Top Ten Tuesdays Feminist Reads

So Long a Letter- Mariama Ba

Published in 1981, So Long a Letter by Senegalese Mariama Ba won the first Noma Award for publishing in Africa.

The Color Purple - Alice Walker

Winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction, this epistolary novel tells the story of Celie, an African-American woman who survives abuse and bigotry. The 1982 book was adapted into the popular film of the same name in 1985, with Whoopi Goldberg as Celie.

The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

This 6,000 word short story is a convincing fictional depiction of mental illness written as the secret journal of a woman who, unhappy in marriage, has been sentenced to a country rest cure.

The Edible Woman - Margaret Atwood

This 1969 contemporary literary fiction rich or irony and metaphor explores the life of a woman whose life feels crumbly after her engagement; she seems to have lost her appetite and feels like she is being eaten.

The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing

Lessing’s speculative fiction heralded as the feminist bible when it came out is still relevant to the modern feminist reader. The book explores communism, liberation, motherhood and mental breakdown.

How To Be a Woman - Caitlin Moran (2012)

Writing fuelled by cigarettes and a moxie, Moran finished her book,a non-fiction memoir, within just five months.

We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2014)

This essay was adapted from Chimamanda’s TEDx talk of the same name in which she highlights obvious behaviours that continue to marginalize women today.

The First Bad Man - Miranda July (2015)

Hailed as the first great novel of the year, debut novel from American film director and screen-writer narrates what happens to lonely middle-aged Cheryl, who has lived by herself for years, after a young woman suddenly moves in with her.

Man v. Nature: stories - Diane Cook (2014)

This collection of short stories comes highly recommended by Miranda July in celebration of women writing about women.

The Round House - Louise Erdrich (2012)

Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction in 2012, The Round House is a coming of age novel that explores sexual violence; how it arises, how it affects families and the women who experience it.