But now it seemed nothing had changed. At Mumbai’s Breach Candy hospital, the nurses proffered their commiserations when your elder sisters were born -”Next time it will be a boy,” they promised.

“I am happy, I’ve always wanted girls”, I’d say to them. But my words seemed to go unheard.

Then you were born and we had our own Little Women family. I stopped paying heed to the consolers and the commiserators. Three little girls growing up made for a lively home, constant chit chat, arguments and laughter. Your very talkative father sometimes grumbled; he never managed to get in a word edgeways! We read everything - traditional Enid Blyton’s where Julian and Dick talked strategy while their sister Anne helped make the beds, we read books about explorers like Amelia Earhart and mathematicians like Ada Lovelace. You three played football and learnt classical singing and dancing.

Now, as you step into your mid-twenties—working your first job, living independently—you’ve faced landlords who refused to rent a house to you because you were not married. You’ve encountered people who have tried to cross boundaries. And yet, you’ve held your ground. I am proud of your courage in calling out injustice, of how fiercely you stand against sexism.

In the years ahead, as you continue to have your own house, maybe you will become a wife, maybe a mother- for all of these, here is one piece of advice - Build a feminist library for yourself, for your household, for your children, both boys and girls.

Why do you need this library, you might ask ?

Because books create connections—between past feminist movements and present struggles, between feminist experiences in different cultures. They give us research - into history, evolutionary biology, language and design. They challenge the status quo, offer alternative visions of how the world can be, and remind us our frustrations are not imagined. And that we are not alone.

So begin with these 10 books, a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Buy physical copies of these books and keep them close to you with their different covers, easy to pick up and browse through, where they become part of daily life rather than hidden treasures. Let these pages be casually opened, paragraphs sampled so these books live among you.

Because words have power. Stories matter. Perspectives can change worlds.

10 Essential Books for Your Feminist Library

1. Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights by Helen Lewis - Change often comes from those who refuse to be liked. Through stories of women like Marie Stopes and Emily Pankhurst, Lewis shows how feminism has always been a fight—one that requires courage, resilience, and often, being difficult.

2. An Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Armin - This 1922 novel feels just as relevant a century later. Four women, strangers to one another, escape their monotonous London lives to rent a castle in Italy. A stunning reflection on how a change in environment can transform a woman’s life. Pair it with Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.

3. Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel - A stunning retelling of the Ramayana from the perspective of Kaikeyi, often vilified as the “wicked queen.” This book challenges us to rethink narratives and question who gets to tell the story.

4. Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - From “Teach her to reject likeability. Her job is not to make herself likeable, her job is to be her full self” to “Never speak of marriage as an achievement”, this beautifully written little book of advice brims with wisdom.

5. Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez - This book will change the way you look at the world. From drug studies to urban planning, Perez exposes how the world is built for men, often leaving women at risk. It’s a book we should use as a blueprint to redesign society.

6. Sakina’s Kiss by Vivek Shanbhag - A seemingly simple family mystery that spirals into a complex story about caste, land-grabbing, Naxalism, and what it means to be a woman in India. Exquisitely written, with a rare male perspective on feminism.

7.Iron Widow and Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao - The Hunger Games meets Chinese history—with a feminist twist. Wu Zetian, inspired by a real-life concubine-turned-empress, fights against entrenched power structures and gendered oppression in a thrilling sci-fi setting.

8.Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon - Until recently, medical research was almost entirely based on male bodies. This book investigates why women live longer, why Alzheimer’s affects them more, and even why female and male fat are fundamentally different. A must-read.

9. Kindred by Octavia Butler - Dana, a modern day Black woman is transported back in time. She is horrified to discover how living in a world of slavery and sexism starts to shift her own sensibility.

10. Wifedom by Anna Funder - When I heard Funder speak at the Jaipur Literature Festival, I was hooked. Her innovatively written novel blends her own story with an excavation of Eileen Orwell’s erased contributions to George Orwell’s life and work. A must-read alongside Hidden Figures and The Other Einstein—stories of women whose genius was buried under patriarchy.

Other Honorable Mentions:

> Happening by Nobel prize winner Annie Ernaux - A heart-rending story about what it means to possess a woman’s body, this one is a tough read

> Daring to Drive by Manal Al-Sharif -A powerful memoir describing a woman’s fight to drive in Saudi Arabia.

> Butter by Asako Yuzuki - a feminist murder mystery set around food, cooking and eating. This translation from Japanese , takes us through the protagonist’s journey as she slowly figures out how to fight a misogynistic system, even as she tries to learn the truth of the murder mystery.

I hope you enjoy these books. And that together they become a source of strength, just as they have been for so many before you. If you’re looking for more, here’s a feminist bookstore crawl across New York City. And my emotional journey through the Women’s Prize shortlist.

With all my love,

Mama

Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at sonyasbookbox@gmail.com

The views expressed are personal