This column first appeared in CityView Magazine’s “The Women’s Issue” March 2026 edition.
“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” — Virginia Woolf
We may not recognize a world where some of the best stories ever written were nearly lost, not because they lacked brilliance, but because women authored them. For centuries, women writers were discouraged from writing because they were thought to be intellectually inferior, and society expected them to focus on domestic pursuits. Fortunately, they persisted, writing novels and poetry, often hiding behind male pen names just to get published. During the 19th century, some of these women did become famous: the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, and a few others. But many were not recognized. Fortunately, Austen filled her own bookshelf with works by other women who were often overlooked during this period. Rebecca Romney wrote Jane Austen’s Bookshelf to recognize many of these women authors.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it’s time to focus on these remarkable women, both the famous and the forgotten—whose words have shaped our literary heritage. Readers today have a chance to learn about some of these women in history who challenged the norms in both literature and other professions and who have become legends through history.
1. Women Who Read Are Dangerous by Stefan Bollmann
It’s interesting that women were not only discouraged from writing books, but in certain societies women were also discouraged from reading books. Given that women had limited access to education, it is interesting that women readers are overrepresented in the visual arts. But here we have a beautiful book featuring over 70 works of art highlighting women reading throughout history. Author Stefan Bollmann gives an excellent overview of each painting about the woman and often what she is reading.
2. The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin
Women have been in book clubs for years. But in the late 1800s in Victorian England’s upper society, women were discouraged from reading. They were even limited in their educational opportunities. In this novel, a widowed countess decides to invite some other society women to join a mysterious book club where they have the freedom to read books and have a safe place to discuss them, as well as develop friendships with other women who have also been oppressed by their husbands and society’s repressive expectations. During this period, some husbands even convinced doctors to put their wives in asylums if they strayed from the expected society norm for women.
3. Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World by Kate Mosse
Inspired by her great-grandmother Lily Watson, a once-famous novelist in her day, Kate Mosse wants to share her history and other well-known and lesser-known women who were trailblazers for women today. She tells the story of women who were unsung heroes in many fields, from medicine, literature, stage, screen, and warrior queens and pirate commanders.
4. Normal Women – 900 Years of Making History by Philippa Gregory
We may think we know what women in the 11th century were like—or not. Author Philippa Gregory does an amazing job of sharing some of the real stories of ordinary women who achieved extraordinary accomplishments. We learn that women propelled the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 because they were protesting a tax on women. Charles Darwin, famous English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, believed that women were naturally inferior to men, and that they would evolve to become even more inferior. In spite of this and other barriers women faced, and in some cases still do, Gregory shares centuries of history of the extraordinary roles women played throughout British history. Included are illustrations throughout the book that attest to the various roles of everyday women.
5. The Genius of Women: From Overlooked to Changing the World by Janice Kaplan
Have you ever told your daughter or other girls that they can be anything? And fortunately, we are seeing more and more women in all careers. But did you know that 90% of Americans think that geniuses are almost always men? Author Janice Kaplan carefully explores how the system has been rigged over history to leave us believing this misconception. She shows us women geniuses throughout history who have achieved greatness anyway. She introduces us to women geniuses in fields from music to robotics and proves that genius is not just about talent, but it’s also about having that talent recognized, nurtured, and celebrated.
6. Rad American Women A-Z by Kate Schatz
We don’t want to forget our younger readers. This A-Z book uses the alphabet to introduce them to some well-known women in history. “A is for Angela—as in Angela Davis, the iconic political activist. B is for Billie Jean King, who shattered the glass ceiling of sports; C is for Carol Burnett, who defied assumptions about women in comedy; D is for Dolores Huerta, who organized farmworkers; and E is for Ella Baker, who mentored Dr. Martin Luther King and helped shape the Civil Rights Movement,” and on down the alphabet with many of the great women in history. There are only 26 women in this list, but a great start to learn about female artists and abolitionists, scientists and suffragettes, rock stars and rabble-rousers, and women of all professions who changed our history.