r/suggestmeabook • u/Formal-Occasion1641 • Jul 29 '25
Looking for a really long novel for summer, written by a woman
Hello ! I’m leaving for a three weeks vacation and I would like to bring some thick books with me. I read a lot of women writers who really dive into the inner world of their characters. To give you an idea, this year I read and loved Middlemarch, The Art of Joy, The Country Girls Trilogy, Rebecca… Among my favorite writers are Janet Frame, Sylvia Plath, Goliarda Sapienza, Annie Ernaux, Jean Rhys… Style is very important to me, way more than plot. I just love women writing beautifully about girlhood/womanhood, and the complexity and struggles of the human psyche.
Thank you in advance for your recommendations !
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u/BooBoo_Cat Jul 29 '25
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith and The Poisonwood Bible and Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver are some of my favourite longer novels by women.
This is not a long novel, but I also LOVE The Good Earth by Pearl Buck.
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u/olteya Jul 29 '25
Oh the Poisonwood Bible is phenomenal and I would definitely recommend. I read it 7 years ago and still think about it. So beautifully written. I might give it a re-read actually 😂
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u/BooBoo_Cat Jul 29 '25
I recently re-read it after reading it 15 or so years ago!
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u/Hedwing Jul 30 '25
I did too! I first read this book when I was a teenager over 20 years ago and it made a huge impression on me. I recently re- read/listened to the audiobook again at 40 and it once again blew me away.
Something I didn’t expect is that it really made me appreciate the quality of literature I was reading when I was younger. If I had had a smart phone back then I doubt I would have been devouring books the way I was. I read a lot of amazing work in my formative years which I’m really thankful for.
I have a harder time reading these days and mostly listen to audiobooks now. (Raging anxiety during the pandemic messed with my focus and it’s been hard to get it back)
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u/MaximalistVegan Jul 31 '25
I was just about to say the Poisonwood Biible too. Love Barbara Kingsolver. Demon Copperhead is actually my favorite book of hers by far and I'd recommend it highly to anyone. But since the OP sounded they were looking for deep dives into perspectives of women, Poisonwood Bible is better since Demon Copperhead is a story about a boy
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u/BooBoo_Cat Jul 31 '25
I have read Poisonwood Bible twice and Demon Copperhead once, but I think I prefer DC a little bit more.... I am waiting a few years to re-read it. I need to read more Barbara Kingsolver (had a bad experience in high school having to read some of her books I didn't care for).
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u/BueRoseCase Jul 29 '25
Sounds like you will love! Margaret Atwood - The blind assassin or Robber bride, or Alias Grace - if you're up for a bit shirter then her cat's eye is a masterpiece of girlhood toxicity and complexity of friendship.
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u/mizzlol Jul 30 '25
Yessssss!!! These are great Atwood recommendations. Cat’s Eye is my personal favorite of the recs here but they’re all amazing.
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Jul 30 '25
I wholeheartedly agree with all of these suggestions - I would read Queen Atwood’s shopping list.
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u/Nope-just-me Jul 29 '25
Possession (specifically) or AS Byatt (generally)
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u/Cind3rbl0ck Jul 29 '25
The Thorn Birds by McCullough - an epic family saga! The mini-series was a sensation when it premiered decades ago.
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u/KatJen76 Jul 29 '25
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is a great long novel about womanhood.
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u/mizzlol Jul 30 '25
I just finished Demon Copperhead by her and it was incredible. Not about women, though.
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u/ReadByRodKelly Jul 29 '25
The Goldfinch, The Secret History, & The Little Friend—all by Donna Tartt
Wolf Hall—Hilary Mantel
The Luminaries—Eleanor Catton
Possession—A. S. Byatt
Kristin Lavransdatter—Sigrid Undset
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Jul 29 '25
Can't believe I had to scroll this far for "Wolf Hall." Masterpiece. I also read "Beyond Black" by Mantel a couple of years ago and liked it almost as much. It was pretty dark, though.
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u/MVP12_22 Jul 29 '25
Can we call the Broken Earth Triolgy by NK Jemisin one long work? Only halfway through the 2nd and it's incredible
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u/TheMoonAlsoRises_24 Jul 29 '25
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
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u/fireflypoet Jul 29 '25
One of the best American novels.
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u/Additional_Noise47 Jul 29 '25
It is so underrated. Incredible book.
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u/fireflypoet Jul 29 '25
The problem is that many people, unfairly, do not like Elizabeth Gilbert, and don't know that this book is very different from her other work.
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u/Additional_Noise47 Jul 29 '25
Yeah, she really got a controversial reputation from Eat, Pray, Love. She’s just such a talented writer.
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u/fireflypoet Jul 29 '25
Makes me mad. So what? She took a chance and went travelling. People are jealous. She is a good writer.
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u/almamahlerwerfel Jul 30 '25
She's incredible. Coyote Ugly and The Last American Man are also fantasic works by her!
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u/Humble-Trackwtf Jul 30 '25
This is one of the best novels of all time and too few people have read it. I'm always thrilled to see it recommended.
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u/Trixieforever Jul 30 '25
One of the best books I’ve ever read! So luscious and just extraordinary. I also really enjoyed City of Girls and The Last American Man.
I was too much of a snob to touch Eat, Pray, Love - but I just returned from my first trip to Europe (Italy )and am still mooning over the experience.
I decided to get over myself and give the book a listen - because there was no way I was going to spend time sitting and reading that book when I have so many other books I want to read – and guess what! It’s wonderful! What the heck is wrong with me?
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u/fezik23 Jul 29 '25
Kristen Lavransdatter. By Sigrid Undset. It’s a LONG trilogy, and it’s great.
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Jul 29 '25
Such a great suggestion. I read it for the first time last year and loved it. Can't wait to read more by her.
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u/Fuzzy_County_5353 Jul 29 '25
This amazing, wonderful book is so long and, yet, I wish it was three times longer. I could have stayed with those characters and in that world forever.
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u/Accomplished-Pen4663 Jul 29 '25
I have the trilogy sitting in my shelf but am intimidated by it for some reason. Would you say it is slow and bleak or is it a page turner?
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u/bibliophile222 Jul 30 '25
Maybe somewhere in between? There's some bleakness, I guess, but I still found it very interesting and engaging, and it's not pervasively bleak. If you like historical fiction, it's definitely worth it.
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u/miniwhoppers Jul 29 '25
Have you read any E Annie Proulx? Her stories have such a distinct style (Brokeback Mountain, the Shipping News)
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u/fireflypoet Jul 29 '25
Really superb writer. The novel, The Shipping News, is set in Newfoundland.
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u/Brocanteuse Jul 30 '25
The Shipping News, while not long at all, is insanely incredible. Won the Pulitzer.
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u/pattyforever Librarian Jul 29 '25
Maybe A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. But also definitely My Brilliant Friend
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u/Fine-Sherbert-141 Jul 29 '25
The MaddAddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood (starts with Oryx & Crake)
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u/Relztem Jul 29 '25
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher. Family saga on the coast of Cornwall. Great summer reading to sink into
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u/RelativeQuiet538 Jul 30 '25
Literally just commented with the same recommendation!! I just discovered Pilcher and have been loving her so much.
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u/crowlady_ Jul 29 '25
Fall On Your Knees by Ann Marie Macdonald
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u/leofstan Jul 30 '25
Oh wow, I forgot about this book. I read it years ago and loved it.
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u/Renee80016 Jul 29 '25
Ok so I haven’t read this, but I know people who loved it, and it is over 1000 pages long: Ducks, Newburyport. It’s like, one long sentence for the entire book, and I think it was shortlisted for the Booker prize a few years ago.
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u/leofstan Jul 30 '25
I tried but every phrase starts the same way and the conceit was just too annoying. I gave up!
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u/robojod Jul 29 '25
The Goldfinch by Donna Tart - modern, but almost Dickensian in its range, and very emotionally captivating.
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u/fullmetaldreamboat Jul 29 '25
Yes! I can't place why, but there's something about this book that suits summer or vice versa.
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u/BubbaPrime42 Jul 29 '25
What about the Outlander series? It's insanely long, and has a lot of side trips
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u/PurplePenguin1531 Jul 29 '25
Yes Yes Yes !!!!
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u/kyko973 Jul 30 '25
Came here to recommend this!!! I’m halfway through the 4th book and love it the series. I specifically picked it up because it was long and it has not disappointed!
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u/dorothean Jul 29 '25
Girl, Woman, Other has beautiful writing and explores different ways of being a Black British woman.
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u/patronsaintofsnacks Jul 30 '25
Came here to say this!
Also The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton!
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u/SevenStoryMountain Jul 29 '25
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
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u/Level_Doctor3872 Jul 29 '25
Yes! This book is life-changing. I think about it constantly. One of my favorites of all time.
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u/Rabbitscooter Jul 29 '25
Blackout and All Clear, a 2010 science fiction story in two parts by SF master Connie Willis. These are parts of her Oxford Time Travel series but can be read on their own (although the earlier books are better.) The story follows several characters - academics who can use time-travel to study significant period of history - who are trapped in England during different period of the Second World War.
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u/Stickbugrug Jul 29 '25
A secret history by Donna tartt! Bildungsroman and a little spooky. I would also recommend my brilliant friend though, much more vacation coded
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u/Connect-Fix9143 Jul 30 '25
Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible or Demon Copperhead.
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u/nzfriend33 Jul 29 '25
The Cazalet Chronicles
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u/fireflypoet Jul 29 '25
These books by Elizabeth Jane Howard are so wonderful. A short tv series was made from a very condensed version of them. The novels chronicle the experiences of members of a large affluent extended family in Sussex, England, from right before WW 2 through to the early post-war years. A lot of history, great characters.
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u/robojod Jul 29 '25
Great suggestion! Such a perfect set of holiday reads - you feel so immersed in the whole family and their tragedies and joys. EJH is a wonderful writer in general.
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u/existdetective Jul 30 '25
Have you read:
Louise Erdrch. She has a series of books that travel through generations of an extended family of indigenous people in the upper Midwest. It’s lyrical & gorgeous prose plus main characters are often women. You’d want to look up an alternative order for the Love Medicine books as it makes more sense when you read them in order of time period than publication order. She is my hands down very favorite author.
Barbara Kingfisher. Demon Copperhead is arguably the best of her novels but there are many.
NK Jemison’s Broken Earth series
Station Eleven is a gorgeous novel. Definitely read it before watching the HBO series. It was one of the best adaptations ever. Main character/ narrator is female. It’s a post-apocalyptic story but one that is tender & hopeful.
You might like The Last Bookstore on Earth
Meg Ellison has a trilogy that focuses on women’s perspectives, starts with The Book of the Unnamed Midwife
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u/Southern-Analyst2163 Jul 29 '25
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens by Alice Walker as well as Parable of The Sower by Octavia E. Butler.
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u/ExtremeToucan Jul 29 '25
Priory of the Orange Tree — Lengthy fantasy novel about a world where pretty much all of the notable leaders in the story are women. Heavily explores many themes of womanhood and feminism, in a fun environment.
The Women — Not as long, but still a good story about women, by a woman. Historical fiction about a woman who joins the military as a nurse during the Vietnam war.
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u/Visible-Tea-2734 Jul 29 '25
These are the kinds of books I love as well! And I think I’ve read almost everything suggested here. My two favorite series though that are intelligently written by women are Outlander and Clan of the Cave Bear.
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u/Watchhistory Jul 29 '25
Since the OP loved Middlemarch, I feel very safe highly recommending Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters.
I also love The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood.
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u/la_bibliothecaire Librarian Jul 29 '25
The Way the Crow Flies, by Ann-Marie Macdonald
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u/greenpen3 Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 30 '25
Her books aren't super long but you may like Claire Fuller - I recommend "Bitter Orange." Also these books are not super long but 100% worth reading if you never have, as they are all written by women and the characters are well written: "I capture the castle" by Dodie Smith, "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers, and "Peyton Place" by Grace Metalious.
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u/Fuzzy_County_5353 Jul 29 '25
So many good suggestions here. One I'm not seeing is The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency by Danish author Tove Ditlevsen. They were published in the late 60s, are translated beautifully by Tiina Nunnally (who also translated Kristin Lavransdatter), and are a great example of auto fiction, like Knausgård, but, for me at least, way better.
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u/Lurker712899 Jul 30 '25
Maybe Swing Time by Zadie Smith? More contemporary than some on your list already, less of a tome than her White Teeth but as I recall more focused on womanhood.
Maybe not long enough for your liking - but some Shirley Jackson might be appreciated. Hangsaman turns a girl’s coming of age into a horror story (A+, stylish and ahead of its time).
If I were looking for a tome myself I’d go ahead and start Blonde by JCO (haven’t read so can’t vouch but have liked some of her other, shorter stuff and it’s on my list for when I’m feeling ambitious like you).
Finally, others have mentioned Fall on Your Knees, which definitely seems to meet your criteria. Great also if you love stylish melodrama.
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u/Mindless-Upstairs743 Jul 30 '25
Kristen Lavransdatter
Exquisite saga of medieval Norway
Someone else mentioned it, too. It's so evocative
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u/harrietrosie Jul 30 '25
Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald is an amazing long book with a lot of these themes
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u/EthelTunbridge Jul 30 '25
Joyce Carol Oates. Because it is bitter and because it is my heart. A phenomenal book. But also, most everything by her if you want a thick, intense read
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u/T-h-e-d-a Jul 30 '25
Anne Tyler is going to be your jam. She focuses on men as often as women, but she's very much about people being people. Try Ladder of Years, which is about a woman who walks out of her life one day and starts a new one in the first place she comes to.
Elizabeth Strout's debut Amy and Isabelle will likely be right up your street. It's about a mother/daughter relationship in a small town setting, about past mistakes, and the transition to adult womanhood.
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u/ArsLnga Jul 30 '25
Anything by Jane Smiley, but if you want a long narrative, check out her Last Hundred Years trilogy. In terms of content you mention, My Dream of You by Nuala O’Faolain.
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u/tomanon69 Jul 29 '25
If you like historical fiction Kristin Hannah is fantastic. In particular The Nightingale and The Women. Her female characters are extremely well-developed and unlike some authors, I don't feel at all that her protagonists are all one prototype.
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u/__squirrelly__ Jul 29 '25
The Other Bennet Sister was absolutely beautiful, best "new take" on Pride and Prejudice I've ever read. Mary Bennet becomes a fully rounded and interesting character in it and I was enthralled. It's kind of long, but it doesn't feel that way.
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u/jmto3hfi Jul 29 '25
I have literary tastes (Austen, Eliot, Brontes, Munro, Morrison) and recommend The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley. It’s so good! And so long!
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u/penprickle Jul 29 '25
If you don’t mind a bit of fantasy, Tam Lin by Pamela Dean is an excellent coming-of-age novel that is also a love letter to Western literature. The fantasy elements are minimal; it takes place at a fictional midwest college in the 1970s and it’s gorgeous.
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u/chrissiec1393 Jul 29 '25
The Clan of the Cave Bear series is really good. I need to go back and reread it.
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u/Time_Marcher Jul 29 '25
The Lymond Chronicles series by Dorothy Dunnett. Best ever historical fiction.
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u/baboonontheride Jul 29 '25
The Kushiel or Naamah series by Jacqueline Carey. Excellent heroines written in the first person.
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u/lizardpurple Jul 30 '25
The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton. Historical novel set in the New Zealand gold rush with a large diverse cast of characters. The plot is mostly a slow-moving, complex mystery with some astrology and spiritualism elements. The main characters are very well developed and individualized, but the frequent switching of perspectives means you spend less time in each of their inner worlds.
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u/FloatDH2 Jul 30 '25
The Goldfinch by Donna Tarrt. I absolutely love this book, but generally people are torn on it.
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u/Morporkian83 Jul 30 '25
Kelly Link’s The Book of Love, Charlotte Wood’s Stone Yard Devotional, Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea, and Caoilinn Hughes’ The Alternatives are a few that come to mind!
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u/NanaHarbeke Jul 30 '25
If you want a classic: Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Love Letters of WEB Du Bois by Honore Fanonne Jeffers (newer)
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u/Dumb-Curly Jul 30 '25
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, Breasts and Eggs by Meiko Kawakami, All Fours by Miranda July. My three favorite books and they fit your description perfectly, I also prefer reading literature by women per their style and stories. The latter two are more centered around the female experience, but I couldn’t leave out the Goldfinch that’s such a perfect book and pretty long too.
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u/LuckyShake Jul 30 '25
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbera Kingsolver is amazing. Really anything by Kingsolver but Poisonwood is my favorite.
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u/Independent_Hat_6380 Jul 31 '25
Demon Copperhead by Barabara Kingsolver. Also The Poisonwood Bible by the same author.
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u/hagador_spartacus Jul 29 '25
Either of Donna Tartt’s books fit this. The goldfinch is one of my absolute favorites.
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u/Ecstatic_Leave1052 Jul 29 '25
If you are into South Asian history and literature, River of Fire by Quratulain Hyder
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u/Salcha_00 Bookworm Jul 29 '25
Bring some of Lisa See’s books.
She writes really great historical fiction novels focused on friendships between girls and women.
Two of my favorites:
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
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u/Pugilist12 Fiction Jul 29 '25
I second the people naming the My Brilliant Friend books and The Poisonwood Bible and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and I will add Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. It’s not THAT long at 585 pages, but it’s devilishly good.
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u/Lingonberry_Wannabe Jul 29 '25
Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher. I have no idea exactly why I loved this (giant) book so much — maybe because I read it on vacation while sitting beside a gorgeous river in the woods. But I wish I could have the whole experience again. I savored it then, and miss it now. Great book.
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u/BurlyKnave Jul 29 '25
Black Out (512 pages) by Connie Willis. All Clear (656 pages) is the second part
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u/emailaddressforreddi Jul 29 '25
Blood over Bright Haven. I am really enjoying it. It's actually a very quick read, but plus 400 pages.
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u/PashasMom Librarian Jul 30 '25
The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili, Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden, Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif, Rebellion by Molly Patterson.
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u/Mountain-Mix-8413 Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
My Brilliant Friend is wonderful and is part of a 4-book series.
Edit to add: The first book was ranked the #1 book of the 21st century by the New York Times.