The sun is shining, the birds are singing: Spring is in the air! (Full disclosure, I live in the UK, the slightest glimmer of sun makes our national psyche soar!) March is also Women’s History Month, so I wanted to share some books that are perfect Spring reads, written by incredible women across history. For me, a spring read is something that deals with themes of fresh starts, personal growth and healing.

Jane Austen

I have to start this list off with the icon that is Jane Austen. She was a woman writing books for women about women’s issues, in a time when the majority of authors were men. You could argue that that she was one of the first proto-feminists; before feminism had been thought of. She published anonymously when she was alive, so didn’t receive much fame at the time. However, posthumously her six full length novels have rarely been out of print. 2025 marks Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, and the fact that her stories are still relevant today shows just how incredible she was.

While I would recommend all of Jane Austen’s books, the one that I’m going to specifically mention today is Emma. Emma is a young, rich, independent woman who has decided that while she will not marry, she will match make all of her friends. Her plans for the matrimonial success of her new friend Harriet, however, lead her into complications that ultimately test her own detachment from the world of romance.

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott is next on this list. While best known for Little Women, Louisa May Alcott has actually published over 270 works! Through her life Alcott became an active member of various abolitionist and feminist reform movements. She was involved in working towards women’s suffrage, which she continued to support throughout her life until her passing in 1888.

I am going to recommend Little Women in this list. Although it opens with the infamous line “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” Little Women embodies the themes of Spring throughout the book. Although there is darkness and difficulties, we see love blossom, new starts for the sisters and personal growth.

Virginia Woolf

The next incredible woman on this list is Virginia Woolf. She was a modernist author, and challenged the social injustices for women in the early 1900s. Woolf was part of the formation of the famous Bloomsbury Group of writers. She was also in an relationship with fellow writer Vita Sackville-West, their letters have been published recently as well.

It’s hard recommending just one book for Virginia Woolf. I love To The Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway. Orlando is a book that has stuck with me for years. However, I am recommending A Room of One’s Own. This extended essay is based on two lectures that Virginia Woolf gave in 1928 at Cambridge. In it, she examines the limitations of womanhood in the early twentieth century, emphasizing that the lack of an independent income, and the titular ‘room of one’s own’, prevents most women from reaching their full literary potential. This essay still feels relevant today, yet gives us hope on how women can succeed even when things are stacked against them.

Harper Lee

Next I have to mention the author of one of my favourite novels: Harper Lee. Although she only wrote two novels, with a 55 year gap between their releases; the success of To Kill A Mockingbird can not be understated. The story of Scout and Jem Finch still resonates today, teaching tolerance and kindness. In 2006, British librarians named it a novel that “every adult should read before they die.”

To Kill a Mockingbird is an incredible coming of age story, and gives us hope in the next generation. The prejudices and hate surrounding the crime at the centre of this book are seen through the eyes of young children; highlighting how prejudice is a learned behaviour. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man’s struggle for justice. While this book may not be a light-hearted, fun read that we typically associate with spring, I think the lessons still encompass the vibes of the season.

Octavia E. Butler

Next on the list we have Octavia E. Butler. Butler is acclaimed for her sharp prose, strong protagonists and social commentaries on society from the distant past through to the far future. She also frequently wrote on themes of racial injustice, global warming, women’s rights and political disparity. Octavia E. Butler is the only woman on this list who I haven’t personally read from, but she is very high up on my want to read list.

I’m recommending the book that I am very interested in reading, Parable of the Sower. This dystopia is set in America in 2024, but was written in 1993. There has been a lot of discourse around this book recently with the amount of predictions in the book coming to pass, including the Californian Fires, and a president being elected with the slogan ‘Make America Great Again’. While Parable of the Sower doesn’t necessarily fit the positive spring themes I mention at the start of this post, I think it is still worth including; dystopia books tend to start bleak and show a way of surviving the world- if that’s not the ethos of spring, then what is!

Honourable Mentions

I could continue to recommend incredible women and the books they write, however I’m going to stop here. Although, I’m going to leave you with a quick fire list of other authors to check out this spring. Let me know who else you’d add to this list.

• Zadie Smith – an incredible feminist author who writes about immigration and women’s lives
• Agatha Christie – the best selling fiction writer…ever. Christie has sold over 2 billion copies of her books! She was also recognised as the leading expert on poisons in her time.
• Toni Morrison – an amazing author who wrote about the Black American experience.
• Greta Thunberg – One of the most influential voices on climate change right now.
• Malala – The girl who was shot by the Taliban for wanting an education. Malala now fights for educational rights of girls globally.
• Malorie Blackman – Not only an amazing YA author, Malorie Blackman has worked tirelessly to improve literacy in the UK
• Jacqueline Wilson – My favourite author growing up! Jacqueline Wilson’s books cover difficult topics including the foster system, being a child of divorce and familial neglect.