Books like The Woman Who Did by Grant Allen

A dark, passionate tale set on the West Yorkshire moors, following the tumultuous love and revenge between the Earnshaws, Lintons, and the enigmatic Heathcliff.

A dystopian vision of an oligarchic tyranny rising in the United States, showcasing Jack London's explicit socialist perspective.

A coming‑of‑age narrative set in 19th‑century England, following young David Copperfield as he navigates orphanhood, hardship and society’s social hierarchies.

In Samuel Butler’s anonymous 1872 satire, protagonist Higgs encounters the mysterious, seemingly utopian land of Erewhon—"Nowhere" spelled backward—drawing on Butler’s New Zealand experiences and exploring Victorian society, machine consciousness, and Darwinian selection.

Young carpenter Adam Bede, devoted to his aging mother, falls for the town beauty Hetty Sorrel, whose allure leads both into a dangerous triangle involving Captain Donnithorne.

In the Irish countryside, three generations of women are reunited, unraveling decades of separation and estrangement in a quiet family drama.

Five single women in Victorian London confront choices about work, marriage, and independence, revealing the era's social roles and gender dynamics.

A lyrical letter from a Zimbabwean mother to her Harvard‑attending daughter, weaving personal histories, social change, and intertwined family stories that illuminate Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence.

An emotional journey that follows Caretta Rutledge as she returns to her Lowcountry roots to restore a family beach house, become a turtle volunteer, and heal the bond with her mother.

FBI agent Matt D'Angelo hunts for the elusive Jenna Moon, whose wild tale draws him in. As protector, he confronts his own doubts and desires for a life he had denied himself.

Kate, a newly widowed mother, returns to Lost Lake in Georgia—a sleepy summer resort—to heal with her eccentric daughter Devin, hoping the place’s forgotten magic and their shared past can revive the cottage community and their hearts.

An examination of mid‑nineteenth‑century female novelists who questioned marriage and explored the possibilities of independence or professional life, revealing their authentic ambivalence toward contemporary gender expectations.

1 volume

During the Great Depression in East Texas, the Stoddard sisters—responsible Mayme, tomboy Jeanine, and bookish Bea—navigate poverty, drought, and a devastating family accident, ultimately turning to a wildcat oil well and a racehorse for hope.

A mystery novel about a missing woman who must confront her own fraudulent behavior to understand the connections of the characters to her disappearance.

The culmination of a lifetime's scholarly work, this pioneering study by Sister Prudence Allen traces the concept of woman in relation to man in Western thought from ancient times to the present. Volume I uncovers four general categories of questions asked by philosophers for two thousand years. These are the categories of opposites, of generation, of wisdom, and of virtue. Sister Prudence Allen traces several recurring strands of sexual and gender identity within this period. Ultimately, she shows the paradoxical influence of Aristotle on the question of woman and on a philosophical understanding of sexual coomplemenarity. Supplemented throughout with helpful charts, diagrams, and illustrations, this volume will be an important resource for scholars and students in the fields of women's studies, philosophy, history, theology, literary studies, and political science. In Volume 2, Sister Prudence Allen explores claims about sex and gender identity in the works of over fifty philosophers (both men and women) in the late medieval and early Renaissance periods. Touching on the thought of every philosopher who considered sex or gender identity between A.D. 1250 and 1500, The Concept of Woman provides the analytical categories necessary for situating contemporary discussion of women in relation to men. Adding to the accessibility of this fine discussion are informative illustrations, helpful summary charts, and extracts of original source material (some not previously available in English). In her third and final volume Allen covers the years 1500--2015, continuing her chronological approach to individual authors and also offering systematic arguments to defend certain philosophical positions over against others.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s debut novel explores love, religion, and the slave trade in eighteenth‑century Newport, Rhode Island, as a widowed mother, a Calvinist pastor, and a doomed romance collide.