,

Strong Female Characters Written by Female Authors

There are many books out there, old and new that were written by women. Most of these great authors write about strong female protagonists.
1

by
4.29 avg rating — 4,673,306 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.35 avg rating — 9,666,770 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.16 avg rating — 2,274,361 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.26 avg rating — 6,731,842 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.14 avg rating — 4,719 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,247,696 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.17 avg rating — 2,408,044 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.09 avg rating — 1,273,556 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.20 avg rating — 4,100,183 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
3.90 avg rating — 1,973,246 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.05 avg rating — 957,487 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,346,838 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,087,348 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.35 avg rating — 4,048,320 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.15 avg rating — 757,736 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.06 avg rating — 477,630 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.47 avg rating — 2,975,287 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.11 avg rating — 3,626,197 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.28 avg rating — 740,931 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.13 avg rating — 4,308,527 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.13 avg rating — 211,653 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.26 avg rating — 1,136,655 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.97 avg rating — 1,267,378 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.10 avg rating — 675,301 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
3.86 avg rating — 2,445,012 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.25 avg rating — 703,900 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.15 avg rating — 207,490 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.15 avg rating — 180,485 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.07 avg rating — 2,137,704 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
3.97 avg rating — 480,103 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.08 avg rating — 150,388 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.86 avg rating — 1,042,209 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
3.75 avg rating — 102 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.78 avg rating — 345,868 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.03 avg rating — 127,385 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.09 avg rating — 192,893 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.97 avg rating — 704,968 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.91 avg rating — 45 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.01 avg rating — 258,526 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.99 avg rating — 379,818 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,038 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.75 avg rating — 1,841,990 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.05 avg rating — 624,718 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.30 avg rating — 571,984 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.27 avg rating — 135,783 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.03 avg rating — 176,038 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.04 avg rating — 121,188 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.69 avg rating — 223,619 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.02 avg rating — 422,099 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.33 avg rating — 378,899 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.67 avg rating — 7,165,555 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.10 avg rating — 1,341,354 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.14 avg rating — 147,720 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,270,818 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.09 avg rating — 174,561 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.30 avg rating — 502,523 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.30 avg rating — 324,983 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.32 avg rating — 305,668 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
4.07 avg rating — 46 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.13 avg rating — 202,077 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.99 avg rating — 117,466 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.11 avg rating — 984,623 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.31 avg rating — 82,484 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.93 avg rating — 594 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.82 avg rating — 519,153 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.85 avg rating — 442,390 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.95 avg rating — 100,463 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.02 avg rating — 83,488 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.10 avg rating — 279,711 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
3.98 avg rating — 82,837 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.14 avg rating — 131,699 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
4.04 avg rating — 154,191 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
3.90 avg rating — 412 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.29 avg rating — 308,458 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.03 avg rating — 498 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.20 avg rating — 625,937 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
3.86 avg rating — 77,298 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
3.97 avg rating — 191,382 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.84 avg rating — 145,500 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.21 avg rating — 62,579 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.90 avg rating — 83,441 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.30 avg rating — 134,634 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
3.80 avg rating — 225,253 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.83 avg rating — 58,320 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
4.26 avg rating — 58,370 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.20 avg rating — 20 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
4.34 avg rating — 116 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.69 avg rating — 225,229 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
4.04 avg rating — 87,341 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.48 avg rating — 65 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
4.11 avg rating — 1,266,859 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.09 avg rating — 32 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
4.31 avg rating — 52 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.16 avg rating — 69,856 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
4.05 avg rating — 1,170,880 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
4.10 avg rating — 123,039 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.15 avg rating — 216,368 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.40 avg rating — 20 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
4.28 avg rating — 322,786 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
4.33 avg rating — 55,113 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
1,676 books · 1,392 voters · list created May 20th, 2010 by Linda (votes) .
172 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Linda 165 books
9 friends
Nicholas 264 books
600 friends
Maggie 1681 books
99 friends
Megan 1088 books
19 friends
Carmen 987 books
1087 friends
Jenn 661 books
0 friends
Kay 882 books
0 friends
J 5177 books
236 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-18 of 18 (18 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Lynn (new)

Lynn Marston I'm not sure who made this list, but just so they know. Terry Pratchett is a guy.


message 2: by Lynn (new)

Lynn Marston So is Steig Larsson for that matter. I think someone lost sight of the point of the list.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Removed, on account of the author being male:

The Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Steig Larsson


message 4: by Ki (last edited Oct 27, 2012 07:14PM) (new)

Ki Longfellow Nathanael West is a male. He wrote The Day of the Locusts. William Styron is also male.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Removed, on account of the author being male:

The Secret Hour, by Scott Westerfeld


message 6: by Kelley (new)

Kelley Laura Ann Gilman's "Flesh and Fire" (no. 611) does not belong on this list. Though written by a woman, it is a deliberately male-centric book with women relegated to very minor roles.


Theresa~OctoberLace #352 - Under the Dome by Stephen King? How did that get on this list?


message 8: by Books4life12 (new)

Books4life12 How did Twilight get on the list?


message 9: by Kelley (new)

Kelley That book turns up on nearly every "strong female" list, despite having one of the weakest heroines of the past three decades -- so weak that her name can be used as a synonym for "weak heroine." I don't get it either.


message 10: by Books4life12 (new)

Books4life12 Kelley wrote: "That book turns up on nearly every "strong female" list, despite having one of the weakest heroines of the past three decades -- so weak that her name can be used as a synonym for "weak heroine." I..."
It really is sad what girls of this generation view as "strong" :(


message 11: by CS (new)

CS Under the Dome by Stephen King (Goodreads Author) needs to be removed.


message 12: by Willow (new)

Willow Crystal Starr Light wrote: "Under the Dome by Stephen King (Goodreads Author) needs to be removed."

Stephen King isn't a female? lolol


message 13: by Linda (new)

Linda Wow, I added this list a while ago and you guys have exploded it!! There are a lot of books to try out and I keep finding great female authors to add. Thank you for regulating the list and keeping it with strong women by strong women!


message 14: by Kelley (new)

Kelley "IQ84" (#852) needs to be removed. Its author is male (VERY male, if reviews are accurate).


message 15: by Juniper (new)

Juniper 8 duplicates found and removed (automatic function in 'edit list' settings, list of titles not given and i wasn't quick thinking enough to note them down as i was encountering them. i am sorry about that. 'the bell jar' for sure was one duplicate.)


message 16: by Elyse✨ (new)

Elyse✨ Should we list non-fiction biographies and memoirs? The list creator says strong female CHARACTERS. I take the word characters as meaning women a female author created - not real women. I have many biographies and memoirs I could list but I'm not sure that's what the list creator wants.


message 17: by Kelley (new)

Kelley I’m pretty sure Daniel Woodrell (#299, Winter’s Bone) is a man.


message 18: by Chris (new)

Chris Should we remove the nonfiction books? I love that this list has so much fiction but not sure the nonfiction books should be here as I am thinking this is just a fiction list.


back to top