3 Epic Novels by Women

Epic Novels are usually considered to be books that are over a large amount of words and/or pages. Sometimes considered to be books over about 800-900 pages, the most famous of these are normally written by men. Works such as "War and Peace", "Les Miserables" and "The Brothers Karamazov" can come to mind alongside the works of David Foster Wallace, JRR Tolkien and Ken Follett.

But there is something missing when we look at the common reads of epic novels. It's women. There are definitely epic novels by women but less so. Why? Well, when men were writing these novels, the women would be looking after the children, cleaning or sometimes in more famous cases - proof-reading or typing up the novels of their husbands. This does not mean though that the epic novels of women do not exist in some form. They most definitely do.

Let us take a look at three epic novels by women, their impact on literature and who the woman behind the story really is. The novels are in no particular order.

3 Epic Novels by Women

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

"Gone with the Wind" is an epic anti-love story starring one of the most iconic characters in modern fiction - Scarlett O'Hara. I think that this novel was possibly applauded for its writing style: both airy and confident, it displayed Margaret Mitchell as a woman who knew exactly how this would turn out. Her writing is not only confident, but when it comes to writing the character of Scarlett, there is a definite slice of biographical detail there. This headstrong woman who cannot back down. I have known many women to call this their favourite novel of all time and that is for very good reason. I actually had a friend at university who told me that this was her favourite book ever. Initially, that was why I read it in the first place.

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

This has to be one of my personal favourite books of all time. I actually read it whilst I was working and in between through my breaks. It is about a young girl called Meggie who must welcome tragedy into her life when she is forced to move country. Called "The Australian 'Gone with the Wind'", this novel is an epic tale of love, loss, despair, death, tragedy and wants vs. needs. By the end of the book I was sobbing. Through the entirety of the novel there is this air to Meggie which I believe comes from Colleen McCullough herself. It is this willingness to endure and rise above. The tragedies in her life may impact her soul, but they do not change her mind. She has set out on a mission and these tragedies are things she must live with like ghosts that constantly follow her everywhere. It is a hauntingly brilliant piece of writing.

Middlemarch by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

"Middlemarch" is mostly known as one of the greatest novels to ever be written in the English Language. About Dorothea, it is an amazing novel and personally, when I read this book at fifteen years' old I was engaged by the various descriptions of Dorothea's boudoir. There was something incredibly personal about it. There was something incredibly beautiful and yet tragic about it. As we move through the novel we get more and more of Dorothea's brilliance, her flaws and her humaneness coming through and through. It is a beautifully written, brilliant book that surpasses most of the other novels in the English Language and afterwards. Mary Ann Evans, in my belief, should have her original name restored to this novel instead of continuously writing the name "George Eliot" on it. It would only be the best for this feminine hero of English Literature.