Contemporary Classics by Women
This Women’s History Month we are zooming out and celebrating some recently published books that are so good they are already entering the American canon.
Toni Morrison said “writing is really a way of thinking — not just feeling but thinking about things that are disparate, unresolved, mysterious, problematic or just sweet.” We love the way these women think! The books on this list are works that have made huge literary impacts that we’re sure will live on for years to come.
Written by Aatia Davison, Julia DeVarti and Colleen Callery
The Idiot, Elif Batuman
A finalist for the Pulitzer, Elif Batuman’s The Idiot is a quiet, understated kind of book, but also the kind that may end up in English classes for years to come. In the realm of Proust or Ferrante, The Idiot follows Selin, a Turkish-American freshman at Harvard in 1996 and her bizarre interactions with a senior math major, Ivan. On the precipice of the invention of the internet, there is a fascinating fragmented and disparate quality to their interactions, one that has only become more familiar to those of us enmeshed in the digital age. Batuman’s follow up, Either/Or, which continues the story in Selin’s sophomore year, solidifies my suspicion that this will be a series with serious staying power. — Colleen
Girl, Woman, Other, Bernadine Evaristo
This is one of the books on this list that I think has already achieved classic status. The scope of this story is impressive– it follows a number of loosely connected mostly Black women in the UK, with each chapter focusing on a new character. The book explores their love lives, their careers and relationships. My favorite chapter follows Yazz, a college student who is struggling to feel seen in her world. Her mother has almost oppressive expectations about her, she doesn’t feel like she can trust her transient circle of friends at university and single men who show interest in her seem few and far between. I’m genuinely in awe of Evaristo’s ability to write so many compelling characters here. — Aatia
The Neapolitan Series, Elena Ferrante
Perhaps one of the most exciting writers whose rise to literary fame I’ve been witness to, Elena Ferrante is a legend. It’s not everyday you get to watch a writer become a literary icon, but that’s exactly what happened once Ferrante’s stories hit American bookstores, especially as she has insisted on remaining largely anonymous — a choice not many contemporary writers are afforded. Her literary prowess is refreshing and subversive and her insight into the complicated power dynamics of 20th century Italy is unmatched. I will recommend this series forever to everyone. – Colleen
Dublin Murder Squad Series, Tana French
Genre fiction belongs on this list. Crime writing isn’t going anywhere and Tana French’s Dublin Murders encapsulate everything good about crime fiction, its immersive power and transportive nature, its attention to detail and ability to connect with readers. Tana French is a name to remember. — Aatia
Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay became an auto-buy author for me way back when Bad Feminist first came out, and I carried it around in my bag everywhere I went, insisting that all of my friends borrow it. Gay has a way of writing that is simultaneously profound and accessible, and I often turn to her writing to process the world unfolding around us. If you’re looking for somewhere to start with her books, Bad Feminist and Hunger stand out as the two most destined for classic status, but you can’t really go wrong with anything Gay writes, whether it be fiction, memoir, essays, graphic novel, or her latest thinkpiece in the New York Times. — Julia
Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi
Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing is such an amazing book. I was blown away when I first read it years ago and it hasn’t left my mind since. Besides its incredible depth of character and literary craft, this book illuminates the African-American experience, particularly in terms of cataloging the generational trauma and the evolution of systemic racism in the US, mutating in more and more insidious ways. Gyasi’s work is a gift and I recommend it to nearly everyone who comes into the bookstore looking for something that will knock them out. — Colleen
The 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones
Every now and then a book is written that is so big and important, it’s hard to imagine that it hadn’t been written before. This is the case with Nikole Hannah-Jones’s revolutionary 1619 Project. We are in a rare historical moment where the whitewashed walls of American “history” are finally beginning being cracked to reveal a much more accurate and inclusive vision of our country’s past. Hannah-Jones, like Ibram X Kendi and Isabel Wilkerson, are at the forefront of this Black history movement, doing tremendous research on the realities and impacts of global colonialism and the African diaspora. This will no doubt be the start of a new wave of scholarship and literature reshaping our understanding of American history for decades to come. — Colleen
An American Marriage & Silver Sparrow, Tayari Jones
Tayari Jones quickly became one of my favorite contemporary writers when I read An American Marriage and Silver Sparrow back-to-back. Jones’ novels offer rich and complex portraits of Black life in the south. If An American Marriage piqued your interest, I highly recommend reading Silver Sparrow. It’s one of Jones’ earlier books and like An American Marriage, it takes on multiple perspectives, this time following a girl and the half-sister who doesn’t know she exists until they are forced into each others’ orbits, against the wishes of their father, a bigamist. Jealousy and tension leap off the page, it’s excellent. — Aatia
Breasts and Eggs, Mieko Kawakami
This was one of those reads that immediately absorbed me; in the end I self-declared it a feminist masterpiece. Originally it was published as a novella, then adapted to a novel because of the immense recognition it received in Japan. What I love about it, and from what I gather from other readers too, is that it so painstakingly encompasses womanhood.
Breasts and Eggs takes three related women who are each transfixed or even obsessed with a different part of their own womanhood: fertility, body image, and puberty. What Kawakami does so well is have an unbiased opinion throughout her storytelling. She doesn’t judge a woman for wanting breast implants or seeking out artificial pregnancy. If we could integrate Kawakami’s thinking on women into our daily lives, the world would be a better place. — Jacque
Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
Robin Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass needs to be recognized as a monument to the environmental stewardship and collective care practices of Indigenous and Native peoples — both of which are things I think America and Western culture at large would do well to read more about. I love Braiding Sweetgrass for its joyful curiosity in and deep gratitude to the natural world, and for re-centering a relationship with our surroundings that our current model of existing has done just about everything to erase. This book is a wonderful meditation on the reciprocal nature of ecological systems and beings, and inspires a more generous and loving world. This is a book I think will stand the test of time and I hope will one day be as ubiquitous on bookshelves as Silent Spring or The Sixth Extinction. — Colleen
Luster, Raven Leilani
My world changed when I started consuming media about filthy, irreverent women and girls. Something opened up in me when I watched Fleabag in the summer of 2019, and again when I read My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh and again when I read Raven Leilani’s debut Luster. This book follows a twenty-something woman in an affair with an older white man. She ends up working as a nanny for his adopted daughter, and things devolve from there. Leilani fills me with dread and stomach-turning cringe. I recommend it to everyone. — Aatia
In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado
Machado is a powerhouse writer. Mining the dark side, Her Body and Other Stories has become a mainstay in horror fiction. But I also think her memoir, In the Dream House, will be remembered as a touchstone and pivotal moment in queer literature. She shares incredibly personal and tender moments from her own life blended with a history of abusive relationships in the queer community. It’s an extremely difficult subject to broach, but one that absolutely needed to be written. We’re grateful that Machado has broken open the dialogue with such deftness and care. — Colleen
Circe & Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
Nobody writes about mythology like Madeline Miller does. What makes her work stand above the rest is the depth of her knowledge about the original mythology—she has both a BA and an MA in Classics—and the deep care for her stories that comes across as you read it. Her prose is also absolutely gorgeous, and she writes beautiful stories that work simultaneously for those who are already familiar with her source material and those who are new to it. Miller also manages to tease out modern themes, proving why these stories are able to so deftly transcend eras, and hopefully why Miller’s books will remain classics as well. — Julia
Know My Name, Chanel Miller
Know My Name is Chanel Miller’s memoir of her sexual assault and its aftermath. She was the unnamed victim in the Brock Turner case in 2015. This book is so moving, and I think it will be remembered as a crucial piece of #MeToo literature in the years to come, as this memoir puts a face on survivors of sexual assault. I loved the way Miller writes about her family, the emotional experience of what happened to her and its ripple effects. It’s beautiful. — Julia
Detransition Baby, Torrey Peters
I found Detransition, Baby to be absolutely riveting. Peters deconstructs womanhood, motherhood, and gender with a dark humor and wisdom that is sure to make this book a classic. The story follows an unconventional triad of potential parents-to-be: Reese, a trans woman; Ames, her ex-lover who has detransitioned to live as a man; and Katrina, the cis woman Ames has been seeing. Peters’ brilliant storytelling had me on the edge of my seat. This one truly deserves all of the awards it’s winning! — Julia
Normal People, Sally Rooney
Sally Rooney is popular for a reason. Her books so perfectly capture the feelings of loneliness, desire, and connection, and I find her writing absolutely exquisite. Rooney’s prose is sparing but incredibly evocative. It’s always exciting to me when a writer writes such incredible books from a young age, because it means we hopefully have a long career of Rooney novels to look forward to! — Julia
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
Station Eleven is a contemporary classic. You actually can’t argue with that, I’m sorry. The book was brilliant when it was first published in 2014, but the way it has emerged in the public consciousness during the pandemic has solidified its classic status.
If you didn’t know, Station Eleven follows a group of people who survive a horrific plague that wiped out much of civilization. This group of strangers travel together and performs Shakespeare for surrounding communities. — Aatia
Fight Night , Miriam Toews
Miriam Toews is a Canadian genius and Fight Night is her latest novel to prove this. An ode to mothers and daughters, weird mothers and weird daughters, whose love is the binding force of the universe, this multigenerational family of women is unlike any other I’ve met in literature before. The tenderness between them is unparalleled. I can’t remember the last time I read a book with such heart and spirit, so I know this is one for the ages. — Colleen
Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino
Reading Trick Mirror is like having a conversation with a friend’s much cooler and smarter older sister. The way Tolentino uses her power of self-reflection to comment on women’s roles in the world is fascinating. The book sweeps the landscape of pop culture so brilliantly, there is little else like it. Where is her next book, anyway? We’re ready for more! — Aatia
Sing, Unburied Sing, Jesmyn Ward
Brilliant southern writer Jesmyn Ward takes on the prison industrial complex in the National Book Award winner, Sing, Unburied, Sing. Leonie is a young mother, an addict with two kids. One day, she wrenches them from the grandparents that look after them, and she puts them in her car on a long journey to Parchman Farm, a Mississippi prison where their father is serving time. The story is told through the eyes of Jojo, Leonie’s thirteen year old son who is struggling to follow good examples of manhood from the men in his life. — Aatia
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