Women You Should Meet

March is Women's History Month, so take the opportunity to read one of these stories of notable women from history, both real and imagined.

Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak

In Girl Sleuth, Melanie Rehak weaves a history of Nancy Drew and her creators, all of whom inspired generations of girls to be as strong-willed as they were.

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

A portrait of war and remembrance, of the power of love, memory, and art to offer beauty, grace, and hope in the face of overwhelming despair.

Serena by Ron Rash

Set in Waynesville, North Carolina during the depression, this novel traces the story of a wealthy lumber baron and his ruthlessly ambitious wife.

The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks

Carrie McGavock gave her heart first to a stranger, then to a tract of hallowed ground - and became a symbol of the soul of a nation.

An ordinary woman: a dramatized biography of Nancy Kelsey by Cecelia Holland

Nancy Kelsey, her husband, and a small group of Americans make the perilous overland trek to California, where she works at Sutters Fort and rides in the Rebellion that wrests California from Mexico, in a novel based on the real-life exploits of one courageous American pioneer woman.

These is my words: the diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 by Nancy Turner

In 1881, Sarah Agnes Prine, 17, goes from New Mexico to Texas and back, protecting her family with her rifle, and then becoming ranch manager while her second husband serves as a Texas Ranger.

The Jump-Off Creek by Molly Gloss

Widow Lydia Sanderson travels to Oregon during the Depression of 1895 and begins to work the land in a community where neighbors feel bound to each other by their will to survive.

Cane River by Lalita Tademy

Cane River is an isolated community that lies on a small river in central Louisiana. There in the early 19th century, slaves, free people of color, and Creole French planters lived and worked, loved and bore children. The author discovered her amazing heritage there and chronicles four generations of strong, determined black women.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Encompassing two generations and a rich blend of Chinese and American history, the story of four struggling, strong women also reveals the memories and feelings of their daughter.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Set in the early 1960s against a background of racial violence and unrest, this book tells the story of Lily Owens and her stand-in mother, Rosaleen, who journey to Tiburon, South Carolina, where they are taken in by three black, bee-keeping sisters.

Written by Herself by Conway

A collection of autobiographies by some remarkable American women, including Maya Angelou and Dr. S. Josephine Baker.

Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser

In this panoramic work of history, Fraser looks at women who led armies, empires and rebellions: Cleopatra, Tamara of Georgia, Isabella of Spain, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, Jinga Mbandi of Angola, the Rani of Jhansi, and the 20th-century iron ladies Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir and Indira Gandhi, among others.

Mothers of Invention: a history of forgotten women and their unforgettable ideas by Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek

Containing over 100 inspirational accounts of inventions that range from the development of household gadgets to industrial and scientific discoveries.

Women Inventors and Their Discoveries by Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek

Surveys the lives and work of such innovative women as Grace Hopper, Fannie Farmer, C. J. Walker, and Stephanie Kwolek.

Women in Civil War by Larry G. Eggleston

Extraordinary stories of soldiers, spies, nurses, doctors, crusaders, and others.

Wild Rose: Rose ONeale Greenhow, Civil War by Ann Blackman

Fearless spy for the Confederacy, glittering Washington hostess, legendary beauty and lover, Rose Greenhow risked everything for the cause she valued more than life itself. In this superb portrait, biographer Ann Blackman tells the surprising true story of a unique woman in history through a thrilling, intimate narrative that reads like a novel.