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Writer's pictureThe Book Jewel

Our Favorite Female Protagonists

Updated: Mar 29, 2023



In celebration of Women's History Month, please help yourself to these incredible stories featuring some of literature's fiercest women in fiction and some of our staff's favorite nonfiction female writers and women in history.


Thera's favorite female character in fiction: Tita De La Garza from Like Water for Chocolate

"Tita is a long-suffering, quiet character that channels all of her emotions into her cooking and she causes mayhem." We love a character who "stirs the pot."


Joseph's favorite female character in fiction: Vin from Mistborn

Joseph's favorite work of nonfiction by a female author: Marjane Satrapi's critically acclaimed graphic memoir Persepolis


Valentin's favorite female protagonist in fiction: Sogolon, from Moon Witch, Spider King.

Hands down the most bad-ass character I've ever read, male or female. A vengeful, quick-witted, powerful woman with a dark and tragic past. She finds herself taking on corrupt kingdoms, fighting pits, battling lightning birds, mind-controlling sorcerers, and sometimes her own comrades.First introduced in Black Leopard, Red Wolf--she stole the spotlight as soon as she made her entrance weaving runes of self-protection, the master storyteller Marlon James places Sogolon's story front-and-center, giving this character the epic she deserves. Bloody, beautiful, and absolutely thrilling.


***Moon Witch, Spider King is the second title from The Dark Star Trilogy, but Marlon James has structured the trilogy to be nonlinear, so readers can start with Sogolon in Moon Witch, Spider King or with Tracker in Black Leopard, Red Wolf.***


Valentin's favorite female characters in fiction: Sula from Toni Morrison's Sula

Sula is one of those people I strive to be, but she just has it naturally. That radiating "it-factor" coupled with an immaculate fashion sense. She can talk to and woo any man with ease, her powers of perception in knowing how people tick from a young age, she takes what she wants and she owns her actions (for better or for worse), and lives every moment of life deliciously. She's not going to make decisions you agree with, but then again she doesn't really care what you think.


Valentin's favorite works of non-fiction by women: Assata by Assata Shakur

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

This is one of the most important pieces of nonfiction that I believe anyone who wants to know anything about America should read. Assata Shakur gives readers an intimate look at her life from childhood to her escape to Cuba, where she was granted political asylum and where she resides to this day as one of the United States' most wanted women. Her story is one of hope, but one that cost her a great deal of sacrifice and pain as she took on the hypocrisy of the american justice system. A woman who was innocent and branded a murderer, she was criminalized and imprisoned because of her work and affiliations with The Black Panthers and because the police were searching for any means to bring down outspoken black people seeking freedom in this country.


Valentin's favorite works of non-fiction by women: Joan Didion's The White Album

Joan Didion's voice is one-of-a-kind, making topics you wouldn't normally ponder suddenly appear to be fascinating and important. The White Album is literary journalism, in which Didion highlights key moments that would go to define our culture with sharp precision and poise.



Those are all of our picks! What do you think? Who are some of your favorite women in fiction and nonfiction? Let us know in the comments below!

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