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Recommended Memoirs/Autobiographies by Women
~ a growing list ~
Meyebela, My Bengali Girlhood by Taslima Nasrin
Escape by Carolyn Jessop
Outlaw Woman, A Memoir of the War Years, 1960-1975 by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Angela Davis, An Autobiography by Angela Davis
Intimate Politics, How I Grew Up Red, Fought for Free Speech, and Became a Feminist Rebel by Bettina F. Aptheker
Anna Politkovskaya, A Russian Diary by Anna Politkovskaya
Fireweed, A Political Autobiography by Gerda Lerner
Under My Skin (Autobiography to 1949) by Doris Lessing
Walking in the Shade, 1949 to 1962 by Doris Lessing
The Abandoned Baobab, Autobiography of a Senegalese Woman by Ken Bugul
Approaching Neverland, A Memoir of Epic Tragedy & Happily Ever After by Peggy Kennedy
www.approachingneverland.com
A Taste of Power, A Black Woman's Story by Elaine Brown
Crusade for Justice, The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells by Ida B. Wells, Edited by Alfreda M. Duster
They Shall Not Pass: The Autobiography of La Pasionaria by Dolores Ibarruri
Song in a Weary Throat, An American Pilgrimage by Pauli Murray
The Rebel Girl, An Autobiography by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Alderson Story: My Life as a Political Prisoner by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt by Eleanor Roosevelt
I, Rigoberta Menchu, An Indian Woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchu
Red Azalea by Anchee Min
Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Scheeres
Dust Tracks on a Road, An Autobiography by Zora Neale Hurston
Burned Alive, A Survivor of an "Honor Killing" Speaks Out by Souad
Desert Flower by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller
Do They Hear You When You Cry by Fauziya Kassindja and Layli Miller Bashir
Aman, The Story of a Somali Girl as told to Virginia Lee Barnes and Janice Boddy
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
The Liars' Club: A Memoir by Mary Karr
Alicia: My Story by Alicia Appleman-Jurman
This Child Will Be Great by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Wall
Born in the Big Rains, A Memoir of Somalia and Survival by Fadumo Korn
Are You Somebody? by Nuala O'Faolain
When I was Puerto Rican, by Esmeralda Santiago
A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
The Girl I Left Behind: A Narrative History of the Sixties by Judith Nies
My Forbidden Face, Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman's Story by Latifa
Living My Life (Vol. 1 & 2) by Emma Goldman
Daughter of Earth by Agnes Smedley
Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday
The Sewing Circles of Herat, A Memoir of Afghanistan by Christina Lamb
The White Masai, An Exotic Tale of Love and Adventure by Corinne Hofmann
Reunion in Barsaloi by Corinne Hofmann
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran
Heartbreak, The Political Memoir of a Feminist Militant by Andrea Dworkin
The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin
Amazon ordering
Echoes from the Holocaust: A Memoir by Mira Ryczke Kimmelman
In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescue, by Irene Gut Opdyke
Love in a World of Sorrow by Fanya Gottesfeld Heller
All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein
The Story of Blima by Shirley Russak Watchtel
Slave, My True Story by Mende Nazer
Sleeping Arrangements by Laura Shaine Cunningham
Amazon ordering
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor
Prisoner of Tehran: A Memoir by Marina Nemat
My Travels Around the World by Nawal El Saadawi
Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography by Zora Neale Hurston
The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway
True North by Jill Ker Conway
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind by Loung Ung
Until Death Do Us Part: My Struggle to Reclaim Colombia by Ingrid Betancourt
Even After All This Time: A Story of Love, Revolution, and Leaving Iran by Afschineh Latifi
Girls of Tender Age: A Memoir by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith
A Bridge Through Time by Laila Abou-Saif
Naked in the Promised Land: A Memoir by Lillian Faderman
Open Wide the Freedom Gates, A Memoir by Dorothy Height
Zoya's Story, An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom by Zoya
In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolutio, by Susan Brownmiller
Coming Home to Jerusalem : A Personal Journey by Wendy Orange
Saturday's Child: A Memoir by Robin Morgan
Here If You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup
Marriage and Other Acts of Charity by Kate Braestrup
The Sum of the Days by Isabel Allende
The Other Side of Paradise: A Memoir by Staceyann Chin
Unbought and Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm
Black, White & Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker
Soldier, A Poet's Childhood by June Jordan
No Disrespect by Sister Souljah
A Woman of Egypt by Jehan Sadat
From Housewife to Heretic by Sonia Johnson
Daybreak, An Autobiography by Joan Baez
Isadora Duncan, My Lif, by Isadora Duncan
Ferraro, My Story by Geraldine A. Ferrar
Here All Along: Finding my own inner strength by Lori Newman
http://hereallalong.blogspot.com/
Amazon ordering
Invisible Sisters by Jessica Handler
Amazon ordering
Take Your Shirt Off and Cry: A Memoir of Near-Fame Experiences by Nancy Balbirer
Amazon ordering
Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss by Hope Edelman
Amazon ordering
Life Inside by Mindy Lewis
http://www.mindylewislifeinside.com/
The Division Street Princess by Elaine Soloway
Amazon ordering
Love Junkie by Rachel Resnick
Amazon ordering
Her Last Death by Susanna Sonnenberg
Fun Home: A Family Tragiccomic by Alison Mechdel
My Name Is Iran by Davar Ardalan
Minor Characters by Joyce Johnson
How I Became Hettie Jones by Hettie Jones
At Home In The World by Joyce Maynard
Amazon ordering
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir by Elizabeth McCracken
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Lucky by Alice Sebold
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Blackout Girl: Growing Up and Drying Out in America by Jennifer Storm
Barnes and Noble ordering
Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found by Jennifer Lauck
Amazon ordering
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Sleeping with Cats: A Memoir by Marge Piercy
Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
Borrowed Finery by Paula Fox
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl
At Home in the World by Joyce Maynard
Growing Up Underground by Jane Alpert
An Unfinished Woman, A Memoir by Lillian Hellman
Bella! by Bella S. Abzug
Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn
Flying by Kate Millett
All of the Series of Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Faye Wattleton, Life on the Line by Faye Wattleton
Leap of Faith, Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor
Them: A Memoir of Parents by Francine du Plessix Gray
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchet
Scribbling The Cat by Alexandra Fuller
Find Me by Rosie O'Donnell
Name All the Animals: A Memoir by Alison Smith
Giving Up the Ghost: A Memoir by Hilary Mantel
When All the World Was Young: A Memoir by Barbara Holland
A true story of a drunken mother by Nancy Lee Hall
Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody
The Wall Between by Anne Braden
Telling by Marion Winik
Journey to Jerusalem by Grace Halsell
We Met at Starbucks: A Love Story by Kelly Jo Eldredge and Eric L. Mott
www.WeMetatStarbucks.com
Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
The Country Under My Skin by Gioconda Belli
Flying Close to the Sun by Catherine Wilkerson
Arm the Spirit by Diana Block
Assata by Assata Shakur
A Year by the Sea by Joan Anderson
Unbowed by Wangari Maathai
Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams
Out of Africa by Karen Blixen
Angel on My Shoulder by Natalie Cole
Motherland Edited by Caledonia Kearns
Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat
My Forest Life by Eliza Morrison
He Said What? Edited by Victoria Zackheim
I Could Tell You Stories by Patricia Hampl
Little Sister by Julie Checkoway
Teta, Mother, and Me by Jean Said Makdisi
Between Two Worlds by Zainab Salbi
Barefoot in Baghdad by Manal M. Omar
I Love a Broad Margin to My Life by Maxine Hong Kingston
Taking the Leap by Pema Chodron
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
My Grandfather's Blessings by Rachel Remen
Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Remen
A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova
Imperfect Endings by Zoe Fitzgerald Carter
Found by Jennifer Lauck
Still Waters by Jennifer Lauck
Show Me the Way by Jennifer Lauck
Made for You and Me: Going West, Going Broke, Finding Home by Caitlin Shetterly
They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love World World Travel, and the Power of Running Away by Cara Lopez Lee
http://tinyurl.com/amazonleememoir
Broken: A Love Story by Lisa Jones
To New Jersey with Love and Apologies by Elaine Clift
www.elayneclift.com
Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa, by Antjie Krog
Yo Soy la Hija de Mi Padre by Maria Elena Salinas
to live on the wind by Nanette Rayman Rivera
http://scatteredlightpublications.books.officelive.com/toliveonthewind.aspx
Cross My Heart and Hope to Die by Aundria Sheppard Morgan
http://www.publishamerica.net/product3404.html
Gringa, A Contradictory Girlhood by Melissa Hart
http://www.melissahart.com/
Bastard Husband: A Love Story by Linda Lou
Amazon ordering
Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home by Lise Funderburg
Amazon ordering
Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You by Sue William Silverman
http://www.suewilliamsilverman.com/
Amazon ordering
Love Sick: One Woman's Journey Through Sexual Addiction by Sue William Silverman
http://www.suewilliamsilverman.com/
Cradle and All by Lisa Romeo
http://www.lisaromeo.net/cradle_and_all_78596.htm
My River Chronicles: Rediscovering America on the Hudson by Jessica DuLong
Amazon ordering
Regina's Closet: Finding My Grandmother's Secret Journal by Diana Raab
http://www.dianaraab.com
The Crack between the Worlds: a dancer's memoir of loss, faith and family by Maggie Kast
http://www.maggiekast.com/
Sixtyfive Roses: A Sister's Memoir by Heather Summerhayes Cariou
http://www.sixtyfiverosesthebook.com/
The Break-Up Diet: A Memoir by Annette Fix
http://www.annettefix.com
Practically Perfect in Every Way: My Misadventures Through the World of Self-Help—and Back by Jennifer Niesslein
http://practicallyperfectbook.com/
Les Pensees Dangereuses: Dangerous thoughts about life, love, pets, friends and depression Ebook by Sharon E. Cathcart
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4319
Thin Places: A Pilgrimage Home by Ann Armbrecht
Amazon ordering
Searching for Tamsen Donner by Gabrielle Burton
www.gabrielleburton.com
Confessions of a Naughty Mommy: How I Found My Lost Libido by Heidi Raykeil
Amazon ordering
The Alchemy of Loss by Abigail Carter
Amazon ordering
The Possibility of Everything by Hope Edelman (September 2009)
Amazon ordering
Lost & Found: A Memoir of Mothers by Kate St. Vincent Vogl
Amazon ordering
I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing But True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother, and Friend to Man and Dog by Diana Joseph
Amazon ordering
The Therapist's New Clothes by Judith D. Schwartz
http://www.northshire.com/siteinfo/bookinfo/9781605710341/0/
A Place in the Country by Laura Shaine Cunningham
Standing Up to the Rock by Louise Freeman-Toole
Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp
Not By Accident: Reconstructing A Careless Life by Samantha Dunn
Special Gifts: Women Writers on the Heartache, the Happiness and the Hope of Raising a Special Needs Child by Michelle O'Neil
Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr
Amazon ordering
Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas
That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman's Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery by Ananda Leeke
www.anandaleeke.com
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbard Kingsolver
Garlic and Sappires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston
Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia (P.S.) by Marya Hornbacher
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood by Jennifer Traig
Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas
The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood by Julie Gregory
The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
West With the Night by Beryl Markham
Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America And American in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni
Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Triumphing over Warren Jeffs by Elissa Wall, Lisa Pulitzer
But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl's Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous by Jancee Dunn
Without a Map: A Memoir by Meredith Hall
Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir by Janice Erlbaum
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place by Terry Tempest Williams
Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited by Elyse Schein, Paula Bernstein
The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong
Quicksands by Sybille Bedford
Manhattan When I Was Young, by Mary Cantwell
American Girl by Mary Cantwell
Speaking With Strangers by Mary Cantwell
Time Change by Hope Cooke
Where I Was From by Joan Didion
Life Itself by Elaine Dundy
Among Friends by M.F.K. Fisher
Long Ago in France by M.F. K. Fisher
The Coldest Winter by Paula Fox
Let's Don't Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller
How I Came into My Inheritance by Dorothy Gallagher
Strangers in the House by Dorothy Gallagher
Deceived with Kindness by Angelica Garnett
Travels With Myself and Another by Martha Gellhorn
Coming Into the End Zone by Doris Grumbach
The Starched Blue Sky of Spain by Josephine Herbst
Facts of Life by Maureen Howard
My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid
The Secret Life of a Schoolgirl by Rosemary Kingsland
Familiar Spirits Alison Lurie
Daughter of the Queen of Sheba Jacki Lyden
Hope Against Hope by Nadezhada Mandelstam
Night Studio by Musa Mayer
Memories of A Catholic Girlhood by Mary McCarthy
Intellectual Memoirs by Mary McCarthy
Rain or Shine by Cyra McFadden
The Things Between Us by Lee Montgomery
Belonging by Willa Muir
Meaning A Life by Mary Oppen
Images and Shadows by Iris Origo
More Was Lost by Eleanor Perenyi
Feelings are Facts by Yvonne Rainer
The Red Devil by Katherine Russell Rich
Outside Passage by Julia Scully
Taken Care Of by Edith Sitwell
Curriculum Vitae by Muriel Spark
A Three Dog Night by Abigail Thomas
Leftover Life to Kill by Caitlin Thomas
Stuffed by Patricia Volk
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place by Terry Tempest Williams
Through Another Lens by Charis Wilson
I Shock Myself by Beatrice Wood
Blood Strangers, by Kathy Briccetti
www.kathybriccetti.com
Memoir Blogs:
Always Musing
Cathy Voisard
http://alwaysmusing-cathy.blogspot.com
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Please feel free to share your recommendations of memoirs by women with Martha Allen via email: allen {at} wipf {dot} org
Fearless Confessions: A Writer's Guide to Memoir, by Sue William Silverman
http://www.suewilliamsilverman.com/
She Writes: http://www.shewrites.com/
Directory of Women's Media: http://wifp.org/DWM/DirectoryWomensMedia.html
Women's Publishers: http://wifp.org/DWM/publishers.html
Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press: www.wifp.org
Books by Associates of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press: http://wifp.org/AssociateBooks.html
Book Notes: http://wifp.org/booknotes.html