Missing" is a brilliant book, although I like her writing generally.
Harriet, by Elizabeth Jenkins (persephone books) is based on a real-life crime and is both gripping and absolutely heartbreaking. My DB found it riveting.