Books like The Housekeepers — picked by fans

From the very first page of sublime writing, I knew I would love this story. Set in 1839, it features a lot of gothic tropes that really appeal to me: a creepy house, a cemetery, murder, and a charming man who can’t be trusted. But most of all, I loved the lead character, Bonnie–although I didn’t always like her!

Bonnie is a head-strong young woman whose life has been mapped out for her by men–her father, the ancient rector who ‘fell in love with her’ when he baptized her as a baby, and the charming, dangerous Crawford. I felt her frustration, desire for more, anger at never being listened to, and fear. However, clever, ambitious Bonnie is willing to do whatever it takes to survive–and thrive.

Call me strange, but I love a book that walks a moral tightrope. This book does just that because it tells the fictionalized but true story of Guilia Tofana, the first documented female serial killer in history.

What she does is abhorrent: poisoning men. But it’s why she did it that caught my interest because she killed men who beat and brutalized their wives, and she operated at a time when there was no redress for these women.

All out of options, desperate, and in terror of their lives, they would turn to Guilia. I found myself both repelled by her and drawn to her, and I couldn’t put this book down until the final page…

At first glance, this may seem like a strange choice for this list of books featuring fierce female lead characters, given the storyline of a woman having an affair with a sculptor who makes her his muse. However, I fell in love with the writing, which is so evocative that I could almost smell the baked air of 17th-century Rome and feel the uneven cobbles beneath my feet.

But as the story developed, I loved the character of Costanza more…and as the plot played out, I almost howled in anger at what she endured. This is another story based on real people, and once I had finished it, I not only read the author’s note but did some Googling (I adore a book that makes me want to find out more!). My admiration for the strength of Costanza grew even greater when I saw what she went on to become.

Complex, clever, and cunning Gruoch is fighting for her survival and the crown of the ancient kingdom of Scotland–and she isn’t going to let anything or anyone get in her way.

She has no one to look out for her, so she must take on the world herself, and no matter what was thrown at her, she kept on, as single-minded as ever–and I kept cheering her for that, despite her villainy.

I find it hard to resist stories about female gangsters. Heather Webb scoured the pages of history to tell the story of a gang of kick-ass bad girls called the Forty Elephants led by the infamous ‘Diamond Annie’ in London in 1925. 

What I loved about the story was that while Annie was fighting for respect in London’s male-dominated crime world, the first female detective at Scotland Yard assigned to bring them to justice was fighting for respect in the law enforcement profession.

Intelligent, unapologetic, and fearless women are my kind of girls, and Annie and her gang demonstrate true sisterhood as they rise to become Britain’s first female crime syndicate.

I will read this book any time I need a good cry. Roseanna combines mystery and utter heartbreak, and I just couldn't get enough. I felt like I was in Gemma’s shoes as she dealt with a loss I could never imagine. I could hear Graham’s heart shatter as everything he once believed in dissolved.

I love books that make me FEEL, and I don’t shy away from hard topics. Among all the pain, these characters discovered forgiveness that never falters and love that never fails. I have so much love for this story. Weeks later, I’m still not recovered, but I would read this book over and over again. 

This new novel from Libyan writer Matar is mainly a story about the love between friends, especially male friends, but that love is set against displacement and trauma and the psychological difficulties of being separated from one's country, family, culture, and identity.

A contemplative, deeply thoughtful novel, it is totally engaging and searingly honest, just as much about being a human being as it is about political ideologies or survivor guilt. 

This story grabbed my heart, sometimes clutching it in pain, sometimes bursting with pleasure.

This is a family saga I will long remember. I love a book with gorgeous prose that makes me stop and re-read. Napolitano’s sentences and phrases, metaphors, and similes did that. I wanted to savor the words, like rich dark chocolate, on my tongue.

A book about writing and publishing is always special to my heart, and even more so when it incorporates dual timelines. When Eva Mercy, a single mom and best-selling erotica writer, encounters literary darling Shane Hall, their chemistry raises eyebrows.

But what I loved most was how their week falling in love twenty years ago was a secret to everyone else, as it really amplified my intrigue. I love this book for how it managed to portray a heart-wrenching romance while also addressing other hard-hitting topics, including chronic illness, overcoming generational trauma, and addiction.

I also enjoyed how this book was about writers and had commentary on BIPOC authors in the publishing industry. This book immersed me from start to finish with its raw interiority and nuanced characters.

This novel had to go to the top of my list because it’s brilliant and delivered through an indigenous perspective.

Authored by the Swedish Sámi journalist Ann-Helén Laestadius, the book tells a story–based on real events–involving reindeer, an essential part of culture and identity for many Sámi. It takes place in a part of the world where I spent many years, Sápmi, which is the Sámi region that contains parts of, and predates, the modern borders of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia.

Laestadius brings a compelling voice to the still prevalent issue of prejudice against this cultural minority. A film adaptation of the book will air on Netflix in April 2024, and I’m excited to see it because so many friends from that part of the world worked on it.