500 Great Books by Women

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Book, 506 Books

The editors of this work-one is a teacher, one a writer, and one a women's bookstore owner-clearly love to read, are committed to promoting women's writing, and want to provide a useful guide for readers of similar inclination. The editors, along with some 30 contributors, have written brief descriptions (about 200 words) of 500 selected books. To be included, books had to be written by a woman and be in prose, in print, and in English (or in translation). The editors selected books they personally loved that represent multicultural and international perspectives. The entries are arranged thematically, including sections for art, family, identity, work, and 15 additional themes. The selections are somewhat unexpected, but they do include at least one sampling of the most acclaimed women writers (e.g., Angelou, Morrison, Weldon, and Oates).

This list was originally published in 1994 and was added to this site over 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
11900 Pride Of Family Carole Ione 1988 American English
12834 Princess Jean Sasson 1992 American English
284 The Princess of Cleves Madame de La Fayette 1678 French French
8778 Proud Shoes Pauli Murray 1956 American English
8107 Purple Springs Nellie L. McClung 1921 Canadian English
12259 Quiet Odyssey Mary Paik Lee 1990 Korean American English
10440 Rain Of Scorpions And Other Stories Estela Portillo Trambley 1975 American English
8107 Ramona Helen Hunt Jackson 1884 American English
12084 Real Farm Patricia Tichenor Westfall 1989 American English
59 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
12515 Rebellion Minnie Bruce Pratt 1991 American English
2447 The Rector's Daughter F. M. Mayor 1924 British English
12515 Refuge Terry Tempest Williams 1991 American English
849 Regeneration Pat Barker 1991 British English
10303 Requiem Shizuko Gō 1986 Japanese Japanese
12515 The Revolution Of Little Girls Blanche McCrary Boyd 1991 American English
11812 Rich In Love Josephine Humphreys 1987 American English
11444 Rich Like Us Nayantara Sahgal 1985 Indian English
12259 Riding In Cars With Boys Beverly Donofrio 1990 American English
11344 Rituals Of Survival Nicholasa Mohr 1984 American English
10164 A River Sutra Gita Mehta 1993 Indian English
12084 River Time Janet Lembke 1989 American English
11812 The Riverhouse Stories Andrea Carlisle 1987 American English
5773 The Road from Coorain Jill Ker Conway 1989 Australian English
11812 Road Song Natalie Kusz 1987 American English
12515 The Road Through Miyama Leila Philip 1991 American English
11051 The Roots Of Ticasuk Ticasuk Brown 1981 American English
11812 Rosie The Riveter Revisited Sherna Berger Gluck 1987 American English
6493 Ruth Hall Fanny Fern 1854 American English
8176 Saints And Strangers Angela Carter 1985 British English
12259 The Samaritan Treasure Marianne Luban 1990 American Unknown
11900 Sans Souci And Other Stories Dionne Brand 1988 Canadian English
12515 The Scent Of The Gods Fiona Cheong 1991 Singaporean English
9790 Sassafrass, Cypress, And Indigo Ntozake Shange 1982 American English
11255 Scraps Of Life Marjorie Agosín 1983 Chilean Spanish
140 The Second Sex Simone de Beauvoir 1949 French French
3098 Second-class Citizen Buchi Emecheta 1974 Nigerian English
11900 Seventeen Syllables And Other Stories Hisaye Yamamoto 1988 American English
12515 The Seventh Garment Eugenia Fakinou 1991 Greek Greek
12259 Seventh Heaven Alice Hoffman 1990 American English
7151 The Shawl Cynthia Ozick 1989 American English
13500 The Ship Of Fools Cristina Peri Rossi 2021 Uruguayan Spanish
9241 Silences Tillie Olsen 1978 American English
12259 Silent Dancing Judith Ortiz Cofer 1990 American English
162 Silent Spring Rachel Carson 1962 American English
10908 Singing Softly Carmen De Monteflores 1979 American English
11255 Sister Age M. F. K. Fisher 1983 American English
1620 Sister Outsider Audre Lorde 1984 American English
10831 Six Of One Rita Mae Brown 1978 American English
10908 A Small Country Sian James 1979 British English
11900 A Small Place Jamaica Kincaid 1988 Antiguan English
1278 So Long a Letter Mariama Bâ 1980 Senegalese French
9542 Sofia Petrovna Lydia Chukovskaya 1965 Russian Russian
10169 The Solace of Open Spaces Gretel Ehrlich 1985 American English
1668 Solitude Caterina Albert 1905 Spanish Catalan
8107 Spiritual Narratives Maria W. Stewart 1835 American English
9656 Spring Moon Betty Bao Lord 1981 Chinese English
9184 The Writer on Her Work Janet Sternburg 1980 American English
12834 Still Loved By The Sun Migael Scherer 1992 American English
11344 The Stillborn Zaynab Alkali 1984 Nigerian English
2839 The Stone Angel Margaret Laurence 1964 Canadian English
8835 Stones For Ibarra Harriet Doerr 1984 American English
8933 Storm In The Village Miss Read 1958 British English
1319 The Story Of An African Farm Olive Schreiner 1883 South African English
6493 The Story Of Avis Elizabeth Stuart Phelps 1877 American English
10110 Stradbroke Dreamtime Oodgeroo Noonuccal 1972 Australian English
12834 The Straight Mind Monique Wittig 1992 French French
1756 Strange Fruit Lillian Smith 1944 American English
1119 The Street Ann Petry 1946 American English
10306 Street Games Rosellen Brown 1974 American English
3565 Sultana's Dream Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain 1905 Bangladeshi Bengali
10306 The Summer Of The Great Grandmother Madeleine L'Engle 1974 American English
12084 Sweet Summer Bebe Moore Campbell 1989 American English
12084 Tahuri Ngahuia Te Awekotuku 1989 New Zealand English
12084 Talking Back bell hooks 1989 American English
12834 Talking Indian Anna Lee Walters 1992 American English
12834 Talking To High Monks In The Snow Lydia Minatoya 1992 American English
12834 Talking To The Dead Sylvia Watanabe 1992 American English
12834 Taste Of Power Elaine Brown 1992 American English
1103 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 1848 British English
642 Testament Of Youth Vera Brittain 1933 British English
10110 There Was Never A Once Upon A Time Carmen Naranjo 1972 Costa Rican Unknown
3231 This Bridge Called My Back Cherríe Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa 1981 American English
9857 This Child's Gonna Live Sarah E. Wright 1969 American English
1000 A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley 1991 American English
3066 Three Guineas Virginia Woolf 1938 British English
9087 Toys In The Attic Lillian Hellman 1960 American English
11581 The Threshing Floor Barbara Burford 1986 British English
12259 Through The Arc Of The Rain Forest Karen Tei Yamashita 1990 American English
656 The Time Of The Doves Merce Rodoreda 1962 Spanish Catalan
9241 Tirra Lirra By The River Jessica Anderson 1978 Australian English
16 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960 American English
10740 Tracks Louise Erdrich 1988 American English
8357 Tracks Robyn Davidson 1980 Australian English
11900 Twilight And Other Stories Shulamith Hareven 1988 Israeli Hebrew
2238 The Twilight Years Sawako Ariyoshi 1972 Japanese Japanese
8778 Two In The Far North Margaret E. Murie 1956 American English
13269 Two Old Women Velma Wallis 1993 American English
10440 Two Women In One Nawal El Saadawi 1975 Egyptian Arabic
12515 Typical American Gish Jen 1991 American English
11900 The Ultraviolet Sky Alma Luz Villanueva 1988 American English
184 Uncle Tom's Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe 1852 American English
11444 Various Miracles Carol Shields 1985 Canadian English
12834 Veils Nahid Rachlin 1992 Iranian English
774 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft 1792 British English
8107 Virginia Ellen Glasgow 1913 American English
6493 A Voice From The South Anna Julia Cooper 1892 American English
2930 The Waiting Years Fumiko Enchi 1957 Japanese Japanese
1479 The Wall Marlen Haushofer 1963 Austrian German
10306 Walls Hiltgunt Zassenhaus 1974 German English
11900 A War Of Eyes And Other Stories Wanda Coleman 1988 American English
11900 Waterlily Ella Cara Deloria 1988 American English
10831 A Weave Of Women E. M. Broner 1978 American English
8107 Weeds Edith Summers Kelley 1923 Canadian English
9857 A Week Like Any Other Natalya Baranskaya 1969 Russian Russian
755 The Well of Loneliness Radclyffe Hall 1928 British English
1981 West With the Night Beryl Markham 1942 British English
13269 Why Not Me? Wendy L. Bovard 1993 Unknown Unknown
10743 Why Is There Salt In The Sea? Brigitte Schwaiger 1977 Austrian German
903 Wild Swans Jung Chang 1991 Chinese English