Must Read: Books by Women I Consider Perfect

Philosophical introspections, strange speculations, gothic romances and dystopian realities, these stories will inspire you!

1. Near the wild heart by Clarice Lispector

Filled with commentary on femininity, philosophy, and beauty, this novel is one of the best. Near to the Wild Heart does not follow a conventional narrative plot. Instead, it presents fragmented glimpses of Joana’s life, oscillating between her experiences as a young woman and her early childhood. The novel, like much of Lispector’s work, focuses intensely on Joana’s internal and emotional states, exploring her consciousness and existential reflections.

Image: Penguin Books Australia

2. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

A collection of ten letters from the Austrian Bohemian poet Rainer Maria Rilke to Franz Xaver Kappus, a 19-year-old cadet at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt. Rilke somehow manages to express in words every emotion that I am unable to convey.

Image: Amazon UK

Image: Goodreads

If you’re looking for a quiet, strange, speculative read, this story will leave you speechless and wanting more. Armfield tells the story of Miri and Leah, a couple separated for six months when Leah’s deep-sea mission goes wrong, leaving her stranded underwater. When she returns, everything has changed and life is not the same as it was before.

4. Jenny Hval’s Rotten Paradise

The female urge to rot into forbidden fruit. Paradise Rot is rich in religious imagery, gothic antidotes, and fever dreams. Translated from Norwegian by Marjam Idriss, it follows Jo, a Norwegian student abroad who moves into a warehouse apartment with Carral, a lonely young woman. Jo becomes intensely aware of her surroundings, especially sounds.

Image: Goodreads

5. The Secret History by Donna Tart

There’s not much to say about this book. It changed the reading trajectory of many people (including mine). It’s an essential part of any reading list! A group of elite students studying ancient Greek at a small Vermont university find themselves entangled in a web of moral and ethical dilemmas that lead to murder. Need I say more?

Image: Penguin Books

6. I who have never known men by Jacqueline Harpman

It is a dystopian novel, to say the least, which highlights patriarchy, femininity and how we survive. The plot of the novel is simple: forty women of various ages are held captive in an underground cage, watched over by armed guards. They are unaware of the catastrophic event that led to their imprisonment and have only a vague memory of their lives before being captured.

Image: Goodreads

7. The Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

This classic Victorian novel revived the Gothic literary genre as a whole. Read this tale that revolves around the antihero Heathcliff, who seeks revenge on those who separated him from his beloved Cathy Earnshaw.

Image: Barnes and Noble Collector’s Edition