500 Great Books by Women

This is one of the 743 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
11873 Pride Of Family Carole Ione 1988 American English
12802 Princess Jean Sasson 1992 American English
282 The Princess of Cleves Madame de La Fayette 1678 French French
8762 Proud Shoes Pauli Murray 1956 American English
8091 Purple Springs Nellie L. McClung 1921 Canadian English
12230 Quiet Odyssey Mary Paik Lee 1990 Korean American English
10414 Rain Of Scorpions And Other Stories Estela Portillo Trambley 1975 American English
8091 Ramona Helen Hunt Jackson 1884 American English
12058 Real Farm Patricia Tichenor Westfall 1989 American English
59 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
12484 Rebellion Minnie Bruce Pratt 1991 American English
2442 The Rector's Daughter F. M. Mayor 1924 British English
12484 Refuge Terry Tempest Williams 1991 American English
848 Regeneration Pat Barker 1991 British English
10279 Requiem Shizuko Gō 1986 Japanese Japanese
12484 The Revolution Of Little Girls Blanche McCrary Boyd 1991 American English
11787 Rich In Love Josephine Humphreys 1987 American English
11413 Rich Like Us Nayantara Sahgal 1985 Indian English
12230 Riding In Cars With Boys Beverly Donofrio 1990 American English
11313 Rituals Of Survival Nicholasa Mohr 1984 American English
10146 A River Sutra Gita Mehta 1993 Indian English
12058 River Time Janet Lembke 1989 American English
11787 The Riverhouse Stories Andrea Carlisle 1987 American English
5762 The Road from Coorain Jill Ker Conway 1989 Australian English
11787 Road Song Natalie Kusz 1987 American English
12484 The Road Through Miyama Leila Philip 1991 American English
11019 The Roots Of Ticasuk Ticasuk Brown 1981 American English
11787 Rosie The Riveter Revisited Sherna Berger Gluck 1987 American English
6482 Ruth Hall Fanny Fern 1854 American English
8160 Saints And Strangers Angela Carter 1985 British English
12230 The Samaritan Treasure Marianne Luban 1990 American Unknown
11873 Sans Souci And Other Stories Dionne Brand 1988 Canadian English
12484 The Scent Of The Gods Fiona Cheong 1991 Singaporean English
9773 Sassafrass, Cypress, And Indigo Ntozake Shange 1982 American English
11224 Scraps Of Life Marjorie Agosín 1983 Chilean Spanish
140 The Second Sex Simone de Beauvoir 1949 French French
3091 Second-class Citizen Buchi Emecheta 1974 Nigerian English
11873 Seventeen Syllables And Other Stories Hisaye Yamamoto 1988 American English
12484 The Seventh Garment Eugenia Fakinou 1991 Greek Greek
12230 Seventh Heaven Alice Hoffman 1990 American English
7136 The Shawl Cynthia Ozick 1989 American English
13457 The Ship Of Fools Cristina Peri Rossi 2021 Uruguayan Spanish
9223 Silences Tillie Olsen 1978 American English
12230 Silent Dancing Judith Ortiz Cofer 1990 American English
162 Silent Spring Rachel Carson 1962 American English
10878 Singing Softly Carmen De Monteflores 1979 American English
11224 Sister Age M. F. K. Fisher 1983 American English
1616 Sister Outsider Audre Lorde 1984 American English
10801 Six Of One Rita Mae Brown 1978 American English
10878 A Small Country Sian James 1979 British English
11873 A Small Place Jamaica Kincaid 1988 Antiguan English
1278 So Long a Letter Mariama Bâ 1980 Senegalese French
9523 Sofia Petrovna Lydia Chukovskaya 1965 Russian Russian
10151 The Solace of Open Spaces Gretel Ehrlich 1985 American English
1667 Solitude Caterina Albert 1905 Spanish Catalan
8091 Spiritual Narratives Maria W. Stewart 1835 American English
9638 Spring Moon Betty Bao Lord 1981 Chinese English
9166 The Writer on Her Work Janet Sternburg 1980 American English
12802 Still Loved By The Sun Migael Scherer 1992 American English
11313 The Stillborn Zaynab Alkali 1984 Nigerian English
2833 The Stone Angel Margaret Laurence 1964 Canadian English
8820 Stones For Ibarra Harriet Doerr 1984 American English
8918 Storm In The Village Miss Read 1958 British English
1317 The Story Of An African Farm Olive Schreiner 1883 South African English
6482 The Story Of Avis Elizabeth Stuart Phelps 1877 American English
10092 Stradbroke Dreamtime Oodgeroo Noonuccal 1972 Australian English
12802 The Straight Mind Monique Wittig 1992 French French
1754 Strange Fruit Lillian Smith 1944 American English
1117 The Street Ann Petry 1946 American English
10282 Street Games Rosellen Brown 1974 American English
3561 Sultana's Dream Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain 1905 Bangladeshi Bengali
10282 The Summer Of The Great Grandmother Madeleine L'Engle 1974 American English
12058 Sweet Summer Bebe Moore Campbell 1989 American English
12058 Tahuri Ngahuia Te Awekotuku 1989 New Zealand English
12058 Talking Back bell hooks 1989 American English
12802 Talking Indian Anna Lee Walters 1992 American English
12802 Talking To High Monks In The Snow Lydia Minatoya 1992 American English
12802 Talking To The Dead Sylvia Watanabe 1992 American English
12802 Taste Of Power Elaine Brown 1992 American English
1101 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 1848 British English
639 Testament Of Youth Vera Brittain 1933 British English
10092 There Was Never A Once Upon A Time Carmen Naranjo 1972 Costa Rican Unknown
3225 This Bridge Called My Back Cherríe Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa 1981 American English
9841 This Child's Gonna Live Sarah E. Wright 1969 American English
999 A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley 1991 American English
3059 Three Guineas Virginia Woolf 1938 British English
9068 Toys In The Attic Lillian Hellman 1960 American English
11555 The Threshing Floor Barbara Burford 1986 British English
12230 Through The Arc Of The Rain Forest Karen Tei Yamashita 1990 American English
654 The Time Of The Doves Merce Rodoreda 1962 Spanish Catalan
9223 Tirra Lirra By The River Jessica Anderson 1978 Australian English
16 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960 American English
10711 Tracks Louise Erdrich 1988 American English
8342 Tracks Robyn Davidson 1980 Australian English
11873 Twilight And Other Stories Shulamith Hareven 1988 Israeli Hebrew
2227 The Twilight Years Sawako Ariyoshi 1972 Japanese Japanese
8762 Two In The Far North Margaret E. Murie 1956 American English
13235 Two Old Women Velma Wallis 1993 American English
10414 Two Women In One Nawal El Saadawi 1975 Egyptian Arabic
12484 Typical American Gish Jen 1991 American English
11873 The Ultraviolet Sky Alma Luz Villanueva 1988 American English
184 Uncle Tom's Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe 1852 American English
11413 Various Miracles Carol Shields 1985 Canadian English
12802 Veils Nahid Rachlin 1992 Iranian English
773 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft 1792 British English
8091 Virginia Ellen Glasgow 1913 American English
6482 A Voice From The South Anna Julia Cooper 1892 American English
2923 The Waiting Years Fumiko Enchi 1957 Japanese Japanese
1478 The Wall Marlen Haushofer 1963 Austrian German
10282 Walls Hiltgunt Zassenhaus 1974 German English
11873 A War Of Eyes And Other Stories Wanda Coleman 1988 American English
11873 Waterlily Ella Cara Deloria 1988 American English
10801 A Weave Of Women E. M. Broner 1978 American English
8091 Weeds Edith Summers Kelley 1923 Canadian English
9841 A Week Like Any Other Natalya Baranskaya 1969 Russian Russian
754 The Well of Loneliness Radclyffe Hall 1928 British English
1976 West With the Night Beryl Markham 1942 British English
13235 Why Not Me? Wendy L. Bovard 1993 Unknown Unknown
10714 Why Is There Salt In The Sea? Brigitte Schwaiger 1977 Austrian German
901 Wild Swans Jung Chang 1991 Chinese English