“Mama, can you tell me a story?” was the signature phrase my sister and I used to learn more about my mom’s life in Poland prior to her immigrating to the U.S. in the early 90’s. Her stories of moving to Austria at age 19 to support her family in Poland filled me with wonder at her resilience, but also the descriptions she included of the outdoor ice cream shop she would visit after her shift working at a restaurant in Vienna, the sound of the sweet vanilla flavors making me and my sister’s mouths water.
Oral and written stories tucked away in children’s books at bedtime were my first experiences with reading and what would later spark my interest in storytelling. As I grew older and read more books, reading became an experience of traveling into the author’s worlds, just like I had let my imagination travel to that ice cream parlor in Vienna through my mother’s stories. I grew especially invested in literature written about and by women who have shown me all the complicated yet beautiful ways that womanhood or femininity empowered them.
Womanhood in a story like A Fragile Enchantment, by Allison Saft, is presented by a talented and invested character named Niamh, who lives with chronic illness and pursues her passion of sewing using magic. Niamh’s story beautifully portrays what it is like to live with anxiety while also staying motivated by creating and finding love throughout the journey. If you loved Sense & Sensibility, this story picks up the regency genre while also incorporating a smidge of magic into femininity that is written in a human way.
In Parachutes, Kelly Yang’s story based on her lived experiences follows two female characters, Dani and Claire, as they navigate a strenuous relationship as host sister and an international student. Yang highlights the imperfections of female relationships but also what it means to mend broken relationships and find healing through traumatic experiences. This story also centralizes immigration and how this creates different perspectives among women, each unique to her own story.
With The Collected Regrets of Clover, Mikki Brammer writes about Clover, who maintains an introverted life as a death doula in New York City. The story emphasizes the awkward aspects that come with figuring out one’s identity, navigating romantic relationships for the first time and healing from an aching grief. Clover is a complex female figure who chooses to break outside of her comfort zone and goes on a road trip to figure out her life.
What I love about each of these stories is that they highlight the humanity of being a woman while celebrating joy, healing and relationships. They are also all written by women, threaded with their experiences, feelings, dreams and determination. Every woman’s story, whether written or shared orally, is a collection of her story and how, despite the odds, our stories continue to defy a single version of what it means to be a woman.