This Rather Bookish Blogger Needs More Women Authors on His Bookshelves!

 

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I loved Agatha Christie's novels when I was younger. Still do, as a matter of fact. And, I've read Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre much more than once, finding much within those pages. And, Sylvia Plath's (pictured above) writing is violent, and beautiful, and sad, and hopeful, and so much more. And, Patricia Highsmith has written some of the best crime/suspense fiction that was ever written . . . There are many talented women writers out there!

And, I thought I was doing pretty well in the diverse-bookshelves stakes. But, as I peruse those shelves, I can't help but notice any given shelf is mostly populated by books written by male authors. How come?

Perhaps it has something to do with a desire to see a little of myself reflected in the books I read, other male voices. I suppose that's a valid reason to enjoy and find meaning in a pastime and a passion; seeing something of myself in the words on the page can feel reassuring. And, I know that I am not the only one that enjoys a book because it offers a little comfort, acceptance, and validation. Being male is a part of my experience. My relationship with my gender isn't totally straightforward . . . but I might save that for another time. Another place. Or not.

There are no shelves without any female voices on them. But the male voices do outnumber them by a little way. And, as I say, it isn't because I am put off by women authors. So, here's my question, which books, written by women authors would you recommend to me? To anyone really? 

A few books written by women I wholly recommend!

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold - Non-fiction; a look at the lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper. And, a book that asks, why have we made famous this monster? More famous than any of the women who met their ends at his hands in 1888?

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Mary Shelley was only nineteen years old when she wrote this chilling and classic tale! We've all heard of this story, a young scientist's desire to create life!

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton - (I wrote about this one here) We meet Nella Oortman, eighteen years old, newly married in the Amsterdam of 1686. What follows is a story of secrets slowly revealed and the dangers that can unravel along with them.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will. Meet Jane Eyre, a young orphan determined to not be defined by her unfortunate circumstances.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - The famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. And, with a killer onboard and a passenger lying murdered in his compartment, we might be thankful that Hercule Poirot is there to exercise his little grey cells! Mon Dieu!

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - this book has been read by tens of millions of people. It is humanity in the inhuman. It is hope where there was hopelessness. It's life where there was death. A must read.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - Meet Eleanor Oliphant. She is fine. But not really.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce - Harold Fry leaves the house to post a letter, his wife is upstairs, but then he reaches the post box and he keeps going. He just feels a need to keep walking.

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The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton - a Review and Analysis

 

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It is autumn in 1686, and eighteen-year-old Petronella (Nella) Oortman arrives at the grand house of her wealthy merchant husband in Amsterdam. Though they are married, they do not know each other. The marriage is one arranged for practical reasons - Nella's late father squandered her family's money, and so the marriage ensures survival. 

Nella, a young woman, still innocent to the ways of the world in many ways, enters into a darker and more violently passionate world. As we follow this character throughout the novel, we see her discover the darkness that people will embrace and endure for the sake of love, for the sake of being true to themselves. Even the new home to which she comes to live is darker and more exotic than surroundings she has known thus far in her life.

Understandably, Nella does not slip easily into her role in her new home. In fact, her unease is compounded by a husband, Johannes Brandt, who is either absent from the household or who seems to be wholly uninterested in any intimacy with his new wife. And, there is his sister, Marin, who is secretive and tense, perhaps even hostile. It is a home in which secrets are kept, and Nella, at first, is unsure of her place. At the beginning of the novel, the reader can feel how lonely she might have felt in such a situation. 

Finally, Johannes reaches for the curtains, and with an extravagant flourish, he pulls them aside. The women gasp. The inside of the cabinet is revealed, divided into nine sections, some lined with gold-embossed wallpaper and others with wooden panels.

- from The Miniaturist, Jessie Burton

Johannes gifts his new wife a cabinet model of the home that they share, a cabinet created by the miniaturist of the title. Throughout the story, the miniaturist is ever present and yet unseen. The figures and models that Nella receives from the eponymous craftswoman of the novel seem to be conveying messages to the recipient. As Nella ponders what it is the miniaturist is trying to tell her, she considers that this stranger might be sending warnings, has some supernatural ability to see into their lives, or perhaps even holds the fate of the household in her hands!

From my reading, secrets are a major theme of this story. The secrets that exist between the characters of the novel, the secrets that they keep from those outside of their house, and the reasons that they keep those secrets. Perhaps, it would be more correct to say that it is not so much the theme of secrecy, but the secrets that people feel a need to keep from the world when they dare to be true to themselves. When they dare to explore and embrace relationships that they know the world would condemn them for. This is a novel that explores the darkness that can come with love, not because of the love itself, but for the world in which that love exists.

Amsterdam of the late seventeenth century is drawn very well, the reader can tell that Jessie Burton has done her research there. Which isn't to say that the description of the time and place is done gratuitously, it isn't. Quite the opposite - the reader feels effortlessly taken away to that time. However, the characters could have, in my humble opinion, done with a little more fleshing out. But, I think, that is my only niggle.

If you are at all intrigued, and would like to purchase the book, you can do so at bookshop.org who support independent bookshops.

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