Welcome to March and meet our six books of the month handpicked by Team Well Read Women. March is Women’s History Month and, of course, as a subscription box especially dedicated to celebrating women’s voices in fiction, our books this month continue to amplify them.
This month’s picks include an International Booker Prize nominee, a gripping literary mystery about an Afghan-American family whose lives are rocked by tragedy and thrust into the court of public opinion, and an absurd, deeply original short story collection reimagining historical figures. Here’s what we selected, more about each book, and why we chose them.
Our Hardback Selections
Good People by Patmeena Sabit (includes exclusive Q&A for Well Read Women)
Zorah Sharaf could do no wrong. Zorah Sharaf brought shame upon her family. What’s the truth? Depends on who you ask.
The Sharaf family is the picture of success. Successful, rich, happy. They came to this country as refugees with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. And now, after years of hard work, they live in the most exclusive neighborhood, their growing family attending the most prestigious schools. Zorah, the eldest daughter, is the apple of her father’s eye.
When an unthinkable tragedy strikes, everyone is left reeling and the family is thrust into the court of public opinion. There is talk that behind closed doors the Sharafs’ happy household was anything but. Did the Sharaf family achieve the American dream? Or was the image of the model immigrant family just a façade?
Like a literary game of ping-pong, Good People compels the reader to reconsider what might have happened even on the previous page. Told through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, it is a riveting, provocative, and haunting story of family—sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and the communities that claim us as family in difficult times.
Why we chose it- This is our favourite 2026 release of the year so far. Told through multiple voices, Good People is a unique reading experience, giving readers a front-row seat to the court of public opinion and the scrutiny faced by the Sharaf family as it explores immigration, identity and moral judgment.
The Shock of Light by Lori Inglis Hall
This classic novel of love and war set amidst the devastation of World War II and its aftermath follows sister-and-brother twins who meet shockingly different fates, but whose bond will last forever.
Cambridge, 1942: Twins Tessa and Theo are each eager to do their part in the war. Theo is recruited by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and disappears into the skies, while Tessa jumps at the chance to join the Special Operations Executive (the SOE), devoted to spying and sabotage in German-occupied France. It will be dangerous, highly classified work, but Tessa is no stranger to secret-keeping.
Two years later, Theo comes home. Tessa does not. Theo, a clandestinely gay man at a time when homosexuality was illegal, is physically wounded and emotionally broken by the deaths of his fellows and the disappearance of his sister. He is angry and cannot stop pursuing answers about Tessa’s fate, even though he will pay a steep price for his quest.
Years later, PhD candidate Edie is deep into her research on the SOE when its lead her to Theo. The old man and young scholar form an unlikely partnership and together, they finally uncover the truth about Theo’s beloved sister—a truth that stretches all the way back to the summer Tessa spent in France before the war had even begun.
Both intimate and sweeping, elegantly written and unflinchingly honest, The Shock of the Light is a novel of bravery, the brutal cost of war, a sibling bond that outlasts even death, and the redemptive love that grows in unexpected places.
Why we chose it - An utterly dazzling debut exploring the emotional impact of World War Two on ordinary people. Tessa is a strong female character, and the novel spotlights the courage and bravery of extraordinary women who risked everything in the Special Operations Executive. The Shock of Light is one of the most captivating historical fiction releases of 2026 by a remarkable new talent we can’t wait to read more from.
The Wax Child by Olga Ravn
Based on a real-life seventeenth century Danish witch trial, The Wax Child tells in vivid prose the story of Christenze Kruckow, a noblewoman long pursued by a scandal of sorcery. People whisper that in her wake one finds illness, death, and unsettling behaviour by pigs and cats. Some even say she once fashioned out of wax a child, an instrument of the most sinister magic. Christenze will flee the rumours to Aalborg, that great city of seawater and mist. But even there suspicion and fear rule, and once a rumour of witchcraft has taken hold, it can prove hard to shake.
Why we chose it - Longlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize and translated from Danish, The Wax Child is written by one of Denmark's most celebrated female contemporary authors. Her immersive, stylish and unconventional writing style, along with a unique narrator, focuses on the real 17th-century Danish witch trials, exploring female power, systemic misogyny, fear, and the heavy weight these accusations placed on women in society during this time.
Our Paperback Selections
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
A wickedly funny and audacious debut novel following an academic who flees from heartbreak and lands in Iraq with a one-of-a-kind job offer — only to be forced to do the work of confronting herself.
When Nadia Amin, a witty and bighearted PhD, publishes an article on deradicalization, everything changes. The United Nations comes calling with an opportunity to put her theory into practice and lead a rehabilitation program for women caught in the crosshairs of harmful ideology. And why not? Abandoned by her mother and devastated by unrequited love, she leaps at the chance.
In Iraq, Nadia quickly realizes she’s in over her head. The UN is a mess of competing interests, and her team consists of Goody Two-shoes Sherri, who never passes up an opportunity to remind Nadia of her objections, and Pierre, a snippy Frenchman who has no qualms about perpetually scrolling through Grindr. But then Nadia meets Sara, a hilarious, foul-mouthed East Londoner who was pulled into radicalism at just fifteen. The two are kindred spirits, and Nadia vows to get Sara home.
As the rehabilitation program picks up traction, Sara reveals a secret that upends everything, forcing Nadia to make a drastic choice. In the fallout, Nadia’s brown-savior fantasies crumble, leaving her to wonder if she can save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.
A fierce, wildly funny, and razor-sharp exploration of radicalism, family, and the quest for belonging, Fundamentally boldly inspects one of the defining controversies of our age and introduces a fearless new voice in contemporary fiction.
Why we chose it - Shortlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction and one of Stylist Magazine’s 2025 Debuts of the Year, Fundamentally is an engaging, politically sharp novel that balances tough subjects like religion, radicalisation and identity with a big dose of wit and humour that we think readers will love.
The Age of Calamities by Senaa Ahmad
For fans of Karen Russell and Carmen Maria Machado, The Age of Calamities is a genre-defying, mind-bending collection of absurdist, funny, and speculative short stories.
In this bold and enchanting collection Senaa Ahmad takes license with history and its players, sending the reader on a thrilling ride. In “Let’s Play Dead,” Henry VIII wants Anne Boleyn gone, but there’s a tiny problem―she keeps coming back to life no matter what he does. “Choose Your Own Apocalypse” hurls readers back to 1945, where they assume the role of a technician for the Manhattan Project, surrounded by labyrinthine paths and harrowing outcomes. And “Inside the House of the Historian” invites us to a dinner party turned murder mystery full of figures like Nefertiti, Queen Victoria, John Adams, and Marilyn Monroe. These stories and others entice readers to confront the past, the present, and themselves all at once. Zany and haunting, inviting and brilliant, each poignant tale delves into the surreal nature of today through the lens of yesterday, charting the tragicomic yet hopeful act of living.
The Age of Calamities is an evocation of life and death on history’s unsteady margins, of how to reckon with the blunt-force trauma of ill-fated times. Fiercely clever and wildly inventive, this debut establishes Senaa Ahmad as a literary force.
Why we chose it - Absurd, inventive and clever, The Age of Calamities is a genre-defying, mind-bending collection of speculative short stories that feels innovative, ambitious, and wholly unique. As a debut, Senaa’s bold writing immediately captured our attention and we loved her wonderful ability to pluck historical figures from the past and reimagine them within these clever, ludicrous tales that were so much fun to read.
Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen
A funny and unforgettable read about a young woman working a summer job in a shirt factory in Northern Ireland, while tensions rise both inside and outside the factory walls.
It’s the summer of 1994, and all smart-mouthed Maeve Murray wants are good final exam results so she can earn her ticket out of the wee Northern Irish town she has grown up in during the Troubles. She hopes she will soon be in London studying journalism—away from her crowded home, the silence and sadness surrounding her sister’s death, and most of all, away from the violence of her divided community.
As a first step, Maeve’s taken a job in a shirt factory working alongside Protestants with her best friends. But getting the right exam results is only part of Maeve’s problem—she’s got to survive a tit-for-tat paramilitary campaign, iron 100 shirts an hour all day every day, and deal with the attentions of Handy Andy Strawbridge, her slick and untrustworthy English boss. Then, as the British loyalist marching season raises tensions among the Catholic and Protestant workforce, Maeve realizes something is going on behind the scenes at the factory. What seems to be a great opportunity to earn money turns out to be a crucible in which Maeve faces the test of a lifetime. Seeking justice for herself and her fellow workers may just be Maeve’s one-way ticket out of town.
Bitingly hilarious, clear-eyed, and steeped in the vernacular of its time and place, Factory Girls tackles questions of wealth and power, religion and nationalism, and how young women maintain hope for themselves and the future during divided, violent times.
Why we chose it - Set in 1994 against the background of The Troubles, Factory Girls is a fiercely funny coming-of-age story that explores class, division, conflict, misogyny, and inequality. It has a cast of fantastic female characters, especially Maeve, and balances the realities of The Troubles with charm and wit. The perfect pick if you loved and miss Derry Girls.
We loved each of these books and they're all a perfect fit for Well Read Women. You can shop our subscription here.