Passes the "Bechdel Test" Public

Created and curated by Phil in SF

This list contains books that:

  • have at least two women in them,
  • who talk to each other,
  • about something other than a man.

Wikipedia has a decent intro on the origins of the metric: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test

Beware that this test is very limited in probative value. "The Bechdel test only indicates whether women are present in a work of fiction to a certain degree. A work may pass the test and still contain sexist content, and a work with prominent female characters may fail the test." This is just one thing a person may want to consider in their reading. There are many others.

I (@kingrat@sfba.club) track this in my reading as a check to make sure I am including reading that includes non-token female characters because American publishing often overly focuses on men's stories, and that is quite often reflected even more strongly in what American men choose to read.

  1. Elder Race by 

    In Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race, a junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to …

  2. The Treatment by  (Jack Caffery, #2)

    In a quiet residential area in London, a couple is discovered bound and imprisoned in their own home. Savagely battered …

  3. The Nigerwife by 

    No rating

    Nicole Oruwari has the perfect life: a hand­some husband; a palatial house in the heart of glittering Lagos, Nigeria; and …

  4. Under Fortunate Stars by 

    Fleeing the final days of the generations-long war with the alien Felen, smuggler Jereth Keeven’s freighter the Jonah breaks down …

  5. Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me by  (Dark Lord Davi, #2)

    No rating

    Dark Lord Davi rules the kingdom, but she must now break the time loop that binds her in this hilariously …

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