The three women in this picture are the reason why I feel as empowered as I do today - my mother, aunt and grandmother have always constituted the most reassuring and inspiring of matriarchies to me, and it only felt right to start off my Women's Day post by looking up to them - then inviting you to go beyond a grateful post and to something for women.
When it comes to books (and a lot of other things, tbh), I'm a huge advocate of straying off the beaten path - and when I decided 5 years ago that, for every white man's book I read, I would read one by literally anyone else, a whole new world opened to me.
So on this International Women's Day, whilst I won't ask you to make the same resolution I've been keeping to, here are a few of my favourite books by women to start that journey.
Tar Baby, Toni Morrison
Every single one of Toni Morrison's books should really be considered classics. Set at the very beginning of the civil rights movement, Tar Baby explores the changing dynamics in a society where changing hierarchies impact relations, unveiling guilt and liberation in a microcosm. The story is one of love, of conflict and of confrontation, a mix which Morrison's striking style renders beautifully.
Little Fadette, George Sand
Women didn't start writing in the 20th century - and if you don't believe me, read George Sand. A 19th century writer, her incredibly prolific body of work is a helpful reminder of the fact that women always participated in literary society, even if under masculine pseudonyms. Little Fadette is perhaps Sand's most famous book, read by many French middle schoolers, but infused with a magic and emotion which make it relatable at any age. A celebration of rural life, the novel is bound to strike a chord even with the most inveterate city-dweller (i.e. me).
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
I may be a snob but that doesn't mean I can't be obsessed with comics books - and this obsession has Satrapi's amazing graphic novel to thank for it. A coming of age story, Persepolis retraces the author's life from her childhood in Tehran (during the Islamic revolution) to coming into adulthood in Europe. An incredibly touching story around the concept of home and what it can mean.
The house of spirits, Isabel Allende
Allende's strand of magical realism has always transported me to another world, and the house of spirits was my first introduction to her universe. Built around the microcosm of a village, the house of spirits tells the story of Clara, a prescient woman, and the tragic world which surrounds her. Amidst prophecies, the ultimate existential act is to achieve the unpredictable.
Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I'm not going to lie to you: if you've read anything else on this blog and expect me to recommend happy stories, you are severely misled - and this is probably the darkest, toughest book on my list. But Adichie's incredible power is to keep you gripping at each page, no matter how difficult, and to do it with a depth I have rarely seen. This isn't an easy read by any means, but Adichie's matter-of-fact prose captures every nuance in Kambili's story, the story of a girl trapped between the love and fear she holds for her father and the rest of the world.