Duffy's first novel, the autobiographical That's How It Was (1962), has been called one of the few authentic accounts in British fiction of a working class childhood. The novel focuses on the relationships between the protagonist and her mother, stepbrothers, school friends, and a schoolteacher.

Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) was one of the seminal works of 1960s feminism, awakening a whole generation of women to new insights into themselves and their roles in society.

Sylvia Plath's autobiographical novel The Bell Jar (1963) describes the stereotyping of women's roles as discovered by a young woman who works as an intern at a magazine in New York City in the early 1950s. The focus of the story is the woman's mental breakdown that results in a suicide attempt.

The Awakening (1899), by Kate Chopin, is an early example of an emerging feminist consciousness. Set...