This is my category, so this is my month! I am not, however, the only person to write exceptional historical novels about women. In fact, there are so many great possibilities I can only list a few.
The Ladies Alpine Society, by Edie Cay, is a four-book series about female mountain climbers. The series, starting in 1866, London, follows Lord Rascombe and his daughter Ophelia, as they plan, fundraise and launch an expedition to climb the Matterhorn. The series continues with each of Ophelia’s friends and the mountains the four of them climb.
The Dahlquin Series, by Anne M. Beggs, features a strong, independent woman in medieval Ireland (you get credit for St. Patrick’s Day reading, too, with this one!). In these, Eloise, the main character, is fighting for her life, her home, her world as England tries to conquer Ireland and Connacht comes under siege.
The Hearts and Sails series, by Alina Rubin, features a woman becoming a doctor in 19th century England. It’s a time, of course, when that should be impossible. Ella Parker, though, is not to be denied. She dresses as a boy to get into medical school, and that’s when her adventures begin.
Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper, by Ana Brazil, features a female detective in Gilded Age New Orleans who is determined to discover who killed her typing student. The Red-Hot Blues Chanteuse, also by Ana Brazil, is set in 1919 San Francisco and features Viola Vermillion, whose piano player and lover is murdered.
The Mary Fox Adventure Series is only one of Jonathan Posner’s series featuring young women. Set in Tudor England, this series introduces Mary Fox, who is brave and determined. She runs away from home to avoid marrying, and she ends up working to break a curse, impersonating a prince, and trying to return a stolen jewel. She makes enemies and friends along the way.
Watermark, by Vanitha Sankaran, is set in the Middle Ages in France. Auda is the daughter of a papermaker, but she is mute in a time when differences cause you to be shunned. She is pushed into the world, though, when she is forced to flee, undertaking a remarkable quest.
I hope there’s enough here to keep you reading about great women in great historical literature for the rest of Women’s History Month! Enjoy!
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