Recommendations ♥️

While we encourage you to express your own views on womanhood through your creative work, here are some of our favourite novels and poems that centre around womanhood.

If you have any suggestions, type in the comments :)

Novels

Here are some of our favourite novels.

Circe - By Madeline Miller

Circe is a Greek mythology retelling of the powerful witch Circe, from Homer's The Odyssey. It explores her transformation from a lonely and misunderstood goddess to a woman who find her own way to power.

The Witches Heart - By Genevieve Gornichec

A Norse mythology retelling of Angrboda, a witch that has children with Loki. Their tales famous yet hers hidden away. Her story is of motherhood and how far she will go to protect her children. Full of love and heart break, this is a brilliant novel if you want to explore the Norse world.

Gilded Ones - By Namina Forna

A fantasy novel portraying societal standards of women and where they fit in the world. Explorations of hidden magic and badass female warriors, the Gilded Ones is a brilliant and dynamic novel seeking the ways women can fit into society while discovering themselves in the process.

Outlawed - By Anna North

Set in 19th Century America, the story follows Ada, a 17 year-old who ends up having a still birth. Being ostracized and kicked out of her community she joins with outlaws challenging patriarchal norms. A brilliant novel defying societal norms for women's freedom.

Red Clocks - By Leni Zumas

The Red Clocks by Leni Zumas is a novel that weaves together the lives of five women living in a small coastal town in Oregon, exploring themes of motherhood, desire, and the limitations of women's choices in contemporary society.

This Is How You Lose The Time War - By Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

A beautiful sci-fi inspired world, exploring the sapphic side of enemies to lovers. Through epistolary narrative, the different sides of war and the exploration of love on different sides.

How To Kill Men And Get Away With It - By Katy Brent

A murder novel exploring the need for revenge. A dark and sometimes humorous story exploring friendships love and murder.

The Lamb - By Lucy Rose

A chilling and disturbing novel, focusing upon cannibalism as a metaphor for abuse. Lucy Rose creates a stunning and chilling novel depicting a coming of age story through the lens of a child.

Little Woman - By Louise May Alcott

A coming of age novel set during the American Civil War. The growth of four sisters and their crumbling financial stability when their father goes off to war. An exploration of growth and the importance of family, Little Woman is a classic piece of literature.

The Colour Purple - By Alice Walker

The exploration of Black American women in the 20th Century. Documenting traumas and gradual triumphs as Celia comes to resist the self-concepts forced on by others. Friendships and self confidence, this novel discovers self worth and fighting against oppression.

I'm Glad My Mom Died -By Jennette McCurdy

A great autobiography depicting child stars and the struggles of coping with stardom. The pressure of family and the battles of being a celebrity, Jennette McCurdy portrays he life growing up in the spotlight.

Poetry

Here are our favourite poems about womanhood and what inspires us.

• I am a Nasty Woman - by Nina Donovan

• Lady Lazarus - by Sylvia Plath

• A Woman Speaks - by Audre Lorde

• Still I Rise - by Maya Angelou

• Portrait of Eve as the Anaconda - by Safiya Sinclair

• Differences of Opinion - by Wendy Cope

• The Woman the Boy Became - by Kae Tempest

• When the Fat Girl gets Skinny - by Blythe Baird

• After the Witch Hunt - by Megan Falley. (A poetry collection.)

• When I say that we are all Teen Girls - by Olivia Gatwood