A female perspective

9 novels written by women that you should read

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Women have had a hard time writing throughout history due to societal constraints, expectations, and limited access to education. Yet, despite these obstacles, they have raised their voice to address social issues and share personal experiences. Let's explore 9 novels written by women that left their mark on literature.

Genji Monogatari, Murasaki Shikibu

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Genji Monogatari, or The Tale of Genji, is one of the first novels ever written, and one of the earliest pieces of literature written by a woman. Penned by noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century, The Tale of Genji tells the story of the Emperor’s son, his love affairs, and the problems he faces at court.

Written in the more accessible hiragana (Japanese phonetic script) instead of the prestigious kanji (Chinese ideograms), this literary work is considered canonical in Japan and is studied in high schools.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

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Published in 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly was Beecher Stowe’s response to the Fugitive Slave Act, which required people in free states to return escaped slaves to their owners. The story follows two slaves: Tom, who is sold to pay his master’s debts, and Eliza, who runs away to avoid the sale of her son.

Though later criticized by its sentimentality and use of stereotypes, Uncle Tom’s Cabin had a profound impact on both abolitionists and defenders of slavery. According to popular lore, Abraham Lincoln called Beecher Stowe "the little lady who started this great war" upon meeting her.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë

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When Anne Brontë published her second novel under the pseudonym Acton Bell, she encountered both success and outrage. The depiction of a woman mistreated by her alcoholic, gambling, and unfaithful husband shocked Victorian society, which did not like the representation of its hypocritical morals.

Anne Brontë’s early death meant that the book was not republished for a long time, as her sister Charlotte disliked its theme and realism, which she saw as inspired by the tragic life of their late brother Branwell.

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

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Until 2015, To Kill a Mockingbird was Harper Lee’s only published book. Based on experiences she witnessed as a child in Alabama during the 1930s, the novel follows the trial of a Black man accused of assaulting a white woman, told from the perspective of a six-year-old girl.

An instant success, To Kill a Mockingbird is considered by many as one of the great American novels, while simultaneously appearing on the banned books list of many school districts.

Pachinko, Min Jin Lee

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During the Japanese occupation, many Koreans emigrated to Japan in search of work and faced discrimination and abuse. Pachinko follows the story of Sunja, a pregnant young woman who follows her husband to Japan, and explores how history shapes her life and the next generations of her family.

While touching on a painful subject for Korean people, Min Jin Lee also highlights the bravery of women stepping up to take care of their families in times of war and conflict.

The Rice Sprout Song, Eileen Chang

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Born in Shanghai as the daughter of a court official and raised between England, France, and Hong Kong, Eileen Chang became renowned for her wartime narratives. The Rice Sprout Song is her first novel written in English, later self-translated into Chinese, and it explores the consequences of agrarian reforms in the Chinese countryside.

Depicting famine, government control, and its effects on family life, Chang sought to give a voice to common people affected by the political decisions of a government.

Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi

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Originally published in French, this graphic novel follows the life of Marjane in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, the war, her move to Europe for studies, and the challenges of returning and reintegrating into Iranian society.

_Persepolis_’ publication was not without controversy: highly acclaimed by critics, it was banned in Iran due to its critical portrayal of the regime. In the U.S., it has also been banned from certain school districts due to the themes it discusses.

Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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Published in 2006, Half of a Yellow Sun depicts the Nigerian Civil War and its consequences through a love story, and touches on subjects such as social classes, ethnic conflicts, gender roles, and the aftermath of armed conflicts.

Half of a Yellow Sun received overwhelmingly positive reviews for its narration of such difficult themes, though some critics have noted the intense violence and graphic imagery in the story.

Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys

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This historical novel by British-Dominican novelist Jean Rhys became known for its reversal of a British classic, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Written from the perspective of the "madwoman in the attic," Rhys’s novel explores the power dynamics in the Caribbean and the treatment of women. Since its publication, it has been central to studies on colonialism and postcolonial literature.

10 people who should have won the Nobel Prize but didn't

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Throughout the more than 120-year history of the Nobel Prize, several scientists have made remarkable discoveries but were never awarded. From Nikola Tesla to Stephen Hawking, these geniuses weren’t properly recognized due to bureaucratic issues, sexism, bad luck, or even their own bad temper. In this article, we’ll look back at 10 scientists who may have been ahead of their time but still deserve to be remembered for their invaluable contributions to humanity.

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His studies on black holes earned Stephen Hawking the status of genius. He was one of the most brilliant minds of his generation, yet the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences never awarded him one of the highest prizes given in physics.

The reason? Simply put, to win a Nobel Prize, scientific theories must be confirmed empirically. Unfortunately, current technology doesn’t allow the British astrophysicist's predictions to be fully verified. His work, although crucial to science, couldn’t be fully recognized while he was alive.

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Dmitri Mendeleev was a 19th-century Russian chemist. Even though he developed the periodic table of elements, a huge advancement for science, he never won the Nobel Prize. Back then, the rules stated scientists could only be awarded for recent discoveries, and Mendeleev's work was considered "old."

Years later, the rules changed. Mendeleev was finally nominated in 1906, but he didn’t get it either. Some claim that Svante Arrhenius, one of his rivals and a prominent member of the Royal Swedish Academy, prevented him from receiving the award. The Russian chemist died a year later, so he was never able to receive the prize.

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There’s a false assumption that the Serbian-American scientist Nikola Tesla was elected to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915 along with Thomas Edison, but that he turned it down because of the rivalry between them. Others claim that he rejected it because he disapproved of Guglielmo Marconi’s 1909 award, whom he accused of having stolen the radio patent from him.

The truth is, there is only one reference to Tesla in the Swedish Academy's historical archives, a 1937 nomination that he didn’t end up winning. Yet, to be fair, Marconi's prize should have been shared with Tesla. After all, he was the first to study radio waves in 1891. Due to administrative issues, it was not until the 1940s that a U.S. court determined that Tesla's work did indeed predate Marconi's.

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In the 1930s, American chemist and inventor Wallace Carothers, who at the time worked for DuPont, discovered condensation polymerization. This process was key to the development of nylon, a polymer used as a textile fiber and in countless industrial applications.

By 1936, Carothers had earned a good reputation and even became the first industrial organic chemist to be accepted into the US National Academy of Sciences. Despite his stature, he was not nominated for the Nobel Prize that year. The chemist, deeply depressed, took his own life a year later, ending any chance of ever winning it.

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The name Lise Meitner may not ring a bell, but we owe this Austrian physicist the first studies on nuclear fission. Like other women in science, her pioneering work is rarely mentioned. At the turn of the century, Lise began working with German chemist Otto Hahn, who would later take the credit for her research.

After World War II broke out, Hahn and Meitner had to separate, but continued to exchange ideas via mail. At the end of 1944, Otto Hahn was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry, yet he never mentioned the thirty years of collaboration with Lise that had improved his research.

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In the late 1980s, American molecular biologist Douglas Prasher discovered the gene that expresses the green fluorescent protein used as a marker in biomedical research to observe processes otherwise invisible to the human eye. Prasher’s breakthrough is now widely used in laboratories around the world thanks to his generous decision to openly share his pioneering work.

In 2008, three scientists who followed up on Prasher's research won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. By then, Prasher had lost his job as a scientist and was working as a bus driver in Alabama, United States, to alleviate his family's financial problems. Fortunately, in this case, the award laureates did thank Prasher in their speeches, and, in turn, the biologist was delighted with his colleagues' achievements.

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Despite having developed one of the first successful polio vaccines, American virologist Jonas Salk never received the Nobel Prize. One of the main reasons was that the vaccine was largely based on previous research. Allegedly, Nobel Prizes in Medicine are only awarded to "revolutionary innovations" that introduce new knowledge.

Although the Swedish Academy never recognized Salk's work, it’s important to mention that thanks to his research, on which he refused to receive any profit, millions of vaccinated children in about 90 countries around the world received immunization against the disease. Less than 25 years later, domestic transmission of polio had disappeared in the United States.

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British chemist Rosalind Franklin specialized in X-ray crystallography. In the 1950s, while working at King's College London, she developed the technique and instruments that were key to discovering the structure of DNA.

In 1953, the images were released without her permission. When James Watson and Francis Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology for the discovery of the DNA double helix, Franklin had already died of ovarian cancer, probably caused by long hours of exposure to X-rays. Neither of them mentioned her invaluable contribution.

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At the beginning of the 20th century, Alexander Fleming revolutionized the world of science by discovering the effect of penicillin on bacteria. However, there was still one deadly disease on which penicillin had no effect. Fortunately, in the 1940s, American microbiologist Albert Schatz discovered another antibiotic agent, streptomycin, which could treat tuberculosis.

Yet, it was Selman Waksman, Schatz's supervisor, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1952 for the discovery of streptomycin. Schatz had signed over his commercial rights and was not even mentioned by the Academy. Years later, he sued Waksman and got half of the royalties and was finally recognized as co-author of the discovery. Schatz was never listed in the Nobel Prize but was awarded the Rutgers University Medal in 1994.

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Michael Dewar, a professor at the University of Texas, was a major contributor to computational chemistry. Despite the significance of his research, he did not win the Nobel Prize. Many believe this was due to his bad temper.

According to reports, he once called a prominent fellow scientist a "disgrace to science" in front of a large audience. He also had heated confrontations with two influential Nobel laureates, William N. Lipscomb and Linus Pauling, who may have blocked his chances of ever winning the award.