To celebrate women’s history month, we have compiled a list of books that explore women’s lives with texture and complexity. From Isha Sesay’s powerful memoir about meeting the infamously kidnapped Chibok girls to Tomi Adeyemi’s adventure fantasy about magic-wielding women to Mona Eltahawy’s feminist revolutionary anthem, this list offers a thoughtful and delightful mix of books centering women’s experiences.
African Books to Gift a Friend During Women’s History Month
March 05, 2021
A Girl Is A Body of Water
A Girl Is A Body of Water
560 pages
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi returns us to the myths and folklore of Uganda in her second novel, A GIRL IS A BODY OF WATER. But this time, she weaves these ancient tales with indigenous and so-called "modern" feminist ideas. You won't want to miss a single step of Kirabo's (very long) coming-of-age journey. (Tin House Books/2020)
Beneath the Tamarind Tree
Beneath the Tamarind Tree
400 pages
A CNN correspondent at the time, Isha Sesay was on the frontlines of the media wave around the kidnap of school girls in Chibok, Nigeria. With this book, she revisits the event in order to unearth intimate stories about loss but also of courage.
Binti Series
Binti Series
368 pages
Nnedi Okorafor's award-winning Binti series is being adapted into a series for Hulu. Okorafor will be penning the pilot with Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who wrote for HBO’s Watchmen. There are jellyfish-like aliens in the book, so you bet the adaptation's gonna be great.
Bird Summons
Bird Summons
320 pages
Leila Aboulela takes a break from short stories to write this gorgeous novel about three friends who encounter a mythical creature. Magic and folklore provide the narrative raw materials for a novel that explores questions of faith, femininity, and love through powerful representations of women’s lives.
Children of Blood and Bone
Children of Blood and Bone
544 pages
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. (Henry Holt & Co/2018)
Freshwater
Freshwater
240 pages
Young Ada is troubled, prone to violent fits. Born “with one foot on the other side,” she begins to develop separate selves within her as she grows into adulthood. And when she travels to America for college, a traumatic event on campus crystallizes the selves into something powerful and potentially dangerous. (Grove Press/2018).
Girl, Woman, Other
Girl, Woman, Other
464 pages
A history-making book, Girl, Woman, Other won Bernadine Evaristo the coveted Booker Prize, making her the first black woman to do so. Dripping with poetry and experimental flair, the novel presents a series of portraits that reflect the textured lives of black women in Britain. (Grove Atlantic/2019)
In the Palace of Flowers
In the Palace of Flowers
313 pages
Set in Iran at the end of the nineteenth century, in the Persian royal court of the Qajars, this book is an atmospheric historical novel about Jamila, an Abyssinian slave who stands at the funeral of a Persian nobleman. She realizes that her life will never be acknowledged or mourned with the same significance and sets on a path to find meaning. (Cassava Republic/2021)
Broken Places and Outer Spaces
Broken Places and Outer Spaces
112 pages
In this book Nnedi takes the reader on a journey from her hospital bed deep into her memories...Through these compelling stories and her own, Nnedi reveals a universal truth: What we perceive as limitations have the potential to become our greatest strengths—far greater than when we were unbroken. (TED Books/2019)
No Roses From My Mouth by Stella Nyanzi
No Roses From My Mouth by Stella Nyanzi
196 pages
Stella Nyanzi was arrested on November 2, 2018 for posting a poem on Facebook that was said to cyber-harras the long-serving President of Uganda, Mr. Yoweri Museveni. She was convicted and sentenced to eighteen months in jail...She wrote all the poems in this collection during her detention. (Ubuntu Reading Group/2020)
Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone
Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone
208 pages
Salami's debut is groundbreaking work! She offers an Africa-centered, black feminist approach to knowledge by excavating African cosmologies, philosophies, history, and art for ideas on dismantling patriarchal ideals of beauty, power, womanhood, and more. (Amistad/2020)
She Called Me Woman
She Called Me Woman
340 pages
If you've ever wondered what life was like for queer Nigerian women, here is your answer. All 25 pieces in the collection are first-hand accounts of Nigerian womxn building life and community in a climate of fear and discrimination. The stories are eye-opening but also tremendously hopeful.
The Deep Blue Between
The Deep Blue Between
256 pages
Hassana and Husseina are twin sisters. An encounter with slave raiders pull them continents apart, but their love for travel bring them back together. Set in 19th century Accra, Attah’s 4th novel is a beautiful sibling story. (Pushkin Children's Books/2020)
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
384 pages
The unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself, The Girl with the Louding Voice is a simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant tale about the power of fighting for your dreams. (Dutton/2020)
The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls
The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls
216 pages
A book that turns girls into “angry, ambitious, profane, violent, attention-seeking, lustful, and powerful” beings? Yes please! Eltahawy criticizes the culture of feminine respectability, arguing that girls should be taught to harness anger, desire, and joy. A powerful manifesto from one of Africa’s beloved feminists. (Beacon/2019)
New Daughters of Africa
New Daughters of Africa
1056 pages
A veritable omnibus of works by over two hundred women of African descent. This remarkable anthology features letters, essays, short stories, speeches, and many other genres of writing by women from all corners of the globe who were putting pen to paper before the twentieth century and throughout. Even if you read only one piece of writing a day, you'll have something to read for at least two-thirds of the year.
Ainehi Edoro | administrator
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