International Women’s Day: Team Bookends picks!

In honour of International Women’s Day this March we’ve pulled together a list of 6 books all about inspiring women and all written by inspiring women. From female chess champions, to a high-born Nigerian goddess, to true survivors, these books celebrate womanhood in all its forms. 

 

Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola

 

 

Bolu Babalola finds the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology and rewrites them with incredible new detail and vivacity in this debut collection. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines iconic Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from countries that no longer exist in our world.

 

A high-born Nigerian goddess feels beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover and longs to be truly seen.

 

A young businesswoman attempts to make a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life.

 

A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether to uphold her family’s politics, or to be true to her heart.

 

Whether captured in the passion of love at first sight, or realising that self-love takes precedent over the latter, the characters in these vibrant stories try to navigate this most complex human emotion and understand why it holds them hostage.

 

Moving exhilaratingly across perspectives, continents and genres, from the historic to the vividly current, Love in Colour is a celebration of romance in all of its forms.

 

 

Chess Queens by Jennifer Shahade

 

 

For fans of The Queen’s Gambit, this is the real life story of a female chess champion travelling the world to compete in a male-dominated sport with the most famous players of all time.

 

Jennifer Shahade, a two-time US women’s chess champion, spent her teens and twenties travelling the world playing chess. Tournaments have taken her from Istanbul to Moscow, and introduced her to players from Zambia to China. In this ultra male-dominated sport, Jennifer found shocking sexism, as well as an incredible history of the top female players that has often been ignored. But she also found friendships, feminism and hope.

 

Through her own story as well as in-depth profiles of pioneers of the game, Jennifer invites us into the extremely competitive world of chess. She shows us the rivalry and the camaraderie; the ecstatic highs and the excruciating losses; the glamour and the hard work. She describes the coach who told her that her period will affect her standard of play, and gives us thrilling blow-by-blow accounts of the matches that made history.

 

Intertwined with Jennifer’s own story are those of the top female players from around the world. We meet the famous Polgar sisters, the three Hungarian girls who were all child prodigies; we meet the glamorous jet setters who travel the world partying, and the players who escaped war-torn countries to become champions against the odds.

 

Chess Queens is a fascinating journey into the exhilarating world of chess and an essential book for all the aspiring chess queens of today.

 

 

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith

 

 

 

‘Warm, funny, and bursting with heart’ Rebecca Serle

 

Greta James is adrift. Literally.

 

Just after the sudden death of her mother – her most devoted fan – and weeks before the launch of her high-stakes second album, Greta James falls apart on stage. The footage quickly goes viral and she stops playing. Greta’s career is suddenly in jeopardy – the kind of jeopardy her father, Conrad, has always warned her about.

 

Months later, Greta – still heartbroken and very much adrift – reluctantly agrees to accompany Conrad on the Alaskan cruise her parents had booked to celebrate their fortieth anniversary. It could be their last chance to heal old wounds in the wake of shared loss. But the trip will also prove to be a voyage of discovery for them both, and for Ben Wilder, a charming historian who is struggling with a major upheaval in his own life.

 

In this unlikeliest of places – at sea and far from the packed venues where she usually plays – Greta must finally confront the heartbreak she’s suffered, the family hurts that run deep, and how to find her voice again.

 

 

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu 

 

 

With every misfortune there is a blessing and within every blessing, the seeds of misfortune, and so it goes, until the end of time.

 

It is 1938 in China, and the Japanese are advancing. A young mother, Meilin, is forced to flee her burning city with her four-year-old son, Renshu, and embark on an epic journey across China. For comfort, they turn to their most treasured possession – a beautifully illustrated hand scroll. Its ancient fables offer solace and wisdom as they travel through their ravaged country, seeking refuge.

 

Years later, Renshu has settled in America as Henry Dao. His daughter is desperate to understand her heritage, but he refuses to talk about his childhood. How can he keep his family safe in this new land when the weight of his history threatens to drag them down?

 

Spanning continents and generations, Peach Blossom Spring is a bold and moving look at the history of modern China, told through the story of one family. It’s about the power of our past, the hope for a better future, and the search for a place to call home.

 

‘Glorious and tender, exquisitely written and beautifully nuanced‘ Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE

 

‘Magical and powerful’ Nguyen Phan Que Mai, author of THE MOUNTAINS SING

 

 

 

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

 

 

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2021 | LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE 2022

 

‘A thrilling work’ TA-NEHISI COATES

 

‘Lovely and lyrical . . . warm and wonderful’ KILEY REID

 

A queen of punk before her time. A duo on the brink of stardom. A night that will define their story for ever.

 

Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, a Black punk artist before her time. Despite her unconventional looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her one night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together.

 

In early seventies New York City, just as she’s finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal’s bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a chain of events that will not only change the lives of those she loves, but also be a deadly reminder that repercussions are always harsher for women, especially Black women, who dare to speak their truth.

 

Decades later, as Opal considers a 2016 reunion with Nev, music journalist S. Sunny Shelton seizes the chance to curate an oral history about her idols. Sunny thought she knew most of the stories leading up to the cult duo’s most politicized chapter, but as her interviews dig deeper, a nasty new allegation from an unexpected source threatens everything.

 

Provocative and haunting, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev introduces a bold new name in contemporary fiction and a heroine the likes of which we’ve not seen in storytelling.

 

 

Small Town Girl by Donna McLean

 

 

 

“You live with someone for two years and then . . . they simply don’t exist.”

 

Over 40 years, two British police units acted undercover to infiltrate activist groups. At least 20 of those officers deliberately targeted women and entered relationships with them. One of those women was me. This is my story.

 

Men wrote the police files. They wrote the scripts and the headlines. Men wrote the court orders to make us anonymous and they will sit in judgement at the coming public inquiry. In a system that doesn’t see women, you have to fight to be heard. When they take your identity, you have to find your voice.

 

Learning the truth nearly destroyed me – but an accidental activist was born.

 

A voice at the centre of the Spy Cops scandal. The great love story of Donna McLean’s life wasn’t just built on lies, it was one. With an inquiry underway, Small Town Girl is a reclamation of a truth that was ruthlessly buried.