As it is International Women’s Day, I thought I would pay tribute to ten of my favorite women authors… Nicole Krauss, Karen Maitland, Isabel Allende, Maggie O’Farrell, Audrey Niffenegger, Stephanie Kallos, Elliot George, Sylvia Plath, Susannah Clarke and Brenda Maddox. Of course, there are many more talented and lovely women writers out there but I have to choose just a couple handfuls to share for this post!

Nicole Krauss

Nicole Krauss is an American author born in Manhattan, New York in 1974 (same year as me!) She began writing as a teenager publishing poetry until her books came. The three books of hers I’ve read (numerous times over) are: The History of Love, Man Walks Into a Room, and Great House.

Karen Maitland

Karen Maitland is a British author born in England in 1956. She has been writing for most of her life. She loves to travel and research history. Her attention to details and love for cultural research shows in her writing. I had the wonderful pleasure of doing an e-interview with her. You can read that here. The three books of hers I’ve read (several times) are: Company of Liars, The Owl-Killers and The Gallows Curse.

Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende was born in Lima, Peru in 1942 (Ewww! That rhymes!) and is a Chilean writer with American citizenship. She is a passionate writer who delves into magical realism, which is is one of my favorite genres, if I can choose favorites! She has written so many good books it is difficult to choose three but here are three random books of hers I’ve read (I think I’ve read all her work to date!): The House of the Spirits, Eva Luna, and Ines of My Soul.

Maggie O’Farrell

Maggie O’Farrell was born in 1972 in Ireland, grew up in Wales and now lives in London! She has been writing since she was four or five years old! How lovely! It definitely shows. She gives women dimension and depth in her novels. Again, I struggle to choose just three of my favorites from her work (read them all!): The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, My Lover’s Lover, The Hand That First Held Mine.

Susannah Clarke

Susanna Clarke was born in Nottingham (like from Robin Hood) in 1959. She writes and has worked as an editor. She is a multi-talented woman! I first fell in love with her books when I read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It is one of the most fascinating fiction books ever! The two novels she has written to date: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and The Ladies of Grace Adieu.

Brenda Maddox

Brenda Maddox is an American author who writes mainly biographies. She was born in Massachusetts and has lived in the UK since 1959. I first had the pleasure of reading her work when I came across her biography on Rosalind Franklin. It was fascinating! Her writing style is engaging in a way that is rare for biographers. I would recommend the following three books by Brenda Maddox: Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA, George Eliot in Love and Freud’s Wizard.

Stephanie Kallos

Stephanie Kallos was born in Idaho and grew up in Nebraska but she now lives in Seattle (yay for the Pacific Northwest!). She has been a teacher of voice, speech and dialects. She is a musician and an actress, as well as a writer. To date, Stephanie Kallos has published two books: Broken For You and Sing Them Home.

Deceased women authors…

George Eliot

George Eliot was an English novelist (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880). Her work is moving. I think most of you are probably familiar with some of it. Here are three of her pieces I recommend: Middlemarch, Adam Bede and Silas Marner.

Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath was born in Massachusetts and published her first poem at 8 years old! She was prolific in her writing. She tragically decided to end her life but her work lives on. She is hands down one of my very favorite authors ever. She wrote of issues facing women in a very personal way. Three works I would recommend by Sylvia Plath are: ;The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar and Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an American author (July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935). She was not just an author but a sociologist and an advocate for social reform. She was revolutionary in her ability to illuminate the plight of women in her time. The works I recommend by Charlotte Perkins Gilman are: Herland and One Girl of Many and I will leave you with her famous, Yellow Wallpaper… click more below.

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