Women's fiction : a guide to popular reading interests

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.

• Introduction p. vii
• Chapter 1 Women's Fiction: A History p. 1
• Early Forerunners p. 1
• The 1940s to the 1960s: Women at Home, Women at Work p. 2
• The 1970s to the 1980s: The Rise of the Saga, Feminism, Glitz and Glamour p. 3
• The New Millennium p. 3
• Recent Trends in the Genre p. 4
• The "Franzen Flap" of 2011 p. 5
• Chapter 2 Grand Dames of Women's Fiction p. 7
• Chapter 3 Contemporary Women's Fiction p. 19
• Trends in Contemporary Women's Fiction p. 20
• General Contemporary Women's Fiction p. 20
• Humorous Women's Fiction p. 81
• Chapter 4 Gentle Reads p. 89
• Chapter 5 Issue-Driven Women's Fiction p. 97
• Chapter 6 Trend: Chick Lit and Beyond p. 113
• Mommy Lit p. 135
• Chapter 7 Multicultural Women's Fiction p. 139
• African American p. 139
• Asian American p. 146
• East Indian American p. 148
• Latina p. 151
• Chapter 8 Romantic Women's Fiction p. 155
• Chapter 9 Genreblends and Outliers p. 169
• Genreblends p. 169
• Christian Women's Fiction p. 169
• Historical Women's Fiction p. 175
• Romantic Suspense p. 179
• Outliers p. 183
• Male Writers p. 185
• Appendix A Thirty Contemporary Women's Fiction Authors to Know p. 187
• Appendix B Read-Alike Lists p. 189
• Appendix C For Further Reading p. 199
• Appendix D Selected Online Resources p. 201
• Author/Title Index p. 205
• Subject Index p. 219