Books Like The Women

Why Each Pick

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Another sweeping war novel told through young people pulled into it. A blind French girl and a German orphan boy move toward each other through World War II until their paths cross in besieged Saint-Malo. Like The Women, it is about ordinary lives inside a war, but it is more lyrical and puzzle-like, built from short alternating chapters across 531 pages. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

For war seen from the home front. Liesel, living with a foster family in Nazi Germany, steals books and shares them with the Jewish man hidden in their basement, and the story is narrated by Death. Like The Women, it follows a young woman whose view of the world is reshaped by war, but it is set among civilians, often read by teens as well as adults, and told with dark humor.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

For another nurse shaped by war. Claire, who served as a nurse in World War II, falls through time into 1743 Scotland, and her medical skill and nerve carry her through clan feuds and battles. It shares The Women's capable heroine and medical detail, but it is a historical romance and adventure at 850 pages. Content note: explicit sex and violence, including sexual violence.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

For a woman fighting to be taken seriously in mid-century America. In the 1960s, chemist Elizabeth Zott is pushed out of her lab and ends up hosting a TV cooking show, which she uses to teach chemistry. It shares The Women's anger at how women's work was overlooked, but it is far lighter and often funny, set at home rather than in a war zone. Content note: sexual assault in the early chapters.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

For a decades-long story about what history does to women and families. Starting in early-1900s Korea with a young woman named Sunja, it follows four generations of her family as Korean immigrants in Japan. Like The Women, it centers a woman whose sacrifices the wider world doesn't see. It is broader and quieter, a family saga across most of the twentieth century, at 490 pages.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

For war's long shadow over a life. Amir, from a well-off family in Kabul, betrays his loyal friend Hassan as a boy and, years later in America, returns to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to make amends. Like Frankie's story, it is about guilt and coming home changed. It is narrated by a man, centers on friendship rather than service, and is shorter at 371 pages. Content note: sexual assault of a child.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

For readers drawn to The Women's portrait of addiction and of a country looking away from the people it has hurt. Demon, born in a trailer in southern Appalachia, grows up through foster care, poverty and the opioid crisis. It is a modern retelling of David Copperfield with a sharp, funny narrator, longer at 548 pages, and it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

For a big book-club drama about loyalty between women. William, raised in a house silenced by grief, is drawn into the loud, loving family of four sisters in Chicago, and a painful break later tests how far the sisters will go for each other. Like The Women, it spans decades and lingers on what a family won't talk about, but it is set at home rather than at war. Content note: depression.