The Cutprice Guignol

So, with International Women’s Day coming up, I wanted to talk a little bit about the work of women (well, ones who aren’t me, at least).

Specifically, the work of women writers. I’ve written about the women I love, the horror movies from female directors I adore – so it’s about time I turned my attention to the literary scene, right? I’ve somehow managed to hash out a career in various kinds of writing, and when I look back, I know that I wouldn’t have been able to do that without a constant stream of amazing writing by women that I’ve been lucky enough to have access to. As inspiration, as gold standard, as worldview-shifters, I’d like to talk about the ways that ten books by women changed my life. Let’s get into it!

Midnight for Charlie Bone – Jenny Nimmo

One of the first books I ever remember staying up to read after my bedtime is Midnight for Charlie Bone, the first in the brilliant (and underrated) Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo. The characters she created here were just so endlessly readable to me, that kind of compulsive storytelling where you find yourself bargaining for just one more chapter. Even now, these books are a fun read, but this one, in particular, takes me back to propping up a small tent under my covers to read by torchlight.

The Cappuccino Years – Sue Townsend

I have never, not once in my life, tried to disguise how much of my life, writing style, general existence as a whole is inspired by Sue Townsend. I still consider the Adrian Mole series pretty much the best comedy series ever put to paper, and the way that this book is still probably my most-quoted after two decades says a lot about how bloody funny it is. That balance of humanity and wit is still the gold standard for what I consider a heartfelt comedy, and, if I don’t get another adaptation of this in the next ten minutes, I might explode.

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit – Jeanette Winterson

Is it because of the lesbian stuff? Of course, at least a little bit. Oranges was one of the first novels about lesbian love and sex that I ever read, over the course of one summer with a girl I fancied at the coffee shop we both worked at, and it felt like such a revelation: oh, thank God, I’m not the first girl to fancy girls, this one even wrote a book about it. It’s still got a huge place in my heart, along with the rest of Winterson’s brilliant back catalogue.

The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson

You better believe I am not getting through this list without talking about at least a little bit of horror. And when it comes to horror novels by women, Shirley Jackson still pretty much reigns supreme for me – The Haunting of Hill House is an endlessly relevant novel, one that you can adapt into almost any backdrop and have it draw out a different angle on the characters and the subtext. And, more to the point, it’s really, really scary.

The Red Parts – Maggie Nelson

Maggie Nelson’s extraordinary The Red Parts remains, to this day, one of the most unique and memorable approaches to the true crime genre I’ve ever come across. The broad-angle approach to this particular case through the lens of Nelson’s family and the legacy of this act of violence is always one I look to as an example of how to tell these stories in a compassionate way that touches on both systemic and personal issues alike and contextualizes the crime in a broader scope.

The World’s Wife – Carol Ann Duffy

Let me tell you: this is probably the book I had re-read most over the course of my entire life. Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry collection, which reworks both real and fictional narratives through the lens of the women involved, still kind of blows my mind with how brilliant it is. I first read it when I was fourteen, and I’m still finding new aspects that surprise me every time I go through it – like all really brilliant poetry, it means different things to me at different times in my life, and the way it adapts to new perspectives makes it an all-timer.

All About Love – bell hooks

I read this book at a time in my life where I was really starting to leave behind the angst of my teens and early twenties to look forward in earnest to a future that might, feasibly, not be entirely horrible – and it was and remains exactly the antidote to that earlier, negative state of mind whenever I come back to it. hooks’ straightforward discussion of emotion, love, and community is as grounded as it is hopeful, and it’s still the book I try to foist on as many friends as will have it.

See What You Made Me Do – Jess Hill

This book is anything but easy reading, but I can’t think of any other non-fiction book that has changed my perspective on a topic so completely. The way this book shifted the way I view abuse, interpersonal relationships, and the structural issues that fail victims of domestic violence with this incredibly impactful mix of gruelling personal experience and research…if there’s ever a book that I would brand “unflinching” and genuinely mean it, it would be this one.

The Vegetarian – Han Kang

If I had to point at what I believe to be the best piece of fiction I’ve ever read, it’s probably The Vegetarian by Han Kang. This book blew my socks into orbit – it’s such a daring and experimental story that plays with perspective and point of view to create this vision of a woman through the eyes of the people closest to her. Han Kang is (rightly) considered one of the best authors of the contemporary scene, and if you have any reason to doubt that, read The Vegetarian.

Tender is the Flesh – Augustina Bazzterica

This is a recent addition to the list, but God, it’s one that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Finding that line between extreme horror and genuine quality is not as easy as you’d think, at least as far as so many of the literary entries into this genre have been…ahem, less than excellent. But Bazzterica really goes there with her incisive commentary on commodity, bodily autonomy, food, women, and just about everything else, all wrapped up in this brilliantly disturbing dystopia. To see a genre I love done so well, it’s set a new standard for extreme horror literature.

I would truly love to hear about your favourite books by women in the comments below – what changed your life, what do you come back to over and over again, what do you wish everyone would read? Let’s talk about it!