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100 Books: 100 Years

Celebrating a Century of Votes for Women

2018 marked 100 years of women’s right to vote in Britain. To celebrate we brought together our selection of 100 books which represent the wealth and diversity of women’s writing throughout history. Historians, novelists, thinkers, activists, campaigners, scientists and politicians; pioneering women of the past, inspirational voices of the future.

Pioneers

Votes for Women! As we celebrate the centenary, our recommended reading on the campaign for women's suffrage in Britain.

Emmeline Pankhurst Volume 8
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Suffragette Manifestos
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Penguin Books Ltd
Paperback
£7.99
Suffragettes
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Paperback
£10.99
Things a Bright Girl Can Do
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Sophia
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Paperback
£14.99
Rise Up Women!
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My Own Story
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Hearts And Minds
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The Century Girls
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Deeds Not Words
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Revolutionaries

The changing face of women's rights: some of the greatest feminist non-fiction writing from Mary Wollstonecraft to Laura Bates.

A Room of One's Own
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Your Silence Will Not Protect You
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Bad Feminist
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Paperback
£13.99
The Female Eunuch
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Testosterone Rex
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Men Explain Things to Me
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Misogynation
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Paperback
£9.99

Trailblazers

Ground-breaking feminist literature from world-renowned favourites to contemporary classics.

The Handmaid's Tale
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The Power
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Paperback
£9.99
The Left Hand of Darkness
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Kindred
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Paperback
£9.99
The Color Purple
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The Awakening
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Paperback
£6.99
The Bees
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Paperback
£9.99

Mythmakers

Without a vote, not without a voice: classic literature. 

Frankenstein
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Paperback
£7.99
Middlemarch
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Paperback
£10.99
The Tale of Genji
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Jane Eyre
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Paperback
£7.99
Little Women
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Wuthering Heights
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The Well of Loneliness
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Uncle Tom's Cabin
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Emma
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Paperback
£7.99

Storytellers

Our selection of some of the finest modern classics, boldly realised worlds from the magic of Manderley to Brick Lane.

The Bell Jar
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Hardback
£14.99
Crooked House
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Rebecca
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Hardback
£16.99
Cold Comfort Farm
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Agnes Owens
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Paperback
£14.99
Their Eyes Were Watching God
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To Kill A Mockingbird
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Brick Lane
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Paperback
£9.99
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
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Women's Prize for Fiction 25 Years Anniversary
Women's Prize for Fiction 25 Years Anniversary

Role Models

Future pioneers: contemporary writers changing the face of women's fiction today.

Home Fire
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Paperback
£9.99
Little Fires Everywhere
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The Essex Serpent
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The Secret History
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The Vegetarian
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Paperback
£9.99
On Beauty
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Paperback
£9.99
My Brilliant Friend
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Prophets

Reinterpreting and redefining: women who change how we understand the world.

Persepolis I & II
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I Am Malala
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The Diary of a Young Girl
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Trans
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Paperback
£10.99
H is for Hawk
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How To Be a Woman
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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
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Wild
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Paperback
£8.99

Visionaries

Re-imagining and reinventing: women who change how we see and experience the world.

Strong Is the New Pretty
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On Photography
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Eat Up
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Paperback
£8.99
The Lonely City
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Seeing Ourselves
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Modern Women
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Hardback
£22.00
The Female Lead
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I Feel Bad About My Neck
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Annie Leibovitz At Work
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From the Waterstones Blog: Celebrating Women's Writing


Icons

Her story: inspiring and extraordinary women's lives.

Women & Power
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Paperback
£7.99
A History of God
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An Unquiet Mind
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The Unwomanly Face of War
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Hidden Figures
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Lean In
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Paperback
£12.99
The Living Mountain
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Negroland
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Paperback
£8.99
Silent Spring
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Paperback
£10.99
Quiet
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Paperback
£10.99

Spell-Casters

Some of our best-loved and newly-discovered children's writers, opening doors in children's imaginations.

The Lie Tree
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The Hate U Give
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A Wrinkle in Time
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The Hunger Games
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The Outsiders
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Paperback
£8.99
The Naughtiest Girl Collection 1
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The Girl of Ink & Stars
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When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
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Blog thumbnail: Candice Carty Williams on her Favourite Heroic Women in Literature

Candice Carty Williams on her Favourite Heroic Women in Literature

Candice Carty Williams, author of Queenie, our Waterstones Book of the Month for February, selects her favourite fictional heroes.

Blog thumbnail: Helen Lewis on her Feminist Icons

Helen Lewis on her Feminist Icons

Helen Lewis, author of the hugely entertaining and informative history of feminism, Difficult Women, discusses her feminist heroes.

Blog thumbnail: Francesca Wade on the Incredible Women of Mecklenburgh Square

Francesca Wade on the Incredible Women of Mecklenburgh Square

Francesca Wade's absorbing new book recounts the astonishing glut of female literary talent centred upon one square in Bloomsbury, as we discover this exclusive essay.