Books in the “Powerful Women ” bookshelf created by international

This heart-wrenching, intelligent novel could be described as Gray's Anatomy on tour to Africa: an insecure female surgeon with a complicated and evolving love life, an Ethiopian patient with a powerfully moving tragedy in her background, greatly in need of help, and an unfolding drama that brings them both together.

It is a compelling life story set in Ethiopia and London, written with exceptional grace.

Claire Meadows, 92, is lying in bed on a Sunday morning, looking forward to the 102nd birthday party of her friend Martin in his retirement home. As she reminiscences about her life, her failed ambition to become a concert pianist, her missed opportunity to have a child, her friends and lovers, mostly dead, she is troubled by the part she played, consciously and deliberately, in the death of her husband. Did she kill him or was it an accident? Or a suicide willingly abetted by her? And what about her feelings of fear and relief when the body was taken away?

‘In this compelling and beautifully written book Marianne Brooker anatomizes the rights of the dying and the failures of the state to support rather than penalize those living with disability. Intervals is simultaneously a memoir of individual experience and a powerful reflection on the nature of home, care, death and love that deserves to be read and heard by the widest possible audience.’
— Daisy Hay, author of Dinner with Joseph Johnson

Two plays by the acclaimed Irish author: an adaption of Euripides and an “emotionally bruising drama” of three women obsessed with the same man...

A revised edition of the publisher’s inaugural publication in 1990, which won the Pandora Award from Women-in-Publishing. Inspirational in its original format, this edition features poems, stories, essays and interviews with 30 + women writers.

Taking the reader on a rollercoaster ride through the second half of the 20th century, The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux is the gripping story of one unforgettable woman's place in an ever-changing world.

Based on the life of Frances Elliot, this incredible, well-crafted story of the strength of one woman is an inspiration to all.

'Written with energy, passion and unrivaled insight, Woman Up addresses the phenomenon that is women’s football, past and present, shedding light not only on generations of struggle and often unheard of victories and success, but on the issues that women still face today. I could not put this down, so rich it is and so fascinating, meticulously researched and bubbling with real life. Carrie Dunn’s Woman Up is essential reading of our times!' Christy Lefteri

I am a devout Christian who did everything by the book: worked hard, got good marks, found a steady job and helped to make life better for my family. In our neighbourhood, I was the girl other parents pointed to as a role model. Until a few months before my diagnosis at age 22, I was a virgin.

Women like me don't get HIV. But then I did.

It took me years to accept my new reality. Speaking out freed meand completely changed my life. Being HIV-positive wasn't my first challenge and it won't be my last, but it has been the hardest. It also taught me an important lesson: behind every statistic is a person with a name, a family, a story. This is my story.

My name is Nozibele Mayaba, I am HIV-positive, and I am still positively me.

Sarah Greener focuses on helping individuals, particularly women, break free from the overwhelming demands of running a business and achieve a balanced and successful life. It emphasizes the importance of taking control of one's destiny, financial success, and freedom by addressing the challenges faced in entrepreneurship.

Deep dive into American literature’s famous female writer with this remarkable collection of ‘Selected Edith Wharton’.

From award-winning author Tanita S. Davis comes a nuanced exploration of the microaggressions of middle school and a young Black girl named Madalyn who learns that being a good friend means dealing with the blue skies and the rain—and having the tough conversations on days that are partly cloudy.

Female Fear Factory is a sobering account of patriarchal violence in the world, and a hopeful vision for the work of unapologetic feminist imaginative strategies across the globe.

Captured in familiar situations as well as in flights of fancy, the women in these stories are engaged in acts of self-preservation: they are exhilarated to discover the joy and surprise of other women’s company, they make bold sexual choices, they go on a night-time excursions; as grandmothers, they give their grandchildren unsuitable presents.

Nuala Moore is an Irish swimmer known for open water swimming and ice swimming. In 2006, she was one of six swimmers to swim around the coast of Ireland in a relay, the first-ever swim of over 1300 km around the coast.

Limitless is Nuala's breathtaking and awe-inspiring memoir — about how pushing herself to her mental and physical limits allowed her to find her true north, face her reflection and achieve the greatness she always knew was within.

With a sharp eye and tough warmth, Lisa Blower brings to life the silent histories and harsh realities of those living on the margins. The matriarch dominates these award-winning stories in Lisa Blower’s debut collection.

Bringing us her truth in an arresting, unsparing Trinidadian voice, Alethea unravels memories repressed since childhood and begins to understand the person she has become. Her next step is to decide the woman she wants to be.

Older, Wiser, Fiercer is a celebration of something that only women in their later decades know: how glorious, satisfying, and FUN getting older can be.

Women of Scotland is a thematic time trip through Scottish history, and the important part women have played in its past.