SBTB Goodreads Group discussion

Hi all--

Someone I know is looking for books that aren't about men. It's okay if men are there as background characters, but she wants something where the story is about women and their relationships with each other. Every story, no matter how female-centered, seems to have at least one man who is important to the story. Can you think of any?

I did some googling; I haven't personally read any of these but they should all meet the criteria.
Housekeeping - literary fiction about sisters growing up
Women: A Novella - lgbt fiction about female friendships and sexual identity
Ammonite science fiction set on a planet where all men have been wiped out
The Stars Are Legion science fiction set on star ships with solely female populations
This is definitely a hard to find subgenre.

Maybe Beauty Queens by Libba Bray - a plane of beauty queen contestants crashes on an island. Which sounds at the outset like a terrible concept, but I found it to be a surprisingly kick-ass feminist book. There are some guys that show up, but the focus of the book is the contestants and their struggles and relationships too each other.

(Admittedly, it's been a while since I read this, and I don't remember how central the guys are - can someone correct me if I'm wrong?)

Housekeeping is a wonderful book. And yes, all the main characters are girls and women.

I think Karen Memory qualifies. The main cast comprises of characters of a brothel and it's an f/f romance. I can't remember there being any significant male characters, but admittedly it was a while ago.

I also second Beauty Queens.

Thanks! I hadn't thought of Beauty Queens, which I really liked. I'll pass these on!

There’s a play by Clare Booth Luce, one of my all-time favourites, called The Women, which features a cast of over thirty women and ZERO men. Of course there are men in the story, but not a single one gets stage time, or even off-stage lines. Everything about the men is conveyed to the audience secondhand from the women. It’s unique as a trope, and was quite the gimmick in 1936 when it debuted.

The main character is Mary Haines, who learns through overhearing conversations across fitting rooms that her husband is cheating on her. The play is really a meditation on women’s relationships with one another, and the role that social status and gossip have in such. The feminism is a bit primitive (and White™️), but it is valuable as a relic of its era as well as a jumping-off point for discussion. Plus, it’s hilariously funny.

I don’t know whether this is what you are looking for, but you won’t be disappointed that you’ve found it. Please, under NO circumstances watch the 2008 movie version, which mansplains and falls short of the wisdom of the play. Read the play itself or watch the 1939 film staring Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford.

Hope you love it.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

HeatherMarie wrote: "
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan"

Thanks HeatherMarie, that book looks amazing - just my catnip.

I'm just catching up on the October Daye series, which may not qualify because there are significant male characters and a romance plotline throughout, but the theme of the whole series is the Mother/Daughter relationship.

Like I said, it's long and it may not fit the brief, but it's very interesting when you're looking at it for the relationships between women, especially in the later books. It may not work for the original requester, but might be interesting for other people reading this thread.