As a reader, I’m obsessed with strong female characters. In most books, even the strongest women play second fiddle to the men. Whether to fit into society or attract men, most women will swallow their light to be less than. My frustration with this outcome of our patriarchal culture is the main reason most of my protagonists are women. I want to hear their voices in everything I write, undiluted, untempered, and unapologetic. It so happens my favorite genre is the supernatural, and the women on this list have each dazzled and inspired me to write about the powerful feminine in all my books.
This was the first dark fantasy novel I ever read on the matter of divine feminine power, and it remains by far the greatest. Dripping in lush, elegant prose, Anne Rice’s story of the haunted Mayfair family has never left my mind. Rice exposes the histories of thirteen incredible women, each haunted by a diabolical ghost who follows their bloodline through the centuries.
You’ll need a month and an organization chart to ingest every detail, but you won’t regret getting lost in this magnum opus. The sequels are far more digestible and focused, but nowhere near as delicious as this big, beautiful book of rich, powerful, and erotic witches.
SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SHOW, FROM THE NETWORK BEHIND THE WALKING DEAD
'[W]hen I found Rice's work I absolutely loved how she took that genre and (...) made [it] feel so contemporary and relevant' Sarah Pinborough, bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes
'[Rice wrote] in the great tradition of the gothic' Ramsey Campbell, bestselling author of The Hungry Moon
On the veranda of a great New Orleans house, now faded, a mute and fragile woman sits rocking. And the witching hour begins...
Demonstrating once again her gift for spellbinding storytelling and the creation of legend, Anne Rice makes…
At its heart, this is a coming-of-age story about an abused and humiliated girl who doesn’t know how much power lies waiting inside her. Strength, dignity, and forgiveness, you wonder? Sure, Carrie White bears all that in her heart. But she has one other source of feminine strength you’ll never forget.
What works best in Stephen King’s dark fantasy is the pure, unapologetic dish of supernatural revenge Carrie serves her foolish peers when they poke the dragon one too many times.
Stephen King's legendary debut, about a teenage outcast and the revenge she enacts on her classmates, is a Classic. CARRIE is the novel which set him on the road to the Number One bestselling author King is today.
Carrie White is no ordinary girl.
Carrie White has the gift of telekinesis.
To be invited to Prom Night by Tommy Ross is a dream come true for Carrie - the first step towards social acceptance by her high school colleagues.
But events will take a decidedly macabre turn on that horrifying and endless night as she is forced to exercise her…
Two years ago, devastated by the sudden death of his older brother, Hank Atwater went on a drinking rampage that ended in his being arrested. Since then, he has been working to rebuild his reputation in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina, with little luck. But everything changes after a…
At the outset, Sookie Stackhouse seems like a normal young woman living the best life she can in a not-so-fabulous part of rural America. She has all the problems you’ve likely faced yourself. But she has a secret that sets her apart from everyone else: you’ll never keep a secret from her. She doesn’t just read a room well, Sookie can hear your very thoughts… and you disgust her, son. But all that changes the day she meets a man whose mind is closed to her.
Harris’ legacy character from Dead Until Dark spawned a powerhouse series filled with vampires, shifters, witches, fairies, and so much more to haunt her readers. It’s an excess of riches that’s just too much fun to read. But what makes the whole adventure possible—what makes all those other hearts bleed—is an ordinary, small-town girl named Sookie.
Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much - not because she's not pretty - she's a very cute bubbly blonde - or not interested in a social life. She really is ...but Sookie's got a bit of a disability. She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill: he's tall, he's dark and he's handsome - and Sookie can't 'hear' a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting all her life for. But Bill has…
I read Isabelle Allende’s first book against my will, having lost a bet with my mother at seventeen, and it continues to be one of my favorite books ever. A generational saga set in the revolutionary world of post-colonial Chile, the story begins with young Clara del Valle, whose eyes are open to the spectral world. She’s able to predict the future, and the horrifying realities of that gift almost destroy her.
This was one of the stories that made me interested in spiritual realism in literature, and it was a huge inspiration for several of my own works. And whenever my mom complains that I need to stop writing so much about witches, werewolves, and ghosts, I remind her of the day she forced me to read her favorite historical fiction novel.
“Spectacular...An absorbing and distinguished work...The House of the Spirits with its all-informing, generous, and humane sensibility, is a unique achievement, both personal witness and possible allegory of the past, present, and future of Latin America.” —The New York Times Book Review
Our Shared Shelf, Emma Watson Goodreads Book Club Pick November/December 2020!
The House of the Spirits, the unforgettable first novel that established Isabel Allende as one of the world’s most gifted storytellers, brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. The patriarch Esteban is a volatile, proud man whose voracious pursuit of political…
Cleo Cooper, a cross-cultural psychology professor, is living the dream on the Big Island of Hawaii. With ocean-dipping weekends, she enjoys her dog, her job, and her boyfriend Ben - until the day she’s on a research vessel and a dead body is caught in the dragline.
This novel is a marvelous read and so unlike anything I’ve come across outside an ancient history course. Set in the world of Greek mythology, it starts with the mildly interesting story of Circe, the divine but plain and powerless daughter of Helios, mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey. When the girl falls in love with a mortal fisherman, Glaucous, she violates the tenants of her world to turn him into his ‘true’ self through witchcraft. She then learns the price of her crime and the true nature of men.
Madeline Miller knocks you on your ass as she opens the door to a sweeping story of one woman’s refusal to be mistreated. Crafting the ultimate feminist icon, her protagonist never bows or scrapes or leaves a single abuse unanswered. Instead, Circe finds her true power is her ability to stand tall whatever the price.
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is a strange child - not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and mercenary like her mother. Scorned and rejected, Circe grows up in the shadows, at home in neither the world of gods or mortals. But Circe has a dark power of her own: witchcraft. When her gift threatens…
Frances Tarantino has felt her mother's spirit by her side ever since the woman's tragic death. Fran's mother sends beautiful ladybugs to land on her dress whenever she feels lonely or afraid. And on those rare occasions when Fran misbehaves, her mother disciplines her. As Fran falls in love for the first time, she learns how dangerous a parent's discipline can be.
Fran's grand aunt, Aurora Ciconne, vowed never to take another husband when she became widowed at twenty-two. And now, at fifty-eight, Aurora insists she does not need a man. But in secret, she has always been a bride. When Fran develops their family's gift of sight, Aurora searches for a way to free them both from the diabolical enslavement they can speak of to no one else.
What's the point of having it all when you have no one to share it with?
Brandon Miller has everything—except a commitment from the woman he loves. Angela Cooper has deep scars from a previous marriage. She's not interested in a do-over with Brandon or anyone.
Dolça Llull Prat, a wealthy Barcelona woman, is only 15 when she falls in love with an impoverished poet-solder. Theirs is a forbidden relationship, one that overcomes many obstacles until the fledgling writer renders her as the lowly Dulcinea in his bestseller.
