The Greatest Books of All Time on Gender Roles

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
93 Little Women Louisa May Alcott 1868 American English
117 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy 1891 British English
139 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
198 Howards End E. M. Forster 1910 British English
217 The House of Mirth Edith Wharton 1905 American English
271 The Awakening Kate Chopin 1899 American English
307 Medea Euripides -431 Greek Ancient greek
332 Clarissa Samuel Richardson 1748 British English
414 The Mill on the Floss George Eliot 1860 British English
424 A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen 1879 Norwegian Norwegian
503 Pamela Samuel Richardson 1740 British English
564 Main Street Sinclair Lewis 1920 American English
647 Lolly Willowes Sylvia Townsend Warner 1926 British English
709 The Feminine Mystique Betty Friedan 1963 American English
774 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft 1792 British English
905 Coming of Age in Samoa Margaret Mead 1928 American English
1029 Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon Jorge Amado 1958 Brazilian Portuguese
1034 The Bostonians Henry James 1886 American English
1047 The Egoist George Meredith 1879 British English
1103 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 1848 British English
1167 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Anita Loos 1925 American English
1195 Song Of Lawino Okot P'Bitek 1966 Ugandan Acholi
1259 The Female Eunuch Germaine Greer 1970 Australian English
1285 Selected Stories of Alice Munro Alice Munro 1996 Canadian English
1360 The Makioka Sisters Junichiro Tanizaki 1948 Japanese Japanese
1490 The Garden Party And Other Stories Katherine Mansfield 1922 New Zealand English
1566 Love In A Fallen City Eileen Chang 1943 Chinese Chinese
1651 The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1892 American English
1655 The Beauty Myth Naomi Wolf 1990 American English
1766 Who Do You Think You Are? Alice Munro 1978 Canadian English
2051 Palace Walk Naguib Mahfouz 1956 Egyptian Arabic
2074 The Blithedale Romance Nathaniel Hawthorne 1852 American English
2092 Lady Audley's Secret M. E. Braddon 1862 British English
2126 Tell Me a Riddle Tillie Olsen 1961 American English
2159 The Clan of the Cave Bear Jean M. Auel 1980 American English
2166 Bread Givers Anzia Yezierska 1925 American English
2299 The Getting Of Wisdom Henry Handel Richardson 1910 Australian English
2460 Shirley Charlotte Brontë 1849 British English
2465 The Silent Duchess Dacia Maraini 1990 Italian Italian
2490 The Millstone Margaret Drabble 1965 British English
2508 Mrs. Bridge Evan S. Connell 1959 American English
2542 Pilgrimage Dorothy Richardson 1915 British English
2628 Selected Plays of George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw 1976 Irish English
2642 The Power Naomi Alderman 2016 British English
2685 Selected Plays of Henrick Ibsen Henrik Ibsen 1900 Norwegian Norwegian
2692 The Book Of Margery Kempe Margery Kempe 1436 British Middle english
2705 My Brilliant Career Miles Franklin 1901 Australian English
2930 The Waiting Years Fumiko Enchi 1957 Japanese Japanese
2963 Au Bonheur Des Dames Émile Zola 1883 French French
3126 Daisy Miller Henry James 1878 American English
3158 The Flounder Günter Grass 1977 German German
3324 The Female Quixote Charlotte Lennox 1752 British English
3324 Life and Death of Harriett Frean May Sinclair 1922 British English
3480 The Bookseller of Kabul Asne Seierstad 2002 Norwegian Norwegian
3597 The Third Wedding Kōstas Tachtsēs 1962 Greek Greek
3638 The School Of Whoredom Pietro Aretino 1536 Italian English
3638 The Marquise Of O Heinrich von Kleist 1808 German German
3911 Salt On Our Skin Benoîte Groult 1988 French French
4115 Brick Lane Monica Ali 2003 British English
4158 The Assemblywomen Aristophanes -391 Greek Ancient greek
4259 The Father August Strindberg 1887 Swedish Swedish
4299 Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Fannie Flagg 1987 American English
4310 Indiana George Sand 1832 French French
4310 Pointed Roofs Dorothy Richardson 1915 British English
4310 The Odd Women George Gissing 1893 British English
4421 Selections From The Tatler And The Spectator Joseph Addison, Richard Steele 1804 British English
4421 The Madras House Harley Granville Barker 1910 British English
4421 Trifles Susan Glaspell 1916 American English
4658 Man And Superman George Bernard Shaw 1903 British English
4707 The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter Katherine Anne Porter 1965 American English
4722 The Bride Price Buchi Emecheta 1976 Nigerian English
4724 Venus in Furs Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch 1870 Austrian German
4873 Heat and Dust Ruth Prawer Jhabvala 1975 Indian English
4887 The Crimson Petal And The White Michel Faber 2002 British English
5242 The Life And Adventures Of Trobadora Beatrice Irmtraud Morgner 1974 German German
5266 Anowa Ama Ata Aidoo 1970 Ghanaian English
5362 The Hite Report Shere Hite 1976 American English
5389 The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800 Lawrence Stone 1977 British English
5484 The Painter Of Signs R. K. Narayan 1976 Indian English
5701 Fear And Trembling Amélie Nothomb 1999 Belgian French
5806 The Child Manuela Christa Winsloe 1933 German German
5863 The Book Of The Courtier Baldassare Castiglione 1528 Italian Italian
5993 The Children's Book A. S. Byatt 2009 British English
6005 Quai Des Grands Augustins Jean Rhys 1930 Unknown French
6155 Women As Lovers Elfriede Jelinek 1975 Austrian German
6230 Idu Flora Nwapa 1970 Nigerian English
6436 Sex And Temperament In Three Primitive Societies Margaret Mead 1935 American English
6493 Ruth Hall Fanny Fern 1854 American English
6493 The Story Of Avis Elizabeth Stuart Phelps 1877 American English
6501 Cosima Grazia Deledda 1937 Italian Italian
6504 The Coquette Hannah Webster Foster 1797 American English
6517 A Frozen Woman Annie Ernaux 1981 French French
6606 Pavilion Of Women Pearl S. Buck 1946 American English
6855 Male Daughters, Female Husbands Ifi Amadiume 1987 Nigerian English
6918 English Society In The Eighteenth Century Roy Porter 1982 British English
7198 Parallel Lives Phyllis Rose 1983 American English
7216 The Learned Ladies Molière 1672 French French
7215 The Jailing Of Cecelia Capture Janet Campbell Hale 1985 American English
7216 The Years Virginia Woolf 1937 British English
7663 East Wind Pearl S. Buck 1930 American English
7818 Ties That Bind, Ties That Break Lensey Namioka 1999 American English
7950 Woman On The Edge Of Time Marge Piercy 1976 American English
8107 Constance Ring Amalie Skram 1885 Norwegian Norwegian
8107 Coonardoo Katherine Susannah Prichard 1929 Australian English
8107 The District Governor's Daughters Camilla Collett 1854 Norwegian Norwegian
8107 The Home Maker Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1924 American English
8107 Virginia Ellen Glasgow 1913 American English
8107 Weeds Edith Summers Kelley 1923 Canadian English
8144 Society Without The Father Unknown 1998 Unknown German
8198 A Daughter Of Han Ning Lao Tai-Tai, told to Ida Pruitt 1945 Chinese English
8360 On Strike Against God Joanna Russ 1980 American English
8496 Margaret The First Danielle Dutton 2016 American English
8669 The Rape of the Lock Alexander Pope 1712 British English
8801 Ann Veronica H. G. Wells 1909 British English
8825 The Sacred Hoop Paula Gunn Allen 1986 American English
9154 La Brecha Mercedes Valdivieso 1961 Chilean Spanish
9275 The Butcher's Wife And Other Stories Li Ang 1983 Taiwanese Chinese
9317 My Husband Rumena Bužarovska 2020 Macedonian Macedonian
9544 Guests Of The Sheik Elizabeth Warnock Fernea 1965 American English
9623 Efuru Flora Nwapa 1966 Nigerian English