20 uplifting memoirs by remarkable women
Mostly what I like about reading is getting swept away into the imaginary world of a novel where anything could happen. But sometimes I just want to read another person's life story and feel that human connection. A good memoir can be consoling, inspiring, uplifting and a reminder of how persistent, courageous and downright amazing people can be.
As well as finding comfort in a shared experience, memoirs can open our eyes to lives that as far from our own as possible and hopefully make us more empathetic as a result. Find a life story that speaks to you and reading it can be just as addictive as the best fiction. From older classics like Wild by Cheryl Strayed to new releases such as The Half Bird by Susan Smillie, here 20 inspiring memoirs to add to your to-read pile.
The Half Bird by Susan Smillie
Fans of The Salt Path will love this exhilarating travel memoir about one woman’s journey by boat from Land’s End to Greece. After a break-up and feeling disillusioned with work, novice sailor Smillie decides to leave London behind for the ocean, going on an inner journey of discovery as extraordinary as her physical one.
Went To London, Took The Dog by Nina Stibbe
I’ve been a fan of Stibbe's writing ever since her debut, Love, Nina. This book is a diary of her 60th year, in which she leaves Cornwall to move back to London (with her dog). It’s funny, but with a relatable edge of vulnerability.
The Farmer's Wife by Helen Rebanks
A thoughtful look at what life is like for a wife and mother living on a working farm in the Lake District. Rebanks’ writing style is gentle but insightful, and she offers an alternative to ideas of success and womanhood. As a bonus, there are recipes for delicious-sounding dishes scattered through the book.
The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing
In her mid-40s, Laing became the owner of a longed-for garden for the first time in her life, and this gorgeous memoir is her account of returning it to its former glory. Through it, she weaves a history of grand British gardens and the difficult history upon which many are built.
The Giant On The Skyline by Clover Stroud
I will read anything Stroud writes, and this new memoir is as raw, open and thoughtful as her previous books. Beginning as her family prepares to leave the Oxfordshire countryside to start a new life in Washington DC, she reflects on the meaning of home and how certain places embed themselves into our bones.
Handmade by Siri Helle
When Siri Helle inherited a cabin in the middle of a Norwegian wood with no electricity or running water, she decided to build an outhouse to accompany it. As a journalist used to writing emails, she had no previous experience of building anything, but she set to work using only the resources available to her, teaching herself how to use a chainsaw among other specialised skills.
The Soul of a Woman: Rebel Girls, Impatient Love, and Long Life by Isabel Allende
An autobiographical meditation on power, feminism and womanhood from the best-selling novelist. It moves back and forth between different times in her life and talks about the impact her father leaving had on her as a child, her love for her children and her three marriages. Like her award-winning novels, which include The House Of The Spirits and A Long Petal Of The Sea, it is full of passion and emotion.
I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell
The bestselling novelist's foray into memoir was a successful one; telling the extraordinary story of her 17 brushes with death with astonishing heart.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
I read this life-changing book (and I don't use that praise lightly) with a pencil to hand so I could highlight passages that I wanted to remember. Reader, the whole book is a mess of pencil marks! This is a must-read for anyone woman who was brought up to be good, dutiful and to push down her own needs. Through 'ah-ha!' moments from her own life, Doyle shows how she learned that pleasing others is impossible and how by understanding that she becomes free to please herself.
The Consequences Of Love by Gavanndra Hodge
The author was only seven when her older sister died suddenly on a family holiday. As an adult, Hodges realises she's never really dealt with her loss and the way her parents' problems with addiction overshadowed her childhood and teenage years. This stunning exploration of grief is so well written and profoundly moving.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
This intimate, beautifully written memoir follows the former First Lady from her early years in the South Side of Chicago to balancing work and motherhood, to her time spent at the world's most famous address. The sections on what becoming a mother meant to her are particularly moving. I'd recommend listening to the audiobook as Obama reads it herself.
My Wild And Sleepless Nights by Clover Stroud
Clover Stroud is one of the very best writers on the light and dark of motherhood and if you enjoyed her debut, The Wild Other, you’ll love this new memoir. The book follows the first year of her fifth child’s life as she juggles looking after a newborn with dealing with her teenage son’s problematic behaviour. The writing is sublime and honest.
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Patti Smith’s memoir about her early years in New York fizzes with the promise of life. She’s in love with the world, intoxicated by her freedom and not afraid to rush headfirst into new friendships and situations. Every time I read it leaves me feeling just that little bit braver.
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Wild charts her journey from rock bottom to recovery, via 1000 mile solo walk through some of America's most hostile bits. My favourite quote? "What if I forgave myself? What if I was a liar and a cheat and there was no excuse for what I'd done other than because it was what I wanted and needed to do? What if I was sorry, but if I could go back in time I wouldn't do anything differently than I had done? What if yes was the right answer instead of no? What if I was never redeemed? What if I already was?"
The Red Of My Blood by Clover Stroud
A few weeks before Christmas 2019, Clover’s sister, circus impressario Nell Gifford, died suddenly of breast cancer aged forty-six. This charts the year that follows, and Clover’s passage through what felt like wilderness and then brutal, tangled forest to find light and beauty and eventually wonder at the magical way in which life and death co-exist. A beautiful, moving visceral account of what it is to grieve.
How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran
This is a hilarious but touching feminist manifesto and autobiography which is all the more fascinating for the details it reveals about Times columnist Caitlin Moran’s unusual childhood.
The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn
This is a must-read for everyone who was inspired by Raynor Winn's debut The Salt Path, about the epic walking journey she and her ill husband, Moth, embarked on after being made homeless. It covers the next chapter as they struggle to find a home and way of life that will suit them. It's another very thoughtful memoir.
H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Poleaxed by her father's sudden death, Helen Macdonald decides to realise her childhood dream of adopting and training a bird of prey. Big-hearted, joyful and glowing with gorgeous descriptions of nature, this is an unusual but very special memoir.
Late Fragments by Kate Gross
I read this moving memoir years ago but still often think about it often. Kate was diagnosed with colon cancer when she was in her mid-30s and her twin sons were only little. Despite her situation she manages to find the joy in life and her attitude is inspiring. A wonderful, moving, uplifting read that will make you want to live BIG.
The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya
Wamariya was just six when her whole life changed. During the Rwandan civil war, she and her sister were forced to flee their home and spent six years as refugees migrating through seven different African countries, never knowing if their parents in Rwanda were still alive. Finally, they were granted refugee status in America and had to start over, with Wamariya eventually going to Yale University. A riveting, eye-opening story about remaking your own life.
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