Women's Fiction

A Guide to Popular Reading Interests

Rebecca Vnuk, Nanette Donohue

• Publisher: Libraries Unlimited
• Year: 2013
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781610695381
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Library & Information Science
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Offering a fresh perspective on women's fiction for a broad reading audience—fans as well as librarians—this book defines and maps the genre, and describes hundreds of relevant titles. Women's Fiction: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests celebrates the books in this broad genre—titles that explore the lives of female protagonists, with a focus on their relationships with family, friends, and lovers. After a brief introductory history and a chapter that defines the characteristics of women's fiction, the author showcases annotations and suggestions of approximately 300 titles by more than 100 authors. She explains how women's fiction differs from romance fiction, enabling readers to appreciate this rich body of literature that encompasses titles as diverse as Meg Cabot's lighthearted chick lit to the more serious novels of Elizabeth Berg and Maeve Binchy. The book identifies some of the most popular and enduring women's fiction authors and titles, and provides invaluable reading lists and readalike suggestions that will be appreciated by both librarians and general readers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1—Women’s Fiction: A History
• Chapter 2—Grand Dames of Women’s Fiction
• Chapter 3—Contemporary Women’s Fiction
• Chapter 4—Gentle Reads
• Chapter 5—Issue-Driven Women’s Fiction
• Chapter 6—Trend: Chick Lit and Beyond
• Chapter 7—Multicultural Women’s Fiction
• Chapter 8—Romantic Women’s Fiction
• Chapter 9—Genreblends and Outliers
• Appendix A: Thirty Contemporary Women’s Fiction Authors to Know
• Appendix B: Read-Alike Lists
• Appendix C: For Further Reading
• Appendix D: Selected Online Resources
• Author/Title Index
• Subject Index