The 27 Best Fiction Books by Women This Year

Curl up and crack one open.

Fiction books
(Image credit: Amazon)

In 2019, a fresh slate of women's fiction—a genre that covers a lot of ground, but one I consider to be books that star strong, multifaceted female characters, written by women—has been released, and, trust me, there's more than enough reading material to last you through every beach vacation and road trip you take until the weather turns chilly again. There's the new novel by Jill Santopolo, whose debut, The Light Between Us, was a New York Times bestseller and a Reese Witherspoon's Book Club pick, and is being adapted into a movie as we speak. Cat Person author Kristen Roupenian released a handful of short stories (fair warning: It's not what you expect). And there's the timely, gripping new novel by Irina Reyn, which examines immigration and health care in modern America from a heartbreaking perspective. Below, the books we can't wait to read this year. (P.S. If you love books, and want someone to chat about them with, considering joining our book club, #ReadWithMC. Find out more here.)

Jenny Hollander
Digital Director

Jenny is the Digital Director at Marie Claire. Originally from London, she moved to New York in 2012 to attend the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and never left. Prior to Marie Claire, she spent five years at Bustle building out its news and politics coverage. She loves, in order: her dog, goldfish crackers, and arguing about why umbrellas are fundamentally useless. Her first novel, EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD, will be published by Minotaur Books on February 6, 2024.