My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Janis Daly, author of the book The Path Beneath Her Feet and creator of #31titleswomeninhistory, along with four additional authors from the list.
The compiled list of historical fiction represents thirty-one titles to read, discover, learn, and celebrate women who’ve made history, individually or collectively. Their achievements languish in the shadows, awaiting authors to write their stories and readers to embrace them.
According to Janis, developing the list wasn’t easy because there are far more books than she could include. But this is how she made her final decision:
- Had to be historical fiction
- Had to be written by a woman
- Looked for diversity in authors – cultural, type of publishing, and name recognition
- Looked for diversity in the subject – cultural, setting, field of recognition
- Ratings on Goodreads
Here is the list of books Janis has included for the 31 days of March in 2025:
- Akmaral by Judith Lindbergh – Amazon Warrior Women, Ancient History Asia
- American Daughters by Piper Huguley – Progressive political daughters and friends, Alice Roosevelt, Portia Washington, early 1900s America
- Can’t We Be Friends by Denny S. Byce & Eliza Knight – Entertainers Ella Fitzgerald, Marilyn Monroe, 1950s America
- Circling the Sun by Paula McLain – Aviator Beryl Markham, 1920s Africa
- The Dark Lady’s Mask by Mary Sharratt – Writer Aemilia Bassano Lanier, late 1500s England
- Daughters of Green Mountain Gap by Teri M. Brown – Women Healers of Rural America, late 1800s North Carolina
- Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki – Philosopher & Women’s Rights Activist Margaret Fuller, mid 1800s Massachusetts & Italy
- Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray – Writer & Editor Jessie Redmond Fauset, 1920s New York
- Hild by Nicola Griffin – St. Hild of Whitby, Dark Ages England
- Illuminating Darwin by Jill George – Writer, Editor & Anthropologist Arabella Buckley, mid/late 1800s England
- The Invincible Miss Cust by Penny Haw – Veterinarian Aleen Cust, late 1800s Great Britain
- Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood – Aviator Advisor & Business Manager Katharine Wright, early 1900s Ohio
- Katharine’s Remarkable Road Trip by Gail Ward Olmsted – Civil War Nurse & Educator Katharine Prescott Wormeley, early 1900s New England
- Lady Flyer by Heather B. Moore – Aviator Nancy Harkness Love – World War II United States
- The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Robuck – Codebreaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman, 1920s Washington DC / Florida
- Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray – Princess Selene of Egypt, First Century BC, Rome
- Madame Pommery by Rebecca Rosenberg – Jeanne Alexandrine Pommery, mid/late 1800s France
- Mademoiselle Eiffel by Aimie K. Runyan – Claire Eiffel, late 1800s France
- The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods – Social activist Abby Swift Mendenhall, late 1800s Minnesota
- Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles – Librarian Jessie “Kit” Carson, World War I France
- A Pair of Wings by Carole Hopson – Aviator Bessie Coleman, 1920s Chicago / France / Germany
- The Path Beneath Her Feet by Janis Robinson Daly – American Women’s Hospitals, 1930s/40s United States
- The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict – Mystery Writer Dorothy Sayers, 1930s London
- Saving Vincent by Joan Fernandez – Art Curator and Seller Jo van Gogh, 1890s Paris
- Scandalous Women by Gill Paul – Romance Writers Jackie Collins, Jacqueline Susann, 1960s New York & London
- The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers – Espionage Agent Julia McWilliams Child, World War II Asia
- Solitary Walker by N. J. Mastro – Mary Wollstonecraft
- Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly – Nurse & Abolitionist Georgeanna Woolsey, Civil War United States
- The Vow by Jude Berman – Artist Angelica Kauffman, 1700s Italy
- The Women by Kristin Hannah – Vietnam War Nurses, 1960s/1970s
- Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders – Women’s Army Corps First Black Unit & Major Charity Adams Earley, World War II
To learn more, head over to: https://janisrdaly.com/women-in-history-2025/
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Teri M Brown, Author and Podcast Host:
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Born in Athens, Greece as an Air Force brat, Teri M Brown graduated from UNC Greensboro. She began her writing career helping small businesses with content creation and published five nonfiction self-help books dealing with real estate and finance, receiving multiple awards. In 2017, after winning the First Annual Anita Bloom Ornoff Award for Inspirational Short Story, she began writing fiction in earnest, and published her debut novel in 2022, Sunflowers Beneath the Snow, a historical fiction set in Ukraine, which has won twelve awards. Her second novel published in 2023, An Enemy Like Me, takes place during WWII, winning 27 awards. Her latest novel, Daughters of Green Mountain Gap, a generational story about Appalachian healers came out in January 2024 and has already won three awards. Teri is a wife, mother, grandmother,podcaster, and author who loves word games, reading, bumming on the beach, taking photos, singing in the shower, hunting for bargains, ballroom dancing, playing bridge, and mentoring others. Learn more at www.terimbrown.com.
