Feminist book suggestions

[yellowraincoat]

Continued from another thread.

Any suggestions for books that WON'T raise your feminist ire? I don't think we're looking for theory on this thread, more fiction, possibly even beach-reading?

Not that I'm going to the beach any time soon :(

I'll start by recommending The Little Friend by Donna Tartt. Well-rounded female characters (the main character is a little girl and we see things from her perspective, she is way smarter than her male friend. Also female members of her family and her housekeeper, the men barely get a look-in, except some bad guys) and the writing is really fantastic.

Ah, I wondered why everyone was ignoring my new suggestions on the other thread!!

I can highly recommend anything by Elizabeth Moon. Remnant Population is amazing. I so want to be that old woman when I grow up! She's my hero.

And the Serrano series are equally good; a very strong (but this time young) female lead character. And quite gritty too.

But it was the Earthsong trilogy that started the previous thread - a lovely image of how society can be without the patriarchy. Until the patriarchy comes along and ruins it.

Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping.

One of my favourites.

Marilyn French - The Women's Room and Her Mother's Daughter. Both still relevant and eminently readable.

'Unless' by Carol Shields is beautiful. Connects events in women's lives that might otherwise be seen as separate concerns. Very moving.

And Margaret Atwood - anything really.

There's quite a funny satire called 'Egalia's Daughters', which reverses sex-roles. So you get wim and menwim, the sex is all about the 'wim's' satisifaction, birth is practically a religious ceremony, and during wims' periods their sporting prowess improves (was that influenced by Gloria Steinem's 'If men could menstruate'? Not sure!). And then there's a menwim's rights movement.... :) It's accessible once you get past the image of men (menwim) with ribbons in their beards.

Just found this review of 'Unless' which is what I would say about it if I wasn't on the wine (again). It really is worth reading.

"I just finished this book and was completely inspired and moved by it. I logged on to see what other readers were saying and I have to say that I think they missed the point. Although this novel moves and is described as a narrative story (with a plot: beginning, middle and end) the more important thing I think is that Carol Shields uses this story to move forward a concept. That being that the female perspective, our narrative, our life story as a whole is not considered as important as the male story. (This idea was recently discussed when literary minds chose the TOP 100 books all time and they found very few female stories or writers on that list.) The character struggle the reader needs to focus on is not the daughter's story (although that would have made a fabulous book too) but the mother's struggle to try to understand how she and society had contributed to an otherwise healthy, intelligent, young woman's "dropping out" or "giving up". What's important here is not whether she as a character is correct in her assumptions of the "why" but the focus of her struggle through the event and what that shows about both her and our culture as a whole. I believe "goodness" is used specifically because it is considered a female trait. That said it's a good novel if you don't get that from it, but it's a GREAT novel if you do. "

Sorry Annie should have linked to the thread!

I'm making an Amazon list of these.

How about The Mitfords? Anyone read them? I haven't but I have read a collection of their letters back and forth. Very interesting to read history from a (admittedly very posh) woman's perspective.

Also, they're so hilariously la-di-dah. I raced through them.

Given the Earthsong trilogy, Jean Auel's "Clan of the Cave Bear" - the first book - is pretty good. The rest are a bit too Lurve Story so worth reading more for teh anthropology.

the steampunk dystopian world of Philip Reeve has some very strong female characters in it, Fever Crumb is the strongest.

Speaking of the Mitfords, has anyone read the Mapp & Lucia books by E F Benson? Makes the backstabbing politics of our recent FWR denizens look pale and amateurish...

One book I thoroughly enjoyed recently was The Bohemians by Virginia Nicholson, those women of the Bohemian era were quite something - also pointed to lots of fascinating lesser known (to me anyway) people from that era to read eg Sybil Bedford.

There is some great scifi: A Door Into Ocean and er (will have to look at bookshelves)

yy Sybil Bedford
Elizabeth Taylor
Dorothy Whipple

The L Shaped Room
Miss Pym Disposes
The Elegant Gathering of White Snows
Gaudy Night (natch)

All beach friendly!

I would avoid the L shaped room like the plague, recently re-read my teenage copy and it is one of the most racist and anti-semitic books I've ever read (in a 1960's "all black people are 'other' way", prob not deliberately, but I found it very offensive).

Also, Edith Wharton is well worth reading.

Marion Zimmer Bradley does a lovely female-led take on Arthurian legend in The Mists of Avalon. One of my favourite books of all time.

Ooh yes, the Mists of Avalon is wonderful.

And I love Pratchett for feminism. He's not above cliche and bad tropes, but he was one of the first writers I read* who made me see how absurd, REALLY absurd, sexism is. And how people only don't notice that it's absurd because it's everywhere and deeply entrenched. He also doesn't shrink away from how hard it is to avoid certain narratives - marry the handsome prince, bossy/strong women are wicked witches, etc. And how unfair or just inadequate those narratives are. Aaah, I love Pratchett! Must dig out some for bedtime reading :)

*My lovely big brother gave me his copy of "Equal Rites" when I was nine or ten. He said "Esk is like you, I think you'll enjoy it." Started a lifelong love affair with Granny Weatherwax - even if I didn't get all the jokes at that age, it was still a wonderful thing to read. I must remember to thank him, now I think about it.

Ooh got an Ariana Franklin out of the library and it is BRILLIANT. Which ones have you read, Light?