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Collections › Books Not By White Men

The Able McLaughlins
Margaret Wilson
22 days •
ⓘ 1923 • Wully McLaughlin returns from the Civil War to his pioneer farming life in Iowa, only to find his sweetheart cold and traumatized.
The American Diary of a Japanese Girl
Yone Noguchi
13 days •
ⓘ 1901 • A novel published as autobiography following the turn-of-the-century adventures of Tokyo belle Miss Morning Glory.
Anarchism and Other Essays
Emma Goldman
22 days •
ⓘ 1910 • Influential essays on feminism and sexuality, anarchism and political violence from Russian-American philosopher Emma Goldman.
Anne of Green Gables
Lucy Maud Montgomery
42 days •
ⓘ 1908 • Elderly siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert have decided to adopt a boy to help run their farm. Much to their surprise, Anne Shirley shows up instead.
The Bell in the Fog and Other Stories
Gertrude Atherton
20 days •
ⓘ 1905 • A collection of Atherton's stories including The Dead and the Countess, Death and the Woman, and the "far too gruesome" story The Striding Place.
The Black Opal
Katharine Susannah Prichard
36 days •
ⓘ 1921 • A novel of a opal mining community in Australia and of the hardships and heartbreak found within, as American capitalism threatens their way of life.
The Blazing World
Margaret Cavendish
17 days •
ⓘ 1666 • This forerunner of science fiction depicts a young woman's journey into a utopian kingdom, where the stars are strange, reached from the North Pole.
The Book of Tea
Okakura Kakuzo
6 days •
ⓘ 1906 • An essay aimed at explaining the connection between teaism, Taoism, and the aesthetics of Japanese culture to a western audience.
Coming of Age in Samoa
Margaret Mead
20 days •
ⓘ 1928 • A landmark anthropological work detailing the youth of Ta'u in the Samoan Islands.
Copper Sun
Countee Cullen
4 days •
ⓘ 1927 • A poetry collection from a Harlem Renaissance great, including many works on love - love as a unifier, love for nature, religious love, love leading to death.
The Country of the Pointed Firs
Sarah Orne Jewett
17 days •
ⓘ 1896 • A visitor describes, in rich detail, a seaport on Maine's coast - from the sea to the spirit of the local people.
A Daughter of the Samurai
Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto
33 days •
ⓘ 1925 • The haunting tale of a Samurai's daughter, raised in feudal Japan and sent to America to meet her future husband.
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Willa Cather
24 days •
ⓘ 1927 • The tale of the life of Father Latour and the world he comes to know: 19th century New Mexico, a collision of cultures, lonely landscapes, and the gentle spread of his faith.
Deephaven
Sarah Orne Jewett
17 days •
ⓘ 1877 • An idyllic account of the summer best friends Helen Davis and Kate Lancaster spent on the Maine coast filled with interesting characters and quiet humor.
Evelina
Frances Burney
51 days •
ⓘ 1778 • Following the heroine Evelina's journey through 18th century London society, Burney critiques the snobbery, consumerism, and aggression towards women found in fashionable upperclass life.
Fantomina
Eliza Haywood
4 days •
ⓘ 1725 • A "lady of distinguished birth, beauty, wit, and spirit" disguises herself to repeatedly manipulate and seduce the same man.
Frankenstein
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
28 days •
ⓘ 1818 • Daring young scientist Victor Frankenstein creates life... and a monster. Death and the creature pursue him from Geneva to Scotland to the very edges of the known world.
The Gates Ajar
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
20 days •
ⓘ 1868 • Mary Cabot's faith is shaken after the death of her brother in the Civil War. She finds comfort in correspondence with her aunt, who presents an inspiring view of the afterlife.
Geronimo's Story of His Life
Geronimo
12 days •
ⓘ 1906 • Prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Apache tribe, Geronimo describes his life and the story of his people.
Hawaii's Story
Queen Liliʻuokalani
34 days •
ⓘ 1898 • Five years after Hawaii's sovereignty was violated by the United States, the last monarch describes her ascent to the throne and the destruction of her country.
Heidi
Johanna Spyri
22 days •
ⓘ 1881 • In this classic coming-of-age tale, orphaned Heidi must leave her idyllic life in the Swiss mountains with her grandfather and friend Peter for the city.
Herland
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
24 days •
ⓘ 1915 • A quest for an undiscovered land rumored to consist entirely of women uncovers a utopia free from war and domination.
Home to Harlem
Claude McKay
18 days •
ⓘ 1928 • After deserting the army in WWI, Jake Brown dodges racial violence and struggles with different paths to confront the prejudice of American society.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Jacobs
29 days •
ⓘ 1861 • Jacobs shares her experiences as a slave, describing the particular horrors of being an enslaved woman, in an appeal to abolish slavery.
Jacob's Room
Virginia Woolf
22 days •
ⓘ 1922 • Through the recollections and impressions of other characters, we follow the life of Jacob Flanders from childhood, through love, travel, and war.
Josephine E. Butler
Josephine E. Butler
30 days •
ⓘ 1909 • Autobiography of Victorian feminist and social reformer Josephine Butler, who fought for women's suffrage, against human trafficking and child prostitution.
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains
Isabella L. Bird
23 days •
ⓘ 1879 • A travelogue of British explorer Isabella Bird's journey through Wyoming and Colorado in the late 19th century.
The Land of Little Rain
Mary Hunter Austin
14 days •
ⓘ 1903 • A collection of unforgettable essays and short stories on the American Southwest, from its sweeping landscapes to the people who call it home.
The Leavenworth Case
Anna Katharine Green
35 days •
ⓘ 1878 • Detective Ebenezer Gryce must investigate the baffling murder of wealthy merchant Horatio Leavenworth in New York City. An influence on Agatha Christie's mysteries.
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
84 days •
ⓘ 1868 • The unforgettable tale of four sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March - as they grow from childhood to womanhood and find their place in the world.
The Murder on the Links
Agatha Christie
20 days •
ⓘ 1923 • Hercule Poirot is called on to solve another mystery: a millionaire murdered, found in an open grave.
My Reminiscences
Rabindranath Tagore
21 days •
ⓘ 1912 • Renowned Bengali poet, composer, and artist Rabindranath Tagore provides brief autobiographical glimpses into his life.
My Ántonia
Willa Cather
37 days •
ⓘ 1918 • The heart-wrenching tale of growing up on the prairie in the 19th century, the building of that "incommunicable past" between childhood friends Jim and Ántonia.
The Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe
126 days •
ⓘ 1794 • Trapped in a medieval castle by a cruel uncle, orphan Emily is faced with fearful threats - both real and supernatural.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
16 days •
ⓘ 1845 • One of the most influential pieces of literature in the abolitionist movement, former slave and famous orator Frederick Douglass retells his life as a slave.
A Negro Explorer at the North Pole
Matthew Henson
11 days •
ⓘ 1912 • The thrilling memoir of Matthew Henson who traveled with Robert Peary on seven Arctic expeditions.
The New Negro
Alain Locke
44 days •
ⓘ 1925 • An anthology of fiction, poetry, and essays on African and African-American art and literature, edited by Locke. Considered to be the definitive text of the Harlem Renaissance.
North and South
Elizabeth Gaskell
83 days •
ⓘ 1854 • Uprooted from her former life, Margaret is thrown in to a rough industrial town and finds herself pulled between the plight of local mill workers and the man she loves.
Oroonoko
Aphra Behn
12 days •
ⓘ 1688 • After his grandfather casts them into slavery, Prince Oroonoko and Imoinda are transported to the colony of Surinam. Once there Oroonoko sets about winning his freedom.
Our Nig
Harriet E. Wilson
7 days •
ⓘ 1859 • Abandoned by her parents, Frado suffers abuse and neglect as a servant for a white family in the free North.
Poems: Three Series
Emily Dickinson
19 days •
ⓘ 1896 • The complete three volumes of Emily Dickinson's poetry, heavily edited according to the conventions of the time.
Pollyanna
Eleanor H. Porter
20 days •
ⓘ 1913 • Though orphaned, 11-year-old Pollyanna still has her father's "Glad Game" positive life philosophy. This optimistic outlook is tested in her new Vermont home with the cold Aunt Polly.
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
40 days •
ⓘ 1813 • First impressions are misleading in this classic, funny, and memorable story of the tumultuous romance of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy.
The Professor's House
Willa Cather
20 days •
ⓘ 1925 • The move to a new home sparks a crisis within Professor Godfrey St. Peter. The dusty study of his old home bring up memories of former students and current strains in his family.
Ramona
Helen Hunt Jackson
59 days •
ⓘ 1884 • The story of Ramona, an orphan, in Old California after the Mexcian-American War as cultures clash. She struggles against racial discrimination, love, and murder.
The Souls of Black Folk
W.E.B. Du Bois.
27 days •
ⓘ 1903 • A collection of essays and landmark in both the history of African-American literature and in the history of sociology. W.E.B. Du Bois argues it is beneath the dignity of a human to beg for rights inherently granted to all men and women.
The Sound of Silence
Barbara Constant
2 days •
ⓘ 1962 • Lucilla feels like she's going crazy. She can answer a question before it's been asked, knows what other drivers will do before they make a move.
The Story of My Life
Helen Keller
12 days •
ⓘ 1903 • Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing at a young age, recounts her life and in particular her experiences being taught by Anne Sullivan.
Tales for the Bush
Mary Theresa Vidal
25 days •
ⓘ 1845 • A series of novelettes sharing Christian virtues and accepting one's station in life. Mary Theresa Vidal was Australia's first female novelist.
Ten Days in a Mad-House
Nellie Bly
10 days •
ⓘ 1887 • The result of an undercover investigation into the brutality and neglect at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island.
Terror Out Of Space
Leigh Brackett
4 days •
ⓘ 1944 • Beneath the seas of Venus waits a menace that drives men mad.
To the Lighthouse
Virginia Woolf
21 days •
ⓘ 1927 • A gripping exploration of the tensions within a family -- between men and women, children and adults, past and future -- while on holiday to Scotland's Isle of Skye.
Travels in West Africa
Mary Kingsley
60 days •
ⓘ 1897 • Defying Victorian norms for women, Mary Kingsley sets out alone to journey through Africa. There she befriends the local people and collects valuable plant and animal specimens for research.
Twenty-Two Years a Slave
Austin Steward
26 days •
ⓘ 1857 • An autobiography of Steward's enslavement, escape, and life as a free man before the Civil War.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe
68 days •
ⓘ 1852 • Cited as one of the sparks of the Civil War, this was the best-selling novel of the 19th century. It depicts slavery and argues Christian love can overcome such evils.
Up from Slavery
Booker T. Washington
26 days •
ⓘ 1901 • Booker T. Washington’s popular autobiography tracing his life from a slave during the Civil War to his work establishing schools like the Tuskegee Institute.
The Writing of Fiction
Edith Wharton
9 days •
ⓘ 1925 • Wharton shares brilliant advice on writing, her thoughts on the roots of modern fiction, as well as the construction of short stories, novels, and memorable characters.
Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte
43 days •
ⓘ 1847 • The classic Gothic tale of love, passion, and death that spans generations on the lonely moors of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights.
The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
2 days •
ⓘ 1892 • Witness a woman's descent into madness in this unsettling, important early work of American feminist literature.
Zofloya
Charlotte Dacre
38 days •
ⓘ 1806 • A gothic tale of lust and murder set in 15th century Venice, chronicling Victoria's descent from spoiled aristocrat to criminal. It shocked contemporary readers with its transgressions against then-taboos of race and class.
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