Women in History
Posted: January 9, 2023
The following compiled list of historical fiction represents thirty-one titles to read, discover, learn, and celebrate women who’ve made history, individually or collectively. Their achievements languish in the shadows, awaiting authors to write their stories and readers to embrace them.
#31titleswomeninhistory
Developing the list was no easy task and I know there are many more books out there worthy of inclusion. I had read many of the books and several more avid readers recommended to me, which I then read. For my final selections, I used the following criteria:
- Historical fiction genre – no biographies or memoirs
- Women authors only
- Diversity in authors – cultural, as well as type of publishing and name recognition
- Diversity in the subject – cultural, setting, field of recognition
- Goodreads ratings
Help me further build my list for 2024. Add your recommendations to my survey. How about a list of 365 Women in History?
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORICAL FICTION
Why historical fiction? Trust authors have conducted exhaustive research to write based on facts, yet fictionalized versions of women’s stories, imagining their emotional responses as they strode forward with dreams in their minds and hopes in their hearts.
Which ones have you read? Share using #31titleswomeninhistory
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- Brochure for bookstores and libraries with space to include logo
- Complete list of Women’s History Month 31 Titles_Info Sheet
- Calendar visual
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- Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig – Smith College graduates (France, WWI)
- The Black Rose by Tananarive Due – First Black female self-made millionaire in America, Madam CH Walker
- The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson – Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians
- By Her Own Design by Piper Huguley – Fashion designer, Ann Low
- Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland – Artist and designer of nearly all of Tiffany’s lamps, Clara Driscoll
- Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen by Sarah Bird – Former slave who served with the Buffalo Soldiers by disguising herself as a man, Cathy Williams
- The Engineer’s Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood – Architect & Engineer, Emily Roebling
- Fast Girls by Elise Hooper – U.S. Women’s 1936 Olympic track team
- Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd – Plantation Owner/Grower, Eliza Lucas
- Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir – Lady Jane Grey
- The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd – Abolitionists, Sarah and Angelinka Grimke
- Island Queen by Vanessa Riley – Landowner and Entrepreneur, Dorothy Kirwan Thomas
- Island of Sea Women by Lisa See – Women Divers of Jeju Island
- The Last Empress by Anchee Min – Tzu Hsi, Lady Yehonala
- Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly – Philanthropist, Caroline Ferriday
- Love and Ruin by Paula McLain – Journalist, Martha Gellhorn
- Loving Frank by Nancy Horan – Mamah Borthwick Cheney
- Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl by Samantha Wilcoxson – Factory worker, Catherine Donohoe
- Madame Presidentess by Nicole Evelina – Presidential candidate, Victoria Woodhull
- The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki – Heiress and philanthropist, Marjorie Post
- The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B by Sandra Gulland – Empress, Josephine Bonaparte
- Monticello by Sally Cabot Gunning – First Daughter, Martha Jefferson
- My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie – Eliza Schuyler Hamilton
- The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray – Librarian Belle da Costa Greene
- Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier – Paleontologist, Mary Anning
- The Rose Code by Kate Quinn – Code breakers of Bletchley Park (England WWII)
- The Unlocked Path by Janis Robinson Daly – Graduates of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania
- A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler – Socialite, Suffragist Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont
- When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris & Susan Meissner – Angels of Bataan, WWII nurses
- The Woman with the Cure by Lynn Cullen – Scientist and infectious disease researcher, Dr. Dorothy Hortsmann
- The Women’s March: A Novel of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession by Jennifer Chiaverini – Suffragists Alice Paul, Maud Malone, Ida B. Wells
More Recommended Reading…
Telling Her Story: 40 Books for Adult Readers About Women Heroes of WWII – from A Mighty Girl blog site
MEMOIRS
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Prague Winter by Madeleine Albright
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
BIOGRAPHIES
The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and the Harrimans by Catherine Grace Katz
Doctors Blackwell by Janice P. Nimura – Medical History, Elizabeth & Emily Blackwell
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly – Science/Space History, NASA’s Female Mathematicians
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot – Medical History, Henrietta Lacks (HeLa)
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon – Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore – Workplace Safety Advocates, Radium Dial Workers
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