It’s time to bring women back to the forefront of publishing. And Baileys is helping make it happen. As in, the Baileys of Baileys Irish Cream. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Women’s Prize for Fiction (the company has sponsored the prize since 2013), Baileys launched the Reclaim Her Name campaign. They’re releasing a collection of 25 books that champion female writers across the globe. These books specifically champion women who published iconic novels under male pseudonyms by putting their actual names on the cover.
“Throughout history, many female writers have used male pen names for their work to be published or taken seriously,” Baileys wrote about Reclaim Her Name on its website. “In collaboration with the Women’s Prize for Fiction, we have put their real names on the front of their work for the first time to honour their achievements and give them the credit they deserve.”
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You can find the full set of Reclaim Her Name books on the Baileys website. The collection celebrates a diverse number of authors and stories, from epic British novels like Middlemarch by Mary Ann Evans (a.k.a. George Eliot) to ahead-of-its-time feminist works like Keynotes by Mary Bright (a.k.a. George Egerton.) It also include ghost stories, romances, science fiction adventures, political affairs, historical memoirs, biographies, and horror tales. Each book features a beautiful, minimalist cover that puts the author’s true name front and center. That’s the most prominent design element. The title of the book sits at the bottom of the cover. The website also includes notes about what made the story unique. Maybe it was an instant bestseller or the first novel by an African-American woman to sell over one million copies.
If you think the Reclaim Her Name initiative can’t get any better, think again. Baileys has made every book available for free as an eBook. You can download them from the above site. And they’ll be donating physical boxsets of the 25 works to libraries around the country.
Featured Image: Bailey’s