Thirteen novels that celebrate female friendship

Elizabeth Wellington Rollins is a writer and author of the forthcoming novel The Three Graces of Pearl Street, slated for publication in fall 2026. Her work has appeared in BBC, Condé Nast Traveler, The Week, Travel + Leisure, and Vogue.

At People magazine she tagged thirteen novels "that capture the complex friendships between women in every shade of light and dark." One title on the list:

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

In this triumphant historical saga, Young-sook and Mi-ja are two free divers and close friends whose lives unfold against a heartbreaking political backdrop that disrupts a matrilineal society on Jeju island, South Korea.

Read about another novel on the list.

The Island of Sea Women is among the Amazon Book Review's thirteen favorite novels that showcase fierce and fiery female protagonists, Sara Roncero-Menendez's twelve great reads that celebrate the bonds between women, and Vanessa Wilkie's seven provocative books of feminist history.

--Marshal Zeringue