And The Top 20 Most Life-Changing Books Written By Women Are…

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction unveils the #ThisBook list of the most influential novels written by women

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird has been voted the most life-changing novel written by a woman after the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction asked book lovers on Twitter to nominate their favourites under the hashtag #thisbook.

Other titles voted amongst the most influential included Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (eighth place), Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin (fourteenth) and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, which came in fourth. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre took the second and third spots respectively.

Jennifer Saunders, Kate Mosse and Martha Lane Fox were amongst the star names who backed the campaign, encouraging friends like newsreader Susannah Reid and Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie to pick their favourite books (both, coincidentally, nominated I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith).

The full #ThisBook Top 20 is:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee 2. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood 3. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 4. Harry Potter – J.K Rowling 5. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 6. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen 7. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 8. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott 9. The Secret History – Donna Tartt 10. I Capture The Castle – Dodie Smith 11. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath 12. Beloved – Toni Morrison 13. Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell 14. We Need To Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver 15. The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger 16. Middlemarch – George Eliot 17. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou 18. The Golden Notebook – Doris Lessing 19. The Colour Purple – Alice Walker 20. The Women’s Room – Marilyn French

Do you agree with the top 20 rankings? Can you think of a book that deserves to be up there? How many have you read on the list? Tell us what you think on Twitter @MarieClaireUK