After hundreds of nominations and much debate, here’s the list. And what a list it is. Merging great books of all genres, fiction and non-fiction, written by women and published in 1918 or later, the list is a greatest hits of the last 100 years of literature. A starting point for the greatest bookshelf of all time.
Blending modern classics with lesser-known masterpieces, the list features books by JK Rowling, Virginia Woolf, Vera Brittain, Tove Jansson, Anne Frank, Patricia Highsmith, Françoise Sagan, Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Jung Chang, Hilary Mantel, Helen Fielding, Marjane Satrapi, Nigella Lawson, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, Naomi Klein, Elena Ferrante, Caitlin Moran, Yaa Gyasi and Leila Slimani, along with Hay Festival 2018 speakers Margaret Atwood, Mary Beard, Elif Shafak, Jacqueline Wilson, Lionel Shriver, Germaine Greer and Laura Bates.
Race you to the library!
www.hayfestival.com/vote-100-books
Picture credit: Marsha Arnold