By Danielle Lyons
Reading is one of life’s joys. It can whisk you away to another place at the turn of a page. I enjoy reading about strong women; especially, women that overcome all types of adversity.
Here are a few of my favorites:
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker. The novel follows an African American woman named Celie living in the south in the 1930s. She goes from being the daughter of an abuser to the wife of an abuser at a very young age. Celie’s life intertwines with several characters as she discovers her own inner strength. The book touches on themes of sexism, racism, gender roles, sisterhood and women’s rights. This book kept me enthralled from beginning to end. Definitely a must read.
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I’ll admit, I was intimidated by this book at first. But I was delightfully surprised at how relatable the main character was. Esther Greenwood is a young woman from the suburbs that has an internship in New York City. She seems confused and bored by life and those around her. Ester finds herself questioning sex and the roles of women.
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. This novel is centered on two women living in Afghanistan. Mariam and Laila, both married to the same tyrant, find solace in each other. This book explores the meaning of selfless love. The themes of this book explore the themes of family and Women in Afghanistan. This book is an absolute page turner. Although you may want to hang a few tissues handy.
- She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Delores Price’s childhood is riddled with disappointment. This disappointment turns into something so much more sinister at the hands of someone she trusts and admires. She buries her trauma under layers of weight and biting sarcasm. As she arrives to womanhood she has to claw her way out of the spiral of self-hatred that she’s found herself in. Although she has some trial and error, hers is a journey about self-love. Easily the best book I’ve ever read. You can’t help but root for Delores.
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. If I had to describe this author with one word, it would be: Grit. This memoir chronicles life with her eccentric nomadic parents, Rex Walls and Rose Marry Walls This family of six is constantly uprooted from one place to the next, living in poverty. Their unconventional upbringing leads them to peculiar places and situations. No matter where she finds herself, Jeannette is always trying to make things bearable with optimism and a resourceful nature. You won’t want to put this book down.