Can anyone suggest some books with strong female characters set in simpler times that aren't strictly romances

Question

I've really enjoyed Beverly Lewis's and Wanda Bruscheder's Amish books, as well as the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when I was a child and was curious if there are any similar type books maybe about Revolutionary War days, Frontier days or Civil War Times, or even early 1900's? Those books DID have romantic themes, but there was no graphic sex, which is something I'm trying to avoid (I HATE historical romance books, yuck yuck yuck!) They don't directly have to be Christian books either though it's not a problem if they are, I'm not actually a prude or anything I just don't enjoy romance novels. I like a good strong female character and I enjoy the decriptions of these simpler times and places. Any suggestions? I know I'm being very picky, I just spent an hour at my library and everything I picked up that looked promising wound up being a romance with sex every 20 pages.

Answer 1

the Strawberry Girl:Lois Lenski
Sarah, Plain and Tall.Patricia MacLachlan
The American Girl series are short, easy to read but they carry a message they are by different authors but most of them are written by: Valerie Tripp or Connie Porter.
Ever Read the diary of Anne Frank?
There's also Number the Stars: Lois Lowry it's also of a German girl who loses her best friend because she must go into hiding.
There's the Diary Of /Dear America series. they are historical fiction=the stories are made up but someone could have lived a similar life somewhere.
Here are many of the titles:
these are by Patricia McKissack
Dear America=
The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the great migration North, Chicago, Illinois, 1919.by McKissack
.Dear America=
A Picture of Freedom, the Diary of Clotee, A Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation Virginia (USA) 1859. by McKissack
Dear America=
Dreams in the golden country, The diary of Zipporah Feldman, a jewish immigrant girl;new york city , 1903. By Kathryn Lasky.
Dear America=
my face to the wind, the diary of sarah jane price, a prairie treacher, broken bow, nebraska, 1881. by Jim Murphy.
Dear America= west to a land of plenty, the diary of teresa angelino viscardi, New York to Idaho Territory, 1883. By Jim Murphy.
Dear America=
a journey to a new world, the diary of remember patience whipple; on the mayflower, 1620. By Kathryn Lasky.
Dear America= A time for Courage
The suffragette diary of kathleen bowen, Washington, D.C., 1917. by Kathryn Lasky
Dear America=Christmas after all The great depression diary of minnie swift, Indianapolis, indiana, 1932. By Kathryn Lasky.
Royal Diaries=(dear America)
Jahanara:Princess of Princesses;India, 1627.By Kathryn Lasky.
Royal Diaries=
Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola Africa, 1595
Royal diaries=Mary queen of Scots: queen without a country France,1553. by kathryn Lasky
Royal Diaries=Victoria, May blossom of Britannia: england, 1829. by Anna Kirwin.
even the fantasy fiction series of 1800Where RU books have a strong female tho she has premonition powers and gets into some situations...but it isn't as you say sex every other page. However, it IS a bit of a government "spy" chase. at least the one I read Sanctuary: by Jenny Carroll
Morning Girl (an island girl's perspective): by Michael Dorris.
you might want to try Native American poetry or written works.
I like Joy Harjo's poetry book "she had some horses"
The person who wrote Like water for Chocolate:Isabel
Allende? There's some strong characters, but it is a love story too.
Look in your local library maybe for pamplets on reading with female perspective or Native american, Asian american, Pacific Islander or fiction with a Latino heritage. I've read some very charming and real stories of growing up by authors I cannot now recall.
They are adult life stories but Maeve Binchy who wrote the book that the movie Circle of friends was based on is very good for having strong women. the stories are set in Ireland, so you get the European feeling, and yet the stories are about families, or love and lost love and finding one's self.
Tried The Sisterhood ofthe Travelling pants? AnnBrahsares. I know it's hyped for teens. but the characters are all immensely likable and they have their strengths. Have you read Whale Rider? it's much more powerful as a book than as a movie. it's by Witi Itiahmera. (spell?)
Good Luck and Happy reading.

Answer 2

I remember a book I read way back when called "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle." The main character doesn't start out too strong as I remember, but over the story becomes very strong. It's about a girl who is sent by her family on a voyage to England I believe, sometime in the 1800's. However, things don't go as planned, and there is a lot of mystery and betrayal. It was a very good book and no romance! Another good one is "The Golden Compass" and its sequels. There is a little romance but the main character is very strong. If you're ok with a little horror, "Rose Madder" by Stephen King was an excellent book. Again, the main character starts off "weak" (she was abused by her husband) but ends up very strong. Again a little romance with a new guy, but in the end she is defending and saving him rather than the other way around. This one really seems to celebrate the power and strength of women and that we needn't depend on or be subservient to men. There is fantasy, but you should be aware that this one deals a lot with adult subjects. Despite that I highly recomend this book.

Answer 3

I know this is not the time you asked about, but try the Sister Fidelma mysteries by Peter Tremaine (a pseudonym for an Irish History scholar). You can buy used copies cheaply on Amazon Marketplace or Alibris or AbeBooks.

Sister Fidelma is the daughter of a king, the equivalent of a lawyer, and a nun, an unlikely combination, but quite possible in the Ireland of the 600's. She certainly is a strong female character! And the history you learn is authentic.

The books can be a liitle preachy in places (Tremaine's intent is to teach us Irish history the easy way), but the strong story lines and great characters make up for that.

Another series I recently discovered is the "Number One Ladies' Detective Agency" series (8 books) by Alexander McCall Smith. These take place in modern Botswana, which Smith knows well, and they are absolutely delightful. The heroine is a feisty local lady who opens Botswana's first detective agency, and then solves cases. In a way, it is about "simpler times", because it is about traditional African society. There is very little violence and essentially no sex.

I don't know if you can get these at the library, but used books are very cheap on the internet, and you might be able to trade them once you've read them.

Answer 4

Read "Gone With the Wind." Set in the Old South during the Civil War, the book portrays Scarlett O'Hara as one of the strongest women in historical fiction. There's an element of romance, but that's secondary to the rest of the novel.

Answer 5

Although aimed at young teenagers, both the 'Journey to the River Sea' and 'The Star of Kazan' are set in previous eras and feature strong female lead characters. Both novels are by Eva Ibbotson.

There is also 'War Nurse' by Sue Reid, which is set during WWII (perhaps too late of a setting for you) about a young nurse helping the war effort.

Answer 6

Consider George R.R. Martin's fantasy series, a Song of Ice and Fire. Its books (A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords. A Feast for Crows) contain multiple strong female characters, from eight-year-old Arya, making it on her own after being torn from her family, to Brienne, a warrior too ugly to love, to Cercei, a diabolical queen who *always* gets what she wants.

Great series, too. And I'm not a big fantasy reader!

Answer 7

Willa Cather, Flannery O'Connor, Toni Morrison's "Sula," and Jane Austen, as well as any of the Bronte sisters always had strong female characters in their books & short stories.

Answer 8

The books you mentioned are lovely. Another all time favorite is "Little Women" by Louisa M.Alcott, followed by "Little Men" featuring the same characters. The Canadian "Anne of Green Gables" series by L.M.Montgomery is also great.

Answer 9

I'd suggest Little House on the Prairie.

Answer 10

it has been a while since I have read her, but Ursula LeGuin is a science fiction/fantasy writer whose books include strong female characters. among her best known are her Earthsea novels.