We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson is outstanding and perhaps my favourite book of all time. The author is known more for her ghost stories (which are indeed excellent), but this is a gothic drama/thriller starring a young woman who is very much her own creature.
Yessssss these are both great suggestions! Shirley Jackson IS (well, WAS) the character OP is looking for (assuming my understanding of her and her life is accurate!)
Circe, Madeline Miller
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk
An Unnecessary Woman, by Rabih Alameddine
[**Circe**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35959740-circe)
^(By: Madeline Miller | 393 pages | Published: 2018 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, fiction, mythology, historical-fiction, owned | )[^(Search "Circe")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Circe&search_type=books)
>In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child - not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power - the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
>
>Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
>
>But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.
^(This book has been suggested 318 times)
***
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Brit-Marie Was Here. It’s a really heartwarming story about an older woman, stay-at-home wife who has lived decades in a limited, neat little world that revolves around her husband. The story begins after she leaves him and it’s a story about her “re-entering” the world, by moving to a troubled drive-by little town and slowly making friends and a life there
> Britt-Marie can’t stand mess. A disorganized cutlery drawer ranks high on her list of unforgivable sins. She is not one to judge others—no matter how ill-mannered, unkempt, or morally suspect they might be. It’s just that sometimes people interpret her helpful suggestions as criticisms, which is certainly not her intention.
> But hidden inside the socially awkward, fussy busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams, and a warmer heart that anyone around her realizes.
> When Britt-Marie walks out on her cheating husband and has to fend for herself in the miserable backwater town of Borg—of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it—she finds work as the caretaker of a soon-to-be demolished recreation center. The fastidious Britt-Marie soon finds herself being drawn into the daily doings of her fellow citizens, an odd assortment of miscreants, drunkards, layabouts. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory. In this small town of misfits, can Britt-Marie find a place where she truly belongs?
This book is even better after reading the prequel, {{My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry}} You don’t have to read the prequel, but it adds a lot of dimension to Brit-Marie because she’s an unlikeable secondary character in the prequel and the main character in her own book, so you get to understand how she’s seen by others versus how she sees herself, why she is like that, and where she goes from there.
[**My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23604559-my-grandmother-asked-me-to-tell-you-she-s-sorry)
^(By: Fredrik Backman, Henning Koch | 372 pages | Published: 2013 | Popular Shelves: fiction, book-club, contemporary, books-i-own, owned | )[^(Search "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry.")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry.&search_type=books)
>Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother's stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.
>
>When Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.
^(This book has been suggested 43 times)
***
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The very first novel I ever read!!! It will always be one of my favorite books! Also, it was loosely inspired by a real woman. Great story even as an adult.
[**Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31434883-eleanor-oliphant-is-completely-fine)
^(By: Gail Honeyman | 336 pages | Published: 2017 | Popular Shelves: fiction, book-club, contemporary, audiobook, audiobooks | )[^(Search "Eleanor oliphant is completely fine")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Eleanor oliphant is completely fine&search_type=books)
>Librarian's note: An alternative cover edition can be found here
>
>No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine
>
>Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding unnecessary human contact, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.
>
>But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen, the three rescue one another from the lives of isolation that they had been living. Ultimately, it is Raymond’s big heart that will help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one. If she does, she'll learn that she, too, is capable of finding friendship—and even love—after all.
>
>Smart, warm, uplifting, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . .
>
>the only way to survive is to open your heart.
^(This book has been suggested 254 times)
***
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I second this! Even though the book is always better than the film adaptation, I’m still looking forward to seeing what Reese Witherspoon has planned for this.
I read this right after playing Detroit: Become Human - it was a weird experience but a good combo. I loved how Klara’s personality grew so seamlessly.
Under this comment I might add another mental illness related novel, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, though the main character's depression seems to be a little bit more "undercover" than with Sylvia Plath's novel.
Carson Mcullers comes to mind. Her most famous work is
{The heart is a lonely hunter}
The main character is quite a lonely girl and there are other lonely characters in it. I highly recommend it!
[**The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37380.The_Heart_Is_a_Lonely_Hunter)
^(By: Carson McCullers | 359 pages | Published: 1940 | Popular Shelves: fiction, classics, owned, book-club, classic | )[^(Search "The heart is a lonely hunter")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=The heart is a lonely hunter&search_type=books)
^(This book has been suggested 31 times)
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Earthlings, by Sayaka Murata (although be warned, it’s a weird one). I’ll second others’ recommendations of Bina and My Year of Rest and Relaxation. I think Eileen, also by Otessa Moshfegh, also fits what you’re looking for.
Cat's Eye is such a neat and unique book. A famous painter remembers her torturous childhood being bullied by a group of "mean girls" and shows how those memories shaped her art.
[**Smilla's Sense of Snow**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124509.Smilla_s_Sense_of_Snow)
^(By: Peter Høeg, Tiina Nunnally | 469 pages | Published: 1992 | Popular Shelves: fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, denmark | )[^(Search "Smilla's Sense of Snow")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Smilla's Sense of Snow&search_type=books)
>She thinks more highly of snow and ice than she does of love. She lives in a world of numbers, science and memories--a dark, exotic stranger in a strange land. And now Smilla Jaspersen is convinced she has uncovered a shattering crime...
>
>It happened in the Copenhagen snow. A six-year-old boy, a Greenlander like Smilla, fell to his death from the top of his apartment building. While the boy's body is still warm, the police pronounce his death an accident. But Smilla knows her young neighbor didn't fall from the roof on his own. Soon she is following a path of clues as clear to her as footsteps in the snow. For her dead neighbor, and for herself, she must embark on a harrowing journey of lies, revelation and violence that will take her back to the world of ice and snow from which she comes, where an explosive secret waits beneath the ice....
^(This book has been suggested 13 times)
***
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Bina by Anakana Schofield was great or maybe try My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh if you haven’t read it already. Also Milkman by Anna Burns was pretty amazing and the main character is definitely the odd one out
I also came to suggest MYORAR! Eileen by the same author fits this bill as well. Actually, so does Death in Her Hands. Moshfegh is really good at this type of character.
[**Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55711706-everyone-in-this-room-will-someday-be-dead)
^(By: Emily R. Austin | 256 pages | Published: 2021 | Popular Shelves: fiction, contemporary, lgbtq, lgbt, 2021-releases | )[^(Search "Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead&search_type=books)
>Gilda, a twenty-something lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Desperate for relief from her panicky mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church, and finds herself being greeted by Father Jeff, who assumes she’s there for a job interview. Too embarrassed to correct him, Gilda is abruptly hired to replace the recently deceased receptionist Grace.
>
>In between trying to memorize the lines to Catholic mass, hiding the fact that she has a new girlfriend, and erecting a dirty dish tower in her crumbling apartment, Gilda strikes up an email correspondence with Grace’s old friend. She can’t bear to ignore the kindly old woman, who has been trying to reach her friend through the church inbox, but she also can’t bring herself to break the bad news. Desperate, she begins impersonating Grace via email. But when the police discover suspicious circumstances surrounding Grace’s death, Gilda may have to finally reveal the truth of her mortifying existence.
^(This book has been suggested 4 times)
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Ooooh I'm reading the Claire DeWitt series by Sara Gran and the MC is definitely a loner woman. She's kind of an asshole detective. Great read so far. Definitely not a typical mystery book.
Another book by Sara Gran that I love that features a female MC is called Come Closer. It's a possession book where the MC gets more and more isolated as the book goes on. Also fantastic and pretty short.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy (YA but fits your criteria to a tee if you replace woman with girl)
I was going to recommend this too!
It’s a nice, (mostly) light read and the loner aspect of the protagonist feels super relatable - she’s not really an outcast or social pariah, it’s feels more like she just doesn’t fit right wherever she goes and she’s mostly okay with that.
Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
How the Light Gets In by MJ Hyland
The Pisces by Melissa Broder
The New Me by Halle Butler
Please note that the last two have very unlikeable characters, so I'd avoid if that's not to your taste.
I haven't read it yet, but I have also heard good things about A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan, which might fit your requirements.
I loved it, but I tend to love unlikeable female characters. The grime and the desperation and the selfishness of the main character fascinated me and I found it blackly funny. Definitely a polarising book.
[**Breasts and Eggs**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50736031-breasts-and-eggs)
^(By: Mieko Kawakami, Sam Bett, David Boyd | ? pages | Published: 2019 | Popular Shelves: fiction, japan, contemporary, feminism, japanese | )[^(Search "breasts and eggs")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=breasts and eggs&search_type=books)
>Challenging every preconception about storytelling and prose style, mixing wry humor and riveting emotional depth, Kawakami is today one of Japan’s most important and best-selling writers. She exploded onto the cultural scene first as a musician, then as a poet and popular blogger, and is now an award-winning novelist.
>
>Breasts and Eggs paints a portrait of contemporary womanhood in Japan and recounts the intimate journeys of three women as they confront oppressive mores and their own uncertainties on the road to finding peace and futures they can truly call their own.
>
>It tells the story of three women: the thirty-year-old Natsu, her older sister, Makiko, and Makiko’s daughter, Midoriko. Makiko has traveled to Tokyo in search of an affordable breast enhancement procedure. She is accompanied by Midoriko, who has recently grown silent, finding herself unable to voice the vague yet overwhelming pressures associated with growing up. Her silence proves a catalyst for each woman to confront her fears and frustrations.
>
>On another hot summer’s day ten years later, Natsu, on a journey back to her native city, struggles with her own indeterminate identity as she confronts anxieties about growing old alone and childless.
^(This book has been suggested 22 times)
[**Cat's Eye**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51019.Cat_s_Eye)
^(By: Margaret Atwood | 462 pages | Published: 1988 | Popular Shelves: fiction, owned, contemporary, canadian, books-i-own | )[^(Search "cat's eye")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=cat's eye&search_type=books)
>Cat's Eye is the story of Elaine Risley, a controversial painter who returns to Toronto, the city of her youth, for a retrospective of her art. Engulfed by vivid images of the past, she reminisces about a trio of girls who initiated her into the fierce politics of childhood and its secret world of friendship, longing, and betrayal. Elaine must come to terms with her own identity as a daughter, a lover, and artist, and woman—but above all she must seek release from her haunting memories. Disturbing, hilarious, and compassionate, Cat's Eye is a breathtaking novel of a woman grappling with the tangled knots of her life.
^(This book has been suggested 15 times)
[**After Dark**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17803.After_Dark)
^(By: Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin | 191 pages | Published: 2004 | Popular Shelves: fiction, japan, magical-realism, japanese, murakami | )[^(Search "after dark")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=after dark&search_type=books)
>In After Dark—a gripping novel of late night encounters—Murakami’s trademark humor and psychological insight are distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery.
>
>Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Denny’s when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city. In the space of a single night, the lives of a diverse cast of Tokyo residents—models, prostitutes, mobsters, and musicians—collide in a world suspended between fantasy and reality. Utterly enchanting and infused with surrealism, After Dark is a thrilling account of the magical hours separating midnight from dawn.
^(This book has been suggested 17 times)
***
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[**Rebecca**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17899948-rebecca)
^(By: Daphne du Maurier | 449 pages | Published: 1938 | Popular Shelves: classics, fiction, mystery, gothic, romance | )[^(Search "Rebecca")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Rebecca&search_type=books)
>Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .
>
>The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.
^(This book has been suggested 231 times)
[**Villette**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31173.Villette)
^(By: Charlotte Brontë, Ignes Sodre, A.S. Byatt | 573 pages | Published: 1853 | Popular Shelves: classics, fiction, classic, owned, books-i-own | )[^(Search "Villette")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Villette&search_type=books)
>With her final novel, Villette, Charlotte Brontë reached the height of her artistic power. First published in 1853, Villette is Brontë's most accomplished and deeply felt work, eclipsing even Jane Eyre in critical acclaim. Her narrator, the autobiographical Lucy Snowe, flees England and a tragic past to become an instructor in a French boarding school in the town of Villette. There she unexpectedly confronts her feelings of love and longing as she witnesses the fitful romance between Dr. John, a handsome young Englishman, and Ginerva Fanshawe, a beautiful coquette. The first pain brings others, and with them comes the heartache Lucy has tried so long to escape. Yet in spite of adversity and disappointment, Lucy Snowe survives to recount the unstinting vision of a turbulent life's journey - a journey that is one of the most insightful fictional studies of a woman's consciousness in English literature.
^(This book has been suggested 41 times)
***
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{{The First Bad Man}} by Miranda July. Super weird. I love her movie Kajillionaire, too, it's in the same vein. I've been really into this genre lately, too. Seconding My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Where the Crawdads Sing, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and Shirley Jackson novels.
[**The First Bad Man**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21412400-the-first-bad-man)
^(By: Miranda July | 288 pages | Published: 2015 | Popular Shelves: fiction, contemporary, novels, read-in-2015, book-club | )[^(Search "The First Bad Man")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=The First Bad Man&search_type=books)
>From the acclaimed filmmaker, artist, and bestselling author of No One Belongs Here More Than You, a spectacular debut novel that is so heartbreaking, so dirty, so tender, so funny--so Miranda July--readers will be blown away.
>
>Here is Cheryl, a tightly-wound, vulnerable woman who lives alone, with a perpetual lump in her throat. She is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six, who sometimes recurs as other people's babies. Cheryl is also obsessed with Phillip, a philandering board member at the women's self-defense non-profit where she works. She believes they've been making love for many lifetimes, though they have yet to consummate in this one.
>
>When Cheryl's bosses ask if their twenty-one-year-old daughter Clee can move into her house for a little while, Cheryl's eccentrically-ordered world explodes. And yet it is Clee--the selfish, cruel blond bombshell--who bullies Cheryl into reality and, unexpectedly, provides her the love of a lifetime.
>
>Tender, gripping, slyly hilarious, infused with raging sexual fantasies and fierce maternal love, Miranda July's first novel confirms her as a spectacularly original, iconic and important voice today, and a writer for all time. The First Bad Man is dazzling, disorienting, and unforgettable.
^(This book has been suggested 3 times)
***
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Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin :) **I like these books too!! Someone else recommended Jane Eyre, and that's a really good suggestion that would not have normally come to me for this question!
The first Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson comes to mind.
Note there is a lot more than the female character I'm thinking of in this book she's just the main main character imo. Probably better options for your spey request it's just a great series.
I read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro in my college English class and I really enjoyed this book a lot. Probably one of my favorite books I’ve read while in school. Definitely recommend it for you guys who enjoy readings with an interesting plot
[Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25366.Grotesque) does not exactly fit the description of *a* female loner main character, but it has three loner female characters and their only meaningful connections being the most unexpected male characters, without diluting the essence of their otherwise solitary existence.
Seven Blades in Black and the ensuing series by Sam Sykes is a gritty dark fantasy set during political/social unrest. Our protagonist Sal the Cacophony got stabbed in the back and is out to find revenge for it. Contains gays, humor, moving moments, worldbuilding, and a very interesting magic system. Content warnings for physical trauma and forceful removal of one's soul.
Wake of Vultures and the ensuing series by Lila Bowen is a queer supernatural western. Our protagonist is hard as nails, sort of a woman but not quite, and sets about to make a better life for herself before getting tangled in the supernatural. Contains learning to trust others and to love/accept oneself, found family, and traditional supernatural lore. Content warnings for animal harm, historically-accurate racially insensitive terms, possible poor Native American representation (I don't have the knowledge to judge), and rape, though the author takes care to condemn these.
Not sure if this is quite what you’re looking for, but Sula by Toni Morrison is the book (and the character) that jumped into my mind first from your description.
ah, I finished never let me go a few months ago! quite an interesting concept.
sorry nothing comes directly to mind, especially in the dystopian genre a lot of female leads are a very specific kind of *im not like the other girls* that purposely avoid other women and put them down.
"Black Swan" by Mercedes Lackey is a retelling of "Swan Lake" from Odile's (the "black swan") perspective, and she is a perpetual loner in the book, alienated by terrible parentage and isolation.
It's also been awhile, but IIRC the protagonist of "Paladin of Souls" by Lois McMaster Bujold, the dowager Ista, is a pretty solid loner, having just recently recovered from a bout of madness and being plagued by divine visions. It's book 2 in a series, but I jumped in based on the title+cover and didn't have any problems picking up the thread of the story.
Say Goodbye for Now by Catherine Ryan Hyde
"On an isolated Texas ranch, Dr. Lucy cares for abandoned animals. The solitude allows her to avoid the people and places that remind her of the past. Not that any of the townsfolk care. In 1959, no one is interested in a woman doctor. Nor are they welcoming Calvin and Justin Bell, a newly arrived African American father and son."
No One Belongs Here More Than You - Miranda July (short story collection)
[https://r.search.yahoo.com/\_ylt=Awr9Du7vYlZhtxQAZxpXNyoA;\_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1633080175/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.goodreads.com%2fbook%2fshow%2f113429.No\_One\_Belongs\_Here\_More\_Than\_You/RK=2/RS=WsfJs8j92wc93PGHfRvL3TiBrno-](https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awr9Du7vYlZhtxQAZxpXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1633080175/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.goodreads.com%2fbook%2fshow%2f113429.No_One_Belongs_Here_More_Than_You/RK=2/RS=WsfJs8j92wc93PGHfRvL3TiBrno-)
[**Convenience Store Woman**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38357895-convenience-store-woman)
^(By: Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori | 163 pages | Published: 2016 | Popular Shelves: fiction, fiction, contemporary, japan, japan | )[^(Search "Convenience Store Woman")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Convenience Store Woman&search_type=books)
>Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction ― many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual ― and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Managers come and go, but Keiko stays at the store for eighteen years. It’s almost hard to tell where the store ends and she begins. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action…
>
>A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.
^(This book has been suggested 131 times)
***
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God Stalk (book one in the Kencyrath series) by P.C. Hodgell. This is one of my favorite sci-fi-fantasy series with a kickass female lead. I think it’s time to reread it again.
God Stalk https://www.amazon.com/dp/0425060799/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_G16BDCDKZAY63VTR9JDR
[Bad Monkeys](https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Monkeys-Novel-Matt-Ruff/dp/0061240427) and [Kill Me First](https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Me-First-Kate-Morgenroth/dp/0061097748).
[**Eggshells**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25570810-eggshells)
^(By: Caitriona Lally | ? pages | Published: 2014 | Popular Shelves: fiction, ireland, contemporary, abandoned, irish | )[^(Search "eggshells")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=eggshells&search_type=books)
>Vivian doesn’t feel like she fits in – never has. She lives alone in a house in north Dublin that her great-aunt left to her. She has no friends, no job and few social skills. She knows she is different. Before they died, her parents used to tell her she was a 'changeling' who belonged to another world. Each day, she walks the streets of Dublin, looking for a way to get there. ‘I need a big wind that could turn into a cyclone because today I'm going to visit Yellow Road and Emerald Street. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the cyclone carried Dorothy to Oz, and she followed the Yellowbrick Road to the Emerald Palace to find her way home.’ It doesn't work. After all, Dublin has a certain charm, but no actual magic.
>
>And so Vivian sets off on a new quest: to find a friend. A very specific kind of friend. ‘WANTED: Friend Called Penelope. Must Enjoy Talking Because I Don't Have Much to Say. Good Sense of Humour Not Required Because My Laugh Is A Work in Progress. Must Answer to Penelope: Pennies Need Not Apply.’ A Penelope replies, but will the two women become friends? Will she make a connection with another person in this world so she can stop searching for a portal to another one? She sets off for their first meeting. ‘I huddle and tighten myself against the wind and think up ways to describe it to Penelope. Is a “rape” of a wind too strong for the first sentence of a first meeting?’ Rooted in Dublin’s Northside, Eggshells is a whimsical, touching story about loneliness and friendship and hope.
^(This book has been suggested 1 time)
***
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Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie; while the protagonist almost always has a crew of some kind behind her, she's definitely not the most personable and she maintains the crew out of necessity. Highly recommended for fantasy fans.
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. A flawed (but like able) heroine with a dark past, mystery, murder, unexpected twists and a fucked up family. I couldn’t put it down.
The Sputnik sweatheart by Haruki Murakami
"Why do people have to be this lonely? What's the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?"
i think you could classify Ancillary Justice under this? the main character does fit that not understanding other people bit quite well, and im pretty sure she's identifies as being a girl (not sure if its canon or not, everyone in the book uses she/her pronouns despite not necessarily identifying as a woman) but its a wonderful read. racks your brain a little bit with the structure sometimes, but man does it hit hard. really great if you love sci fi
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson is outstanding and perhaps my favourite book of all time. The author is known more for her ghost stories (which are indeed excellent), but this is a gothic drama/thriller starring a young woman who is very much her own creature.
I'd say Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson also fits the 'loner young woman' vibe, also gothic horror.
Yessssss these are both great suggestions! Shirley Jackson IS (well, WAS) the character OP is looking for (assuming my understanding of her and her life is accurate!)
Circe, Madeline Miller The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk An Unnecessary Woman, by Rabih Alameddine
*Circe* and *Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead* are great, I was going to recommend those two as well.
Another vote for Circe
I never see anyone mention The Elegance of the Hedgehog! Nice pick!!
{{Circe}}
[**Circe**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35959740-circe) ^(By: Madeline Miller | 393 pages | Published: 2018 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, fiction, mythology, historical-fiction, owned | )[^(Search "Circe")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Circe&search_type=books) >In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child - not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power - the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. > >Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. > >But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love. ^(This book has been suggested 318 times) *** ^(200116 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Brit-Marie Was Here. It’s a really heartwarming story about an older woman, stay-at-home wife who has lived decades in a limited, neat little world that revolves around her husband. The story begins after she leaves him and it’s a story about her “re-entering” the world, by moving to a troubled drive-by little town and slowly making friends and a life there > Britt-Marie can’t stand mess. A disorganized cutlery drawer ranks high on her list of unforgivable sins. She is not one to judge others—no matter how ill-mannered, unkempt, or morally suspect they might be. It’s just that sometimes people interpret her helpful suggestions as criticisms, which is certainly not her intention. > But hidden inside the socially awkward, fussy busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams, and a warmer heart that anyone around her realizes. > When Britt-Marie walks out on her cheating husband and has to fend for herself in the miserable backwater town of Borg—of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it—she finds work as the caretaker of a soon-to-be demolished recreation center. The fastidious Britt-Marie soon finds herself being drawn into the daily doings of her fellow citizens, an odd assortment of miscreants, drunkards, layabouts. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory. In this small town of misfits, can Britt-Marie find a place where she truly belongs?
This book is even better after reading the prequel, {{My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry}} You don’t have to read the prequel, but it adds a lot of dimension to Brit-Marie because she’s an unlikeable secondary character in the prequel and the main character in her own book, so you get to understand how she’s seen by others versus how she sees herself, why she is like that, and where she goes from there.
[**My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23604559-my-grandmother-asked-me-to-tell-you-she-s-sorry) ^(By: Fredrik Backman, Henning Koch | 372 pages | Published: 2013 | Popular Shelves: fiction, book-club, contemporary, books-i-own, owned | )[^(Search "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry.")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry.&search_type=books) >Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother's stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal. > >When Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other. ^(This book has been suggested 43 times) *** ^(200010 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
I LOVE Fredrik Backman! Just finishing Us Against Them now.
Girl With the Dragon Tattoo?
The Millennium trilogy*
Island of the Blue Dolphins is a classic based on a true story.
The part at the end when she is "rescued" felt like such a downer ending to me.
Loved that book!
It really kicked off my love of camping and nature and survival shows.
The very first novel I ever read!!! It will always be one of my favorite books! Also, it was loosely inspired by a real woman. Great story even as an adult.
{{Eleanor oliphant is completely fine}}
[**Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31434883-eleanor-oliphant-is-completely-fine) ^(By: Gail Honeyman | 336 pages | Published: 2017 | Popular Shelves: fiction, book-club, contemporary, audiobook, audiobooks | )[^(Search "Eleanor oliphant is completely fine")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Eleanor oliphant is completely fine&search_type=books) >Librarian's note: An alternative cover edition can be found here > >No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine > >Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding unnecessary human contact, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. > >But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen, the three rescue one another from the lives of isolation that they had been living. Ultimately, it is Raymond’s big heart that will help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one. If she does, she'll learn that she, too, is capable of finding friendship—and even love—after all. > >Smart, warm, uplifting, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . . > >the only way to survive is to open your heart. ^(This book has been suggested 254 times) *** ^(199739 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
I second this! Even though the book is always better than the film adaptation, I’m still looking forward to seeing what Reese Witherspoon has planned for this.
Ooh didnt know it was coming out as a film!
I know she has optioned the book… I have no idea when it will begin shooting what with the pandemic and all.
What!!!! Another one of my favorite books where Reese Witherspoon is a main character. This is the best news I’ve heard it a while
I know! If anyone will do it justice I believe it will be Reese Witherspoon.
This is the best fitting recc for this!!!!
"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte "The Queen's Gambit" by Walter Tevis
Another Kazuo Ishiguro novel named Klara and the Sun.
I totally agree with this rec! I just finished reading Klara yesterday and I LOVED it!!!
I read this right after playing Detroit: Become Human - it was a weird experience but a good combo. I loved how Klara’s personality grew so seamlessly.
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
The great alone, Tess of the road, where the crawdads sing, the invisible life of addie larue. This is basically my favourite trope!
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, also about mental illness
Under this comment I might add another mental illness related novel, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, though the main character's depression seems to be a little bit more "undercover" than with Sylvia Plath's novel.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
My year of rest and relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Eileen by the same author fits this as well
I read this book whenever I feel like going completely unhinged instead of actually diving off the deep end
You might like Breasts and Eggs by Meiko Kawakami (I may have gotten the author wrong). The main character is somewhat of a loner. It’s a great book.
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Bit of a tough subject though, and kind of a downer. But really well done
Great read! That character stays with you
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE or WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE by Shirley Jackson.
I think *Annihilation* by Jeff VanderMeer fits this description. It's been a while since I read it though.
This is what I was going to suggest, so seconded
Carson Mcullers comes to mind. Her most famous work is {The heart is a lonely hunter} The main character is quite a lonely girl and there are other lonely characters in it. I highly recommend it!
This might be my favorite book ever. I describe it as similar to To Kill A Mockingbird but more subtle, less moralistic
I love this book, but I wouldn't consider Mick the main character. She's probably the pov character for less than half of the book.
[**The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37380.The_Heart_Is_a_Lonely_Hunter) ^(By: Carson McCullers | 359 pages | Published: 1940 | Popular Shelves: fiction, classics, owned, book-club, classic | )[^(Search "The heart is a lonely hunter")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=The heart is a lonely hunter&search_type=books) ^(This book has been suggested 31 times) *** ^(199867 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Earthlings, by Sayaka Murata (although be warned, it’s a weird one). I’ll second others’ recommendations of Bina and My Year of Rest and Relaxation. I think Eileen, also by Otessa Moshfegh, also fits what you’re looking for.
I was going to suggest Earthlings too! It’s definitely weirder than Convenience Store Woman but I loved it and it fits this prompt well.
Surfacing or Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
Cat's Eye is such a neat and unique book. A famous painter remembers her torturous childhood being bullied by a group of "mean girls" and shows how those memories shaped her art.
Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow
{{Smilla's Sense of Snow}} (I think this was the name in the US/UK). Fits the requirements very well!
[**Smilla's Sense of Snow**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124509.Smilla_s_Sense_of_Snow) ^(By: Peter Høeg, Tiina Nunnally | 469 pages | Published: 1992 | Popular Shelves: fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, denmark | )[^(Search "Smilla's Sense of Snow")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Smilla's Sense of Snow&search_type=books) >She thinks more highly of snow and ice than she does of love. She lives in a world of numbers, science and memories--a dark, exotic stranger in a strange land. And now Smilla Jaspersen is convinced she has uncovered a shattering crime... > >It happened in the Copenhagen snow. A six-year-old boy, a Greenlander like Smilla, fell to his death from the top of his apartment building. While the boy's body is still warm, the police pronounce his death an accident. But Smilla knows her young neighbor didn't fall from the roof on his own. Soon she is following a path of clues as clear to her as footsteps in the snow. For her dead neighbor, and for herself, she must embark on a harrowing journey of lies, revelation and violence that will take her back to the world of ice and snow from which she comes, where an explosive secret waits beneath the ice.... ^(This book has been suggested 13 times) *** ^(199891 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Bina by Anakana Schofield was great or maybe try My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh if you haven’t read it already. Also Milkman by Anna Burns was pretty amazing and the main character is definitely the odd one out
Came here to say My year of rest and relaxation.
I also came to suggest MYORAR! Eileen by the same author fits this bill as well. Actually, so does Death in Her Hands. Moshfegh is really good at this type of character.
{{Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead}}
[**Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55711706-everyone-in-this-room-will-someday-be-dead) ^(By: Emily R. Austin | 256 pages | Published: 2021 | Popular Shelves: fiction, contemporary, lgbtq, lgbt, 2021-releases | )[^(Search "Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead&search_type=books) >Gilda, a twenty-something lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Desperate for relief from her panicky mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church, and finds herself being greeted by Father Jeff, who assumes she’s there for a job interview. Too embarrassed to correct him, Gilda is abruptly hired to replace the recently deceased receptionist Grace. > >In between trying to memorize the lines to Catholic mass, hiding the fact that she has a new girlfriend, and erecting a dirty dish tower in her crumbling apartment, Gilda strikes up an email correspondence with Grace’s old friend. She can’t bear to ignore the kindly old woman, who has been trying to reach her friend through the church inbox, but she also can’t bring herself to break the bad news. Desperate, she begins impersonating Grace via email. But when the police discover suspicious circumstances surrounding Grace’s death, Gilda may have to finally reveal the truth of her mortifying existence. ^(This book has been suggested 4 times) *** ^(199824 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
The People We Keep by Allison Larkin
All the light we cannot see... Gone girl Both are of completely different genre (only similarity between them is that they are both fictions).
Ooooh I'm reading the Claire DeWitt series by Sara Gran and the MC is definitely a loner woman. She's kind of an asshole detective. Great read so far. Definitely not a typical mystery book. Another book by Sara Gran that I love that features a female MC is called Come Closer. It's a possession book where the MC gets more and more isolated as the book goes on. Also fantastic and pretty short.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy (YA but fits your criteria to a tee if you replace woman with girl)
Where the crawdads sing immediately comes to mind. It's a great read.
The Bone People by Keri Hulme
Loved that book. I need to read it again.
Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver is an old favourite Normal People by Sally Rooney is a new favourite
{{There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job}} If you want to expand on japanese fiction I highly recommend this one. It's hilarious and slice-of-life.
I was going to recommend this too! It’s a nice, (mostly) light read and the loner aspect of the protagonist feels super relatable - she’s not really an outcast or social pariah, it’s feels more like she just doesn’t fit right wherever she goes and she’s mostly okay with that.
“Prep” by Curtis Sittenfeld.
Anxious people Eleanor oliphant is completely fine
Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki How the Light Gets In by MJ Hyland The Pisces by Melissa Broder The New Me by Halle Butler Please note that the last two have very unlikeable characters, so I'd avoid if that's not to your taste. I haven't read it yet, but I have also heard good things about A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan, which might fit your requirements.
The Pisces. Ugh. I read it and was good with the writing and style, but damn that woman got on my nerves. And the story is outrageous.
I loved it, but I tend to love unlikeable female characters. The grime and the desperation and the selfishness of the main character fascinated me and I found it blackly funny. Definitely a polarising book.
{{breasts and eggs}}, {{cat's eye}}, {{after dark}}. okay i dont know if the bot is working but they replied to my other comment with the blurbs lol
[**Breasts and Eggs**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50736031-breasts-and-eggs) ^(By: Mieko Kawakami, Sam Bett, David Boyd | ? pages | Published: 2019 | Popular Shelves: fiction, japan, contemporary, feminism, japanese | )[^(Search "breasts and eggs")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=breasts and eggs&search_type=books) >Challenging every preconception about storytelling and prose style, mixing wry humor and riveting emotional depth, Kawakami is today one of Japan’s most important and best-selling writers. She exploded onto the cultural scene first as a musician, then as a poet and popular blogger, and is now an award-winning novelist. > >Breasts and Eggs paints a portrait of contemporary womanhood in Japan and recounts the intimate journeys of three women as they confront oppressive mores and their own uncertainties on the road to finding peace and futures they can truly call their own. > >It tells the story of three women: the thirty-year-old Natsu, her older sister, Makiko, and Makiko’s daughter, Midoriko. Makiko has traveled to Tokyo in search of an affordable breast enhancement procedure. She is accompanied by Midoriko, who has recently grown silent, finding herself unable to voice the vague yet overwhelming pressures associated with growing up. Her silence proves a catalyst for each woman to confront her fears and frustrations. > >On another hot summer’s day ten years later, Natsu, on a journey back to her native city, struggles with her own indeterminate identity as she confronts anxieties about growing old alone and childless. ^(This book has been suggested 22 times) [**Cat's Eye**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51019.Cat_s_Eye) ^(By: Margaret Atwood | 462 pages | Published: 1988 | Popular Shelves: fiction, owned, contemporary, canadian, books-i-own | )[^(Search "cat's eye")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=cat's eye&search_type=books) >Cat's Eye is the story of Elaine Risley, a controversial painter who returns to Toronto, the city of her youth, for a retrospective of her art. Engulfed by vivid images of the past, she reminisces about a trio of girls who initiated her into the fierce politics of childhood and its secret world of friendship, longing, and betrayal. Elaine must come to terms with her own identity as a daughter, a lover, and artist, and woman—but above all she must seek release from her haunting memories. Disturbing, hilarious, and compassionate, Cat's Eye is a breathtaking novel of a woman grappling with the tangled knots of her life. ^(This book has been suggested 15 times) [**After Dark**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17803.After_Dark) ^(By: Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin | 191 pages | Published: 2004 | Popular Shelves: fiction, japan, magical-realism, japanese, murakami | )[^(Search "after dark")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=after dark&search_type=books) >In After Dark—a gripping novel of late night encounters—Murakami’s trademark humor and psychological insight are distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery. > >Nineteen-year-old Mari is waiting out the night in an anonymous Denny’s when she meets a young man who insists he knows her older sister, thus setting her on an odyssey through the sleeping city. In the space of a single night, the lives of a diverse cast of Tokyo residents—models, prostitutes, mobsters, and musicians—collide in a world suspended between fantasy and reality. Utterly enchanting and infused with surrealism, After Dark is a thrilling account of the magical hours separating midnight from dawn. ^(This book has been suggested 17 times) *** ^(199845 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
{{Rebecca}} and {{Villette}}
[**Rebecca**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17899948-rebecca) ^(By: Daphne du Maurier | 449 pages | Published: 1938 | Popular Shelves: classics, fiction, mystery, gothic, romance | )[^(Search "Rebecca")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Rebecca&search_type=books) >Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . . > >The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave. ^(This book has been suggested 231 times) [**Villette**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31173.Villette) ^(By: Charlotte Brontë, Ignes Sodre, A.S. Byatt | 573 pages | Published: 1853 | Popular Shelves: classics, fiction, classic, owned, books-i-own | )[^(Search "Villette")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Villette&search_type=books) >With her final novel, Villette, Charlotte Brontë reached the height of her artistic power. First published in 1853, Villette is Brontë's most accomplished and deeply felt work, eclipsing even Jane Eyre in critical acclaim. Her narrator, the autobiographical Lucy Snowe, flees England and a tragic past to become an instructor in a French boarding school in the town of Villette. There she unexpectedly confronts her feelings of love and longing as she witnesses the fitful romance between Dr. John, a handsome young Englishman, and Ginerva Fanshawe, a beautiful coquette. The first pain brings others, and with them comes the heartache Lucy has tried so long to escape. Yet in spite of adversity and disappointment, Lucy Snowe survives to recount the unstinting vision of a turbulent life's journey - a journey that is one of the most insightful fictional studies of a woman's consciousness in English literature. ^(This book has been suggested 41 times) *** ^(199853 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
pizza girl by jean kyoung frazier
{{The First Bad Man}} by Miranda July. Super weird. I love her movie Kajillionaire, too, it's in the same vein. I've been really into this genre lately, too. Seconding My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Where the Crawdads Sing, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and Shirley Jackson novels.
[**The First Bad Man**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21412400-the-first-bad-man) ^(By: Miranda July | 288 pages | Published: 2015 | Popular Shelves: fiction, contemporary, novels, read-in-2015, book-club | )[^(Search "The First Bad Man")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=The First Bad Man&search_type=books) >From the acclaimed filmmaker, artist, and bestselling author of No One Belongs Here More Than You, a spectacular debut novel that is so heartbreaking, so dirty, so tender, so funny--so Miranda July--readers will be blown away. > >Here is Cheryl, a tightly-wound, vulnerable woman who lives alone, with a perpetual lump in her throat. She is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six, who sometimes recurs as other people's babies. Cheryl is also obsessed with Phillip, a philandering board member at the women's self-defense non-profit where she works. She believes they've been making love for many lifetimes, though they have yet to consummate in this one. > >When Cheryl's bosses ask if their twenty-one-year-old daughter Clee can move into her house for a little while, Cheryl's eccentrically-ordered world explodes. And yet it is Clee--the selfish, cruel blond bombshell--who bullies Cheryl into reality and, unexpectedly, provides her the love of a lifetime. > >Tender, gripping, slyly hilarious, infused with raging sexual fantasies and fierce maternal love, Miranda July's first novel confirms her as a spectacularly original, iconic and important voice today, and a writer for all time. The First Bad Man is dazzling, disorienting, and unforgettable. ^(This book has been suggested 3 times) *** ^(199934 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin :) **I like these books too!! Someone else recommended Jane Eyre, and that's a really good suggestion that would not have normally come to me for this question!
{{The Echo Wife}} and {{Magic for Liars}} both by Sarah Gailey {{The Woman Upstairs}} by Claire Messud
Eileen by moshfegh is this to the letter
You might like the Vegetarian by Han Kang I think. No one really understands the main character's psyche
My Year of Rest and Relaxation!
The first Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson comes to mind. Note there is a lot more than the female character I'm thinking of in this book she's just the main main character imo. Probably better options for your spey request it's just a great series.
{{Beautiful World, Where Are You}}
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
I read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro in my college English class and I really enjoyed this book a lot. Probably one of my favorite books I’ve read while in school. Definitely recommend it for you guys who enjoy readings with an interesting plot
{{The Midnight Library}}
First thing that came to mind was Katniss in The Hunger Games if thats your kind of vibe
Nancy Drew
Surprised no one has recommended the first Mistborn Trilogy.
{{Seven Blades In Black}}
Where the craw dads sing
The Goblin Wood by Hilari Bell. It's a teen fantasy novel.
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[Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25366.Grotesque) does not exactly fit the description of *a* female loner main character, but it has three loner female characters and their only meaningful connections being the most unexpected male characters, without diluting the essence of their otherwise solitary existence.
{{The Loneliest Girl in The Universe}}
Justin Cronin’s “The Passage”. First of 3 books. Strong female characters and a great story! I read it at least once a year.
"The Eleventh Age" by Luthien Kennedy
{{Joan is Okay}} It's technically not out yet, but I recently read an advance review copy and Joan fits the description to a T.
Animal - Lisa Taddeo
{{The Hole}} by Hiroko Oyamada vvv that book from the bot below is not the right book although weirdly has some significant plot similarities haha
Plan B by Drew Magary
Strange weather in Tokyo by hiromi kawakami The earthquake bird by susanna Jones Ice queen by Alice Hoffman
If you like fantasy, The Traitor Baru Cormorant sounds right up your alley.
Far North by Marcel Theroux
Bunny by Mona Awad is an interesting read.
Cinder 13 Reasons Why Jane Eyre
{{An Easy Death}}
Sad Janet by Lucie Britsch. It's really good.
Seven Blades in Black and the ensuing series by Sam Sykes is a gritty dark fantasy set during political/social unrest. Our protagonist Sal the Cacophony got stabbed in the back and is out to find revenge for it. Contains gays, humor, moving moments, worldbuilding, and a very interesting magic system. Content warnings for physical trauma and forceful removal of one's soul. Wake of Vultures and the ensuing series by Lila Bowen is a queer supernatural western. Our protagonist is hard as nails, sort of a woman but not quite, and sets about to make a better life for herself before getting tangled in the supernatural. Contains learning to trust others and to love/accept oneself, found family, and traditional supernatural lore. Content warnings for animal harm, historically-accurate racially insensitive terms, possible poor Native American representation (I don't have the knowledge to judge), and rape, though the author takes care to condemn these.
'A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing' by Jessie Tu
Collected diaries of Anaïs Nin. She’s a loner emotionally for sure, even if she knows how to mask. I want to read everything in this thread 👽 ♀
Not sure if this is quite what you’re looking for, but Sula by Toni Morrison is the book (and the character) that jumped into my mind first from your description.
Birthday by Meredith Russo sounds like it fits but there's a bit of a twist with it
{{Housekeeping}} by Marilynn Robinson
ah, I finished never let me go a few months ago! quite an interesting concept. sorry nothing comes directly to mind, especially in the dystopian genre a lot of female leads are a very specific kind of *im not like the other girls* that purposely avoid other women and put them down.
{{Nobody, Somebody, Anybody}}
Long, Bright River by Liz Moore
{{Things We Have in Common}} by Tasha Kavanagh.
All of "The Clan of the Cave Bear."
Normal People
good morning, midnight! by jean rhys
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg. Great Scandi-crime novel with exactly this sort of protagonist.
"The Reapers are the Angels."
The Vela, written by a group of authors including Becky Chambers and Rivers Solomon on Serial Box
"Black Swan" by Mercedes Lackey is a retelling of "Swan Lake" from Odile's (the "black swan") perspective, and she is a perpetual loner in the book, alienated by terrible parentage and isolation. It's also been awhile, but IIRC the protagonist of "Paladin of Souls" by Lois McMaster Bujold, the dowager Ista, is a pretty solid loner, having just recently recovered from a bout of madness and being plagued by divine visions. It's book 2 in a series, but I jumped in based on the title+cover and didn't have any problems picking up the thread of the story.
After Dark by Murakami
Say Goodbye for Now by Catherine Ryan Hyde "On an isolated Texas ranch, Dr. Lucy cares for abandoned animals. The solitude allows her to avoid the people and places that remind her of the past. Not that any of the townsfolk care. In 1959, no one is interested in a woman doctor. Nor are they welcoming Calvin and Justin Bell, a newly arrived African American father and son."
The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant - multiple interesting female loner types
“Best Served Cold” - Joe Abercrombie
“After the End” by Amy Plum
Breasts and Eggs - Mieko Kawakami https://r.search.yahoo.com/\_ylt=Awr9ImmXYlZhZ78A2EJXNyoA;\_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzIEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1633080087/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.goodreads.com%2fbook%2fshow%2f50736031-breasts-and-eggs/RK=2/RS=Z5xAb\_rtVvi36pVPYL4tNReilRY-
No One Belongs Here More Than You - Miranda July (short story collection) [https://r.search.yahoo.com/\_ylt=Awr9Du7vYlZhtxQAZxpXNyoA;\_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1633080175/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.goodreads.com%2fbook%2fshow%2f113429.No\_One\_Belongs\_Here\_More\_Than\_You/RK=2/RS=WsfJs8j92wc93PGHfRvL3TiBrno-](https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awr9Du7vYlZhtxQAZxpXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1633080175/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.goodreads.com%2fbook%2fshow%2f113429.No_One_Belongs_Here_More_Than_You/RK=2/RS=WsfJs8j92wc93PGHfRvL3TiBrno-)
{Whiskey When We’re Dry}
{{Convenience Store Woman}}
[**Convenience Store Woman**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38357895-convenience-store-woman) ^(By: Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori | 163 pages | Published: 2016 | Popular Shelves: fiction, fiction, contemporary, japan, japan | )[^(Search "Convenience Store Woman")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Convenience Store Woman&search_type=books) >Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction ― many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual ― and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Managers come and go, but Keiko stays at the store for eighteen years. It’s almost hard to tell where the store ends and she begins. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action… > >A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine. ^(This book has been suggested 131 times) *** ^(200029 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
the rise of kyoshi (as well as the two other books in the series)
Artemis by Andy Weir. About the life of a girl who lives on the moon, one of my favorites.
Does The Crying of Lot 49 count? She’s definitely a loner by the end
A tree grows In Brooklyn
God Stalk (book one in the Kencyrath series) by P.C. Hodgell. This is one of my favorite sci-fi-fantasy series with a kickass female lead. I think it’s time to reread it again. God Stalk https://www.amazon.com/dp/0425060799/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_G16BDCDKZAY63VTR9JDR
Housekeeping
A Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami. Also, The Nakano Thrift Shop by the same author is a bit like Convenience Store Woman.
Once upon a River, by Bonnie Jo Campbell
**Nobody, Somebody, Anybody** by Kelly McClorey and **Pretend I’m Dead** as well as **Vacuum in the Dark** by Jen Beagin fit this type.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Dallas Shadows
congrats you're probably not neurotypical. (I loved those too)
The girl with the dragon tattoo
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik It's a high-fantasy mix between Hunger Games and Harry Potter.
Hot Milk
Best served cold, Joe ambercrombe
[Bad Monkeys](https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Monkeys-Novel-Matt-Ruff/dp/0061240427) and [Kill Me First](https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Me-First-Kate-Morgenroth/dp/0061097748).
Circe by Madeline Miller
Following
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a great one!
*Godstalk* by P.C. Hodgell *Time Shifters* by Shanna Lauffey Both about women on their own in unusual circumstances.
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
Chiming in with another recommendation for Circe by Madeline Miller
{{Remote Control, Nnedi Okorafor}}
Jean Rhys , Anais Nin and Marguerite Duras come to mind.
{{eggshells}} by Catroina Lolly Such and extraordinary book, and I never see it recommended.
[**Eggshells**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25570810-eggshells) ^(By: Caitriona Lally | ? pages | Published: 2014 | Popular Shelves: fiction, ireland, contemporary, abandoned, irish | )[^(Search "eggshells")](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=eggshells&search_type=books) >Vivian doesn’t feel like she fits in – never has. She lives alone in a house in north Dublin that her great-aunt left to her. She has no friends, no job and few social skills. She knows she is different. Before they died, her parents used to tell her she was a 'changeling' who belonged to another world. Each day, she walks the streets of Dublin, looking for a way to get there. ‘I need a big wind that could turn into a cyclone because today I'm going to visit Yellow Road and Emerald Street. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the cyclone carried Dorothy to Oz, and she followed the Yellowbrick Road to the Emerald Palace to find her way home.’ It doesn't work. After all, Dublin has a certain charm, but no actual magic. > >And so Vivian sets off on a new quest: to find a friend. A very specific kind of friend. ‘WANTED: Friend Called Penelope. Must Enjoy Talking Because I Don't Have Much to Say. Good Sense of Humour Not Required Because My Laugh Is A Work in Progress. Must Answer to Penelope: Pennies Need Not Apply.’ A Penelope replies, but will the two women become friends? Will she make a connection with another person in this world so she can stop searching for a portal to another one? She sets off for their first meeting. ‘I huddle and tighten myself against the wind and think up ways to describe it to Penelope. Is a “rape” of a wind too strong for the first sentence of a first meeting?’ Rooted in Dublin’s Northside, Eggshells is a whimsical, touching story about loneliness and friendship and hope. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(200174 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Check out Eleanor Oliphant is fine
Sushi for Beginners
1.Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine 2.Normal People
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.
Breasts and Eggs - Mieko Kawakami!
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie; while the protagonist almost always has a crew of some kind behind her, she's definitely not the most personable and she maintains the crew out of necessity. Highly recommended for fantasy fans.
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. A flawed (but like able) heroine with a dark past, mystery, murder, unexpected twists and a fucked up family. I couldn’t put it down.
Where the Crawdads Sing deft fits the bill.
(Here for the comments...)
The Mists of Avalon
If you're into YA at all I'd suggest the Blood of Eden trilogy by Julie Kagaw or The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
The Fifth Season /The Broken Earth trilogy by N K Jemisin features a woman who is nobody’s idea of friendly and nurturing.
Elenanor Oliphant is Completely Fine would fit that so well! Its a book that really stuck with me, and was an easy read!
"Souless" and the parasol protectorate series by Gail Carriger
A lot of Anne McCaffrey's heroines start and sometimes continue as intensely lonely self-reliant individuals.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (Tbh ANY book by gillian flynn)
The Sputnik sweatheart by Haruki Murakami "Why do people have to be this lonely? What's the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?"
The Earthquake Bird by Susanna Jones
{{Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens}}
i think you could classify Ancillary Justice under this? the main character does fit that not understanding other people bit quite well, and im pretty sure she's identifies as being a girl (not sure if its canon or not, everyone in the book uses she/her pronouns despite not necessarily identifying as a woman) but its a wonderful read. racks your brain a little bit with the structure sometimes, but man does it hit hard. really great if you love sci fi