Now March 8 is World Women's Day, a date when we all seem more dedicated than ever to extolling female power even though we should do so throughout the year. For that reason, how about we start with these 6 contemporary books on women and do we complete the 364 days of the year between good readings?
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
The least the world could hope for in 2000 was a black and white graphic novel telling the story of a young Iranian woman who left the Islamic State to settle in Europe and tell it. But yes, it happened, and possibly that is why Persepolis is considered one of those little jewels of Francophone literature to vindicate in these times thanks to the good work of Strapi.
A thousand splendid suns, by Khaled Hosseini
After the success achieved with Kites in the sky, Afghan author Khaled Hosseini dazzled the world with this novel that addresses the relationship between two women, Mariam and Laila, at the dawn of the civil war that would turn lush Kabul into a courtyard of smoke and debris. Published in the same year as the beginning of the Iraq war, the novel represents a hatching of the barriers between classes and sexes in what is one of the most unjust places in the world with its women.
Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Faced with the inaction of their politicians, many African countries have found in art a colorful, conscious and necessary voice when it comes to making their problems known to the world. Born in Nigeria and living in the United States for almost twenty years, Adichie is a writer whose literature talks about feminism without the need to attack anyone and Americanah (the way Nigerians refer to those who return from the United States) is a good example. Published in 2013 to great critical acclaim, Americanah tells the story of a young Nigerian woman arriving in the United States and her difficulties adjusting to Western culture.
The Room, by Emma Donoughue
Jack is a child for whom The Room represents his whole world, while for his mother it is the garden shed in which she was locked up 7 years ago by a man. Adapted to the big screen in 2015 to great critical success (B won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance), the novel by Irish Donoughue is a heartrending cry, an ode to the most disturbing of innocence.
Wild, by Cheryl Strayed
From fiction we move on to a real case, more specifically that of a woman who had to face a divorce in a short period of time, the death of her mother and a drug detoxification that led her to travel up to 1100 miles over three months along the Pacific Massif Trail in California. A novel focused on all those people who at some point felt that it was time to change and face not-so-impossible goals. Actress Reese Witherspoon starred in the film adaptation of the book in 2014.
Too Much Happiness, by Alice Munro
Winner in 2013 of the Literature NobelAlice Munro is an author who has managed to make a niche for herself in the feminist universe thanks to her stories, the stories of those women locked up in books like Too Much Happiness. Published in 2009, this set of stories tells of women who make a pilgrimage in search of universities that admit women professors, of those who must face the pain of the loss of a child, of those who sigh in the many silences that are created between two old lovers.
Happy readers day.
What is your favorite book about women?