Women are all unique, and are a hugely diverse category. Let’s take a look at some of the writers that have been most popular with female readers over the ages.
The best writers for women are Austen, Morrison, Rowling, Christie, Woolf, Brontë. These novelists have been enormously popular and influential with readers of all varieties, and have dominated global sales. You can’t go wrong if you pick up a novel by these authors!
Jane Austen
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Austen is one of the original and most popular female novelists. She’s writing pretty early on too! Early nineteenth century.
Her formidable intellect is on display in her novels which comment upon and critique the socio-economic limitations placed on women at the time of writing: she satirizes the landed gentry with an unparalleled acuity.
At a time when female writers were not encouraged to write, she certainly dominated from the moment she put pen to paper! A testament to her power and talent.
Toni Morrison
Winner of the Pulitzer and the Nobel, you can’t go wrong with Morrison. Her novel Beloved is well … beloved by many. Her works often often explore and depict the tough reality for those facing racist descrimination in the USA.
She was the first black female editor at Random House in the 1960’s, before developing a reputation as a writer.
J. K. Rowling
Rowling has captured the hearts and minds of the world with her series based on the boy wizard Harry Potter. It’s undeniable that these works, while intended primarily for children, appeal to readers of all ages. Global phenomenon is an understatement.
Rowling has stirred controversy with comments about trans rights. When considering the best and most popular female authors of all time, no list is complete with Rowling and you’re missing out if you don’t see what she has to offer!
Agatha Christie
The Queen of Crime: undisputed. She wrote over sixty tales of murder and mystery which have thrilled and chilled audiences ever since.
Take this one example as indicative of her popularity: her play The Mousetrap is by far the longest running play in world history. It’s been performed continuously in the West End of London since 1952, with over twenty eight thousand performances. It’s been seen by over ten million people in London! Whoa.
Virginia Woolf
The author’s author: hugely popular among writers. Ask an author to list their influences and you’ll often hear Woolf’s name in there somewhere.
This is partly because she’s one of the pioneers of modernist literature, especially regarding her use of stream of consciousness technique. You know a Woolf novel when you’re reading it.
If you want quality literature, don’t pass over Woolf’s innovative offerings.
Emily Brontë
She only wrote one novel: Wuthering Heights. It is dominant. One of the best examples of Romanticism and the Gothic in literature. It shook up Victorian society with its steamy narrativization of love, and depiction of domestic violence.
Emily is from a family of famous female writers. Check out all the Brontë sisters! Unfortunately they felt they had to publish their works under male pseudonyms, but today we can celebrate their true identities properly.