International Women’s Day – females in fiction

International Women’s Day – if fictional women could get awards, then we’ve had a look through our favourite books by female writers to champion both their characters and the writers themselves

Who would you champion and why? There are so many great female characters in books such as Jane Eyre, Emma from Jane Austen, Mrs Danvers from Rebecca, Miss Haversham from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Women in more modern novels are also some of the most fascinating characters – Vivienne from The Secret Keeper by Kate Mroton has some secrets to bear, and the sisters from Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series prove to be some of the strongest and most fearless characters out there. Imagine finding out you’re adopted and then getting a trail of clues to follow to find out who you really are!

Award for the most fearless and gutsy female

Jane Steele
What they said: “Reader, I murdered him”

Award for not caring what anyone thinks but doing it anyway

Winner : Vera
What they said:  “Thanks pet. Can’t stop though – on the way to a murder”

Award for staying strong in the face of adversity and cultural differences

Winner:  Katherine and Mascha from Under the Visible Life

Why: Both live in Canada but one has a Chinese background and the other is from Karachi. They want to play music but that is seen as a man’s world. They don’t accept that.

Award for the woman with the best job ever

Winner: Nina from The Little Shop of Happy-Ever-After

Speech: Thank you so much! I do love books and I don’t understand anyone that doesn’t

Award for the woman who embodies the meaning of staying strong

Winner: Helen fromThe Woman Who Ran

Why: To prove that no matter in which period, country, or city a woman has lived in – the struggles to survive, be strong, stay safe and start over are universal