Singling out a small group of the best female writers of all time is impossible compared to the many who have published an immeasurable amount of profound and enduring literature. Here are five female authors we researched from 10 expert sites who we admire for their vision, fearlessness, originality, and their impact on the literary world and beyond.
If only we were a fly on the wall when these epic female writers were writing their classics. Why? Well, Bestsellers tend to be fiction titles, published in winter, a study finds. Certain genres and times of publication may help guarantee success. Researchers at Northeastern University in Boston recently analyzed data on nearly 4,500 books that made the New York Times Bestseller Lists from 2008 to 2016, allowing them to understand what helped certain titles sell better than others. Their analysis showed that general fiction sold the best, followed by biographies. Additionally, books that showed strong sales numbers out of the gate were more likely to continue their forward momentum.
Female writers have made an indelible mark on the literary world, contributing their unique voices and perspectives to a vast range of genres and themes. These authors have penned influential works that resonate with readers globally, addressing issues of identity, equality, and societal change. From the pioneering works of Virginia Woolf to contemporary brilliance, female writers have consistently enriched the literary canon with their remarkable storytelling and insights into the human experience.
There’s no doubt that the legacy of inspiring female writers will continue to move, entertain, and impact generations well into the future. Countless women have been authors, so it can seem like a difficult task to name the best female writers of all time. That’s why StudyFinds went to 10 expert websites to compile this list of the best. Tell us about your favorite writers – or ones we missed – and the books you love in the comments below.
The List: Best Female Writers, According to Experts
1. Virginia Woolf
From our research, no list of the best female writers will ever exclude Virginia Woolf. “Her best works include the novels, ‘Mrs. Dalloway,’ ‘To the Lighthouse,’ and ‘Orlando.’ She is regarded as a modernist 20th-century author whose narrative style was non-linear as evident from her famous novels. Virginia Woolf was much more than her novels as she wrote influential essays on literary history, artistic theory, and women’s writing. Virginia Woolf wrote several short fiction which are guaranteed to influence anyone who follows English literature. At the age of 5, she wrote letters to her father narrating a new story every night,” offers bx-zone.com.
Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Alexandra Stephen on January 25, 1882, in London and died on March 28, 1941, in the United Kingdom. “Woolf is one of the leading modernist writers of the 20th century. In the interwar period, she was a prominent figure in London literary society and a central member of the Bloomsbury Group, which brought together English writers, artists, and philosophers,” says Fiction Horizon.
Virginia Woolf rose to her best by fighting several mental breakdowns. “She regarded as one of the most modernist authors of her time, not only challenged the social injustices faced by women in the early 1900s but also tested and incorporated various literary devices into our modern lexicon of creative writing,” states Discover Walks.
2. Jane Austen
“The author of ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ ‘Emma,’ and ‘Northanger Abby,’ Austen graced the world with her influence from 1775 to 1817. Her determination paved the way for future women writers, as she wrote at a time women were discouraged from making their voices heard,” shares Colorado State University.
More specifically, Austen was a writer who specialized in storylines that highlighted women’s dependence on marriage or women who were pursuing economic security. “Austen was one of the first female writers to publish works that questioned and commented on the British landed nobility. Since many of Austen’s works were published under pseudonyms, she did not experience much fame during her lifetime. She earned much more recognition as a writer after her passing, and her six full-length novels have hardly ever been out of print. Along with several critical essays and anthologies, her works have also been adapted for the big screen,” says gobookmark.com.
As such, many of Austen’s works were published anonymously, meaning she enjoyed little fame during her life. It was after her death that she gained far more status as a writer. “There have also been several film adaptations of her works, with several critical essays and anthologies accompanying them. One you may recognize is ‘Sense and Sensibility.’ It was first published anonymously by ‘A Lady,’ it tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne as they come of age and are forced to move with their widowed mother from the estate on which they grew up,” boasts Oxford.
3. Harper Lee
Harper is best known for her 1960 novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The book pushed her into literary success as an acclaimed writer. “Lee’s childhood in Monroeville, Alabama inspired her idea for the novel. Her father, a former newspaper editor, businessman, and lawyer, served in the Alabama State Legislature from 1926 to 1938. During his time in this role, he defended two black men accused of murdering a white storekeeper. Both men were found guilty of the act and hanged – setting the plot of Harper Lee’s famous novel,” says Oxford.
In 2007, Lee received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush for her contribution to literature. “Today, Harper Lee’s works are widely taught in schools in the United States, encouraging students to learn more about how to empathize with tolerance and dissipate prejudice toward others,” informs Discover Walks.
Harper Lee was born Nelle Harper Lee on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama, and died on February 19, 2016, in the same city. “Selling forty million copies, this book is a classic of American literature, studied as such in many secondary schools in the United States, and regularly cited at the top of the rankings of critics and booksellers,” says Fiction Horizon.
4. Charlotte Brontë
“Charlotte is the third daughter of the Reverend Patrick Brontë, within a family of modest means with six children, benefits, like her four sisters and her brother, from the presence of a father who pushed his classical studies to the University of Cambridge and does not hesitate to pass on to them his culture and his vision of the world,” says Fiction Horizon.
Charlotte Brontë is the sister of Emily Brontë. Her first novel, “The Professor,” was initially rejected by publishers. “Two of Charlotte’s famous books are ‘Jane Eyre:’ This coming-of-age novel follows the journey of its eponymous heroine, including her love for Mr. Rochester and his home at Thornfield Hall. ‘Shirley’ which is set in Yorkshire during the industrial depression of the early 19th Century, the story follows characters during the Luddite uprisings in the Yorkshire textile industry,” states Oxford.
Charlotte Brontë is one of the most famous Victorian female writers in history. “Setting the typical tropes of Victorian literature, Brontë was one of the first authors to experiment with different poetic forms, such as the long narrative and dramatic monologue – but later gave up on poetic writing after the success of her prose,” shares Discover Walks.
5. Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison was a brilliant American novelist who received the Pulitzer Prize and global recognition for winning the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993. “Her stunning writing style mostly reflects on the experience of the African American in the United States and how an unfair, inequitable society entangled in racism leads to the harsh treatment of the same…I am sure that while reading ‘Beloved’ tears will roll down your eyes as Morrison has narrated the effects of slavery through the story of a woman who goes to the extent of killing her two-year-old daughter to save her from being dragged into slavery. ‘Beloved’ won her the Pulitzer Prize for fiction,” says bx-zone.com.
Toni Morrison was born and raised in Lorain, Ohio. Toni established herself in the literary world after earning an MA in American Literature at Cornell University in the mid-to-late 1950s. “She became famous for her ability to depict the Black American experience in her writing with such authenticity; in an unjust society, her characters typically struggle to find themselves and their cultural identity; and her use of poetic style and often fantastical writing style give her stories great strength and texture,” says Discover Walks.
Morrison didn’t establish her name as an expert until the 1970s and the middle of the 1980s. “Morrison enjoyed great success as a writer and was recognized for her contributions with numerous honors and prizes. She earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2012, the Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction in 2016, and the National Women’s Hall of Fame induction in 2020,” shares gobookmark.com.
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Sources:
- Bx-zone.com
- Colorado State University
- Discover Walks
- Fiction Horizon
- Gobookmark.com
- Ranker
- Powells
- Oxford
- The Guardian
Note: This article was not paid for nor sponsored. StudyFinds is not connected to nor partnered with any of the brands mentioned and receives no compensation for its recommendations.
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Of the English speaking world!
Get outa here! Where’s Joan Didion?
Not sure If I would put an author with only 1 book on an all time list. Certainly not above Toni Morrison!
I didn’t see any ranking. I took this as a list. Moreover, all women on the list wrote more than one book, unless I missed something. Although Harper Lee is best known for To Kill a Mockingbird, she wrote other books. And, like Toni Morrison, won a Pulitzer for fiction.
I find myself inclined to read novels by international women writers, in appreciation and respect for the status and role of women in the progress of societies in various fields. They are the mother, wife, sister, friend, nanny, teacher, doctor, and engineer. And I see that we still have not given women all their rights, especially in the third world and poor countries, so that the patriarchal tendency prevails in the governments and institutions of these countries, as the representation of women does not exceed 30/100 in the best case. Countries
Overall, Jean Aston has read some interesting novels, and I will be reading the top ten suggested women writers here.
In fact, we are taking away women’s fundamental rights right here in America such as decisions regarding our own bodies and health.
Sorry for some keyboard mistakes
Why isn’t Jodi Picoult on this list. Yes, most of these writers were masters of thier craft, but most are long dead. Gìve recognition to the women of today
You left out Emily Dickenson
Emily Dickinson was a poet, not a novelist. So her status as a “writer” is somewhat different than the women who were mentioned; all of them were novelists.
Hi. Jane Kirkpatrick Kristen Hannah. Kristin harmel. Kristin loesch. Karen Kingsbury.
I am surprised that Barbara Kingsolver is not mentioned. Every book I have read of hers is fantastic. She was educated as a biologist but became a writer and she incorporates her understanding of animal behavior so beautifully!
Tosser.
Equality.
Modern day: Diana Gabaldon, Margaret Atwood, Louise May Alcot, Lucy Maude Montgomery, Anne Bronte, Charlotte Bronte.
The list is far to extensive to narrow down to five.
George Sand, people. Should have been on the list.
So American tunnel view! Harper Lee, you must be kidding! World is larger than USA, and you wouldn’t believe what amazing literature flourishes all around, not always in English.
Margaret Atwood . . .Ursula LeGuin, both have outstanding bodies of work that cover a wide range of topics.
Doris Lesing should be on this list, as well as Ursula LeGuin.
The article’s title is misleading, compared to the methodology. The names were culled from an eight year period of how many books were sold according to the New York Times Bestseller list. “Best” does not equate to “volume sold.” Considering how many copies of Harper Lee and Jane Austen are sold annually because of high school and college reading assignments, the data is heavily skewed in their favor. Might be interesting to run a similar review in nations where English is not the first language.
I can’t think how you could exclude George Eliot. Her novel “Middlemarch“ is a masterpiece.
Agatha Christie
Edith Wharton should be on this list.
Agatha Christie beats all of them.
Prolific, smart, knew how to tell a good mystery and makes anyone else wonder why they can’t be as good as Ms. Christie. She was Crystalail oriented and just generally extremely talented.
The most influential, most read and probably the best at actually writing, is Ayn Rand.
Anthem, Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged had more influence and more readers than all the above put together.
You could not put her books down after the first few chapters whereas the above were eminently ignorable after the first sleep inducing paragraphs.
But Rand appealed primarily to male readers and therefore in today’s society have no value.
Nice that you liked it, but it has no real place among the best literature . Whom has it influenced? It is poorly written and cliched.
You of course are entitled to your opinion, no matter how puerile or silly.
It influenced an entire generation and the whole of the western world.
“It is poorly written.” so poorly written that for 20 years it’s sales were only bettered by the bible!
The “Cliches” that you complain of, became cliches only after she wrote them!
I understand that pursuit of excellence and the concept of personal responsibility is anathema to you and those like you, but that is why the book is so important. We see the results of not having excellence or responsibility in the whole western society.
It is fitting that your name is Dylan and I assume your surname is Mulvaney.