8th March is International Women’s Day

We work hard to ensure The Story Project promotes equality, inclusivity and diversity. As an all-female team gender equality is very important to us, but we are also passionate about tackling stereotypes and discrimination that affect people from all backgrounds.

This year we are celebrating IWD 2025 by thinking about some of our favourite female authors. All three of us struggled to pick our top choices; there are just SO many to choose from. In the end, we have settled on the following titles which we think give a broad and varied view of the wonderful work produced by female authors.

Some of the books have been chosen because they reflect the realities of being a woman in the past and present, and some have been chosen simply because we loved reading the stories.

Olivia’s choices

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Set between Nigeria and the US, this is an insightful story about a young woman’s experience of race, immigration and belonging. Adichie’s writing helps to unpick these themes in a beautiful and engaging way. I have just managed to get my hands on Adichie’s latest novel, Dream Count, which has been ten years in the making and I am very excited to read it. Dream Count has just been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction too!

Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout

I could have picked any Elizabeth Strout book, she is an extraordinary storyteller who captures the importance of people’s everyday lives. There is a quote in this particular novel that has always stuck with me because it sums up the necessity of people’s stories being heard, a theme that runs throughout Strout’s books:

Olive said, “well tell me about it. I’d like to hear.”

Betty was still weeping, but she was smiling more too, and she said, “Oh, it’s just a life, Olive.”

Olive thought about this. She said, “Well, it’s your life. It matters.”

I’ve also recently read Strout’s latest publication, Tell me Everything, which was brilliant and has also been longlisted for the Women’s Prize!

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The more time I spend in the Yorkshire moors, the more I love Wuthering Heights. It captures the mystical atmosphere of the moors so perfectly. The lives of the Bronte sisters are fascinating, so much talent and creativity in one family, visiting their home in Haworth was a highlight of last year.

Fiona’s choices

The Binding by Bridgett Collins

I loved how this dark and spellbinding story pulls you in and doesn’t let go. It strikes the perfect balance of vast, great storytelling with the subtleties of deep human connection…the result is a haunting novel of love and betrayal. It was like nothing I had read previously and it stayed with me long after I closed the final page.

Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter

This stark memoir by Christiane Ritter, who spent a winter in an isolated area of Svalbard in the 1930s, spoke directly to my fascination with Scandinavia and Northern Europe. For its time, this book was very unusual – not many female authors were published in general and very few of those were writing about the outdoors. Despite its harsh and unforgiving climate, Christiane also describes the country as a beautiful and calm place where she was able to let her isolation empower her.

I loved the book so much that Svalbard is now a bucket list destination for me, despite its terrible weather! This was only heightened by reading similar books such as Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (set not in Svalbard, but Iceland) and Life on Svalbard by Cecilia Blomdahl – both of which I received as gifts from Laura and Olivia. They know me well!

Laura’s Choices

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell and Hero on a Bicycle by Shirley Hughes

One of 4 fluffy members of the team helped Laura pick two of her favourite female authors. She says “I am sharing these with my best reading buddy…who most definitely IS allowed on the sofa!”