By Nava Atlas | On September 7, 2020 | Updated November 10, 2024 | Comments (0)
If you want to delve into the novels of Daphne du Maurier (1907 – 1989), where should you begin? Presented here are six essential books that give readers a place to start with the works of the prolific British novelist, playwright, and short-story writer.
Du Maurier launched her publishing career at age twenty-two with The Loving Spirit (1931), her first novel. She went on to publish numerous works of full-length and short fiction as well as nonfiction and plays.
Arguably, Rebecca (1938) is du Maurier’s masterwork and best-known work. And there’s a group of novels among her canon that approach it in terms of quality and longevity. Here we’ll list the books that Dame Daphne is best remembered for. Read More→
By Francesca Mancino | On August 24, 2020 | Updated September 29, 2025 | Comments (2)
Though popular Modernist works that have endured to this day tend to gravitate toward male writers, there is no shortage of Modernist women writers who were well known in their day.
Their names appeared regularly on bestseller lists in the early 20th century, as readers embraced their works. Some of their work has fallen into a literary abyss, with little attention given to their work a century later. At right, May Sinclair.
Most of these women listed here were connected to one another in some way, either through schooling, a crossing of literary paths, or in reviewing another’s work. Read More→
By Miki Pfeffer | On August 15, 2020 | Updated August 28, 2022 | Comments (3)
Julia Ward Howe (1819 – 1910) was an American poet, essayist, editor, speaker, and activist extraordinaire, especially in the causes of abolition, suffrage, and the advancement of women everywhere.
Although her iconic “Battle Hymn of the Republic” is ubiquitous in patriotic, inspirational, and popular settings, its author is far less known. Let’s look at 10 fascinating facts about the woman behind the verses.
Howe was born on Bond Street and Broadway in New York City to an affluent, Calvinist family; when she was five, her mother died in childbirth. She was educated in a home with its own library and art gallery and well-propertied for a secure future. Her heroic but controlling husband stymied her spirit and mishandled her land holdings. Read More→
By Beatrice Ricketts | On June 20, 2020 | Updated September 5, 2022 | Comments (0)
At the age of eleven, Françoise d’Eaubonne (March 12, 1920 – August 3, 2005) wrote on a convent wall, “Vive le féminisme!”
This was just the start of what would be a radical life as a member of the French Communist Party, writing more than fifty novels and essays and, most importantly, coining her defining theory: ecofeminism.
One of the best-known leaders of the French feminist movement, d’Eaubonne’s most famous work was her essay “Le Féminisme ou Le Mort” (Feminism or Death), published in 1974. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On June 15, 2020 | Updated March 24, 2026 | Comments (6)
Honoring their rich tradition, here are a dozen classic novels and memoirs by Black women writers. While there’s much more to explore in Black literature of the distant and more recent past, classics like those in this roundup are a good place to start.
Historically, it was challenge enough for women to become published authors; this was especially true for Black women facing the dual struggle of race and gender bias.
From what were once referred to as slave narratives of the 19th century, to the identity-seeking stories of the Harlem Renaissance, to the unique voices of more recently departed authors like Toni Morrison, Ntozake Shange, and Audre Lorde, these foundational classics have stood the test of time, and will always be incredibly good reads. Read More→
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