Did you know
Women's History Month
officially begins in March? And in just a couple days, on March 3, we
will celebrate 100 years since women suffragists marched on Washington,
asking for the right to vote.
My book club this month will be
taking up a couple of books that deal specifically with the questions of
what it means to be a woman in our modern world. How competing factors
like careers, marriage, children, friends, social expectations, etc.,
influence and inform our decisions every minute of every day. It's a mad
and frenzied and marvelous balancing act that is expected of us!
In
honor of this month, I've been thinking a lot about one of my favorite
topics -- women who took on history and welcomed the opportunity to
play the parts of leading ladies in their times. My
past blogs have covered some of these women.
Today
I am thinking specifically about some of the strong female characters
who have been featured and memorialized in literature. I've come up with
a list of fiction and nonfiction books that unfold around these
characters. Women who weathered adversity ranging from the intimate to
the epic. Women who led and loved and lost. Women who inspired us then,
and inspire us now. Women who, by the time you reach the back cover,
have come to feel like old friends. Friends who remain with you long
after you put the book back on the shelf.
This list is by no means
exhaustive. But my thought was, since March is Women's History Month,
perhaps this is the best time of all to go back and get reacquainted
with some of these women. And so here's my hit list of some of my
favorite books based around unforgettable leading ladies (this
awards-show-esque list-making also ties in nicely with the Oscars, now
that I think about it!). If you have your own list of this sort, I'd
love to hear from you.
1. Jane Eyre,
by Charlotte Bronte: One of my favorite books of all-time. I always
wonder if I would have the internal fortitude to make it through just
one day in Jane's life, let alone an entire lifetime. I love that, after
an existence spent in haunted mansions and on ferocious moor lanscapes,
Jane does eventually get her "happy ending," but that it's not picture
perfect. It's messy and complicated and real. And, best of all, it's on
her terms and does not require her to compromise her own scruples.
2. The Language of Flowers,
by Vanessa Diffenbaugh: The relationship between Victoria and her
foster mom, Elizabeth, is both heartbreaking and uplifting. And
Diffenbaugh's language is as vivid and fresh and original as the floral
bouquets that feature so cleverly into her plot.
3. Cleopatra: A Life,
by Stacy Schiff: History has certainly had much to say on the life of
this formidable and enchanting Egyptian Queen, but Stacy Schiff takes a
cerebral and fact-based approach that brings the Ptolemaic monarch and
her ancient world to life. By the end of Schiff's book, you feel certain
that the most seductive thing about Cleopatra was not her
Elizabeth-Taylor-esque physique or her bewitching serpentine accessories
-- it was her mind.
4. Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution,
by Michelle Moran: Before the global phenomenon of Paul McCartney and
Beyonce-shaped-wax figurines, there was a modest artist in Paris
struggling to make a living by her unique talent for sculpting. Moran
traces the life of this shrewd survivor, painting a picture of the woman
who came to be known as "Madame Tussaud," and detailing how she
survived both the Revolution and her troublesome friendship with the
condemned royal family by using her craft and her wits.
5. The Dovekeepers,
by Alice Hoffman: I was transported to the hills of Judea and the
stark desert landscape of ancient Israel in this epic story of the siege
of Masada, and the four women who grew close in the last days before
the Romans razed their town. To put a modern word into an ancient
context -- these Hebrew women can perhaps best be described as
"bad-ass."
6. Tess of the d'Ubervilles,
by Thomas Hardy: If you ever want to see how far women, and men, have
come, take a journey back in time to Industrial Era England with this
story. It will devastate you and crush your spirits, even as you watch
Tess refuse to be devastated or crushed.
7. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books,
by Azar Nafisi: Any woman who has ever savored the distinct pleasures
of a female book club, relished the opportunity to confide in a trusted
sister or friend, or drawn much-needed strength from the indelible
spirits of the women around her will be deeply moved by this account of
life in Iran. These women connect, first, because of their shared love
of forbidden books. But that's only the beginning of this poignant and
complicated tale.
8. Little Women,
by Louisa May Alcott: A lifelong favorite. I think every woman sees a
bit of herself in at least one of the indelible March sisters, and very
likely in all four.
9. The Awakening,
by Kate Chopin: I've been haunted by this book ever since I chose it
for my senior thesis in high school. This book is about so much more
than just a loveless marriage and a woman's slow and inevitable march
toward adultery. And you will never feel the same about swimming in an
ocean again!
10. Memoirs of a Geisha.
by Arthur Golden: This book is a journey back to the lost world of
Japan in the years before and during World War II. While the language is
wistful and delicate, the spirit of its heroine, Sayuri, is tenacious
and indelible.
11. The Scarlet Letter,
Nathaniel Hawthorne: No examination of strong women in literature
would be complete without a nod to Hester Prynne. Just look at how that
woman loves honestly and bravely and, in doing so, puts the hypocritical
men of her society to shame.
12. The Paris Wife
by Paula McLain: Ernest Hemingway's account may have been the one that
reigned for decades, but Hadley Hemingway is finally getting her turn to
tell the story. And it turns out that, though her name is the lesser
known of the two, she's the real strength in that partnership.
13. And, last but definitely not least, Gone With the Wind,
by Margaret Mitchell. I'm not even going to try to say anything
original about the one and only Scarlett O'Hara. She's just someone that
you need to know. I wouldn't necessarily want her as a friend, per se,
but I sure love to watch her do her thing.
OK, that's the list. I could keep going, but I promised to keep it (sort of) short.
And,
actually, now that I think of it...I need to thank all of the women who
have led me to these books. Women who have recommended books to me,
discussed books with me, sought out great stories with me. My mother, my
sisters, my friends, my mother-in-law, my teachers. You all, like these
characters, are precious to me in a million ways.
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