On May 30, 2025, Taylor Swift announced that she had bought back all of her masters that had once been sold out from under her. On what Swifties are now calling Taydepence Day, Swifties everywhere celebrated what Swift had worked for since her music was taken from her in 2019. As a Swiftie myself, Swift’s story has inspired me and so many others as she reclaims what rightfully belongs to her after working so hard with her Taylor’s Versions and The Eras Tour. Her journey is not just about business, but it’s about resilience, reclamation, and taking control of one’s own narrative. In reclaiming her masters, Swift has become a worldwide symbol of strength and self-advocacy in the music industry, reminding us all of the power in owning our stories.
Inspired by Taylor Swift herself, here are ten powerful stories of strength and reclamation in literature that echo the spirit of Swift’s six-year fight.
1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Hollywood icon, Evelyn Hugo, is finally ready to speak her truth and reclaim her story. But when Evelyn herself choses Monique Grant to be the only one to complete the interview, no one is more confused than Monique herself. Although Monique’s life is falling to pieces, she is determined to use her interview with Evelyn as a way to reclaim her career. Evelyn takes Monique through the years, husband by husband, to tell her story. From 1950’s Los Angeles to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, Evelyn tells her stories full of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and her one forbidden love. Through her time with Evelyn, Monique finds herself connecting with the star, but as Evelyn’s story begins to come to a close, it becomes clear that her life connects with Monique’s in a tragic and irreversible way.
“When you’re given an opportunity to change your life, be ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn’t give things, you take things.”
From The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
2. Circe by Madeline Miller
Madeline Miller reclaims the Greek Goddess Circe’s story in her enchanting retelling Circe. Circe was born a strange child as she wasn’t deemed powerful by her father nor was she alluring like her mother. After turning to the world of mortals for company, she discovers that she does possess a power after all: the power to transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. When Zeus discovers Circe’s power and becomes threatened, he banishes her to a deserted island where she comes across many of the most famous figures in mythology such as the Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus, and of course Odysseus. But there is danger when a woman stands alone and Circe finds herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of Olympians. By the end, Circe must summon all of her strength and choose whether she belongs with the gods from which she is born, or with the mortals that she has come to love.
“What a beautiful, witchy and poetic novel circe is! madeline millers writing is so lyrical and just incredibly phenomenal, i’m in love, a perfect retelling of greek mythology.”
From Hanna Ronja on Goodreads
3. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Color Purple is a cultural touchstone of modern American literature and has moved generations of readers since 1982. With its authentic way of depicting the love of African American women in early 20th century Georgia, it narrates the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, and resilience and bravery. Through a series of letters spanning over 20 years, readers are drawn into the stories’ rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery, and Sofia. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker takes readers through a transformative journey towards redemption, love, and reclamation.
“Why any woman give a shit what people think is a mystery to me.”
From The Color Purple
4. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Jennette McCurdy became a staple in the younger generations’ childhood, featuring in popular shows like ICarly and Sam & Cat, but the Jennette you saw in those shows is not the Jennette you hear speaking to you in I’m Glad My Mom Died. In this heartbreaking memoir, Jennette reclaims her childhood by sharing her struggles as a former child actor including her experiences with eating disorders, addiction, and her complicated relationship with her toxic mother. In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette reflects on all this in unflinching detail in a way that’s almost uncomfortable to listen to. By the end, Jennette is able to tell the story of her recovery and how she was finally able to decide what she really wants in her life after her mothers passing.
“I feel like the world is divided into two types of people: people who know loss and people who don’t.”
From I’m Glad My Mom Died
5. Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Stuffed full with soul and tenderness, Untamed is an intimate memoir that also serves as an invigorating wake up call for women everywhere. Untamed tells the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them what it’s like to fully live. Glennon Doyle tells a story of what it’s like to navigate divorce, form a new blended family, and discover that a family is not dependent on its structure but on each member’s ability to bring their full self to the table. It’s a story of how women have the power to reclaim themselves and trust themselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with themselves, honor their anger and heartbreak, and unleash their wildest instincts so that women can finally look at themselves and say: There she is.
“When a woman finally learns that pleasing the world is impossible, she becomes free to learn how to please herself.”
From Untamed
6. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic is the story of glamorous socialite Noemí Taboada and her journey to a remote estate in 1950s Mexico to rescue her cousin from a sinister fate. But when she arrives, what she finds is a mansion on the brink of falling apart that’s full of disturbing secrets, eerie dreams, and a twisted family legacy. As Noemí begins to unearth the dark history of High Place, the story begins to explore themes of reclamation as Noemí fights to not only save her cousin but to reclaim agency, identity, and strength in a world shaped by colonialism and decay. As the house’s grip tightens, Noemí must confront both supernatural and human horrors before she becomes part of its eternal darkness.
“But at the same time there is something so beautiful about its creepiness that you will find it engrossing, captivating, absorbing, riveting, consuming and addictive that you not be able to put it down despite the fact that it scared the daylights out of you!”
From daph pink on Goodreads
7. The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
The First Woman tells a story of smart and flawed Kirabo who is being raised by her grandparents in rural Uganda. But as Kirabo begins to enter her teens, she begins to feel overshadowed by the absence of the mother she has never known. Deeply personal, The First Woman is a tale of one young girl’s search for her mother, her discovery of what it means to be a woman, and the consequences of her future.
“Remember, be a good person, not a good girl. Good girls suffer a lot in this life.”
From The First Woman
8. God Help the Child by Toni Morrison
God Help the Child is Toni Morrison’s first novel set in the current moment and is a story that discusses the way that the sufferings of childhood can negatively shape the life of an adult. Morrison explores how the wounds of childhood echo into adulthood and the struggle it takes to reclaim your life when it’s been taken from you since birth. Centered on a beautiful and successful woman who goes by the name Bride, and whose dark skin made her mother withhold love, God Help the Child unravels the tangled consequences of trauma, fame, and redemption through interconnected stories of pain, identity, reclamation, and healing.
“Really lovely novel about how a young woman made a desperate choice to be loved by her mother, how that choice would shape her life, and how she was able to overcome a mistake to become her own woman.”
From Roxane on Goodreads
9. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
After Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban while riding the bus home from school, very few people expected her to survive. But when Malala defeated all odds and recovered, she made it her life’s mission to fight for girls’ education despite the Taliban’s efforts to control. Malala’s miracle recovery took her on a remarkable journey from the remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York where she became the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate. I Am Malala is the inspiring tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, the fight for girls’ education everywhere, and of a father who encourages his daughter to write and attend school. I Am Malala is Malala’s empowering reclamation of a life that was almost taken right out from under her.
“If one man can destroy everything, why can’t one girl change it?”
From I Am Malala
10. Educated by Tara Westover
Educated tells the inspiring true story of Tara Westover, a woman who grew up isolated in a survivalist family in rural Idaho with no formal schooling or medical care. Driven by an untamed determination to learn, Tara reclaims her life through education but teaching herself enough to enter university to eventually study at Harvard and Cambridge. Tara’s story is one of reclamation through knowledge and identity as she breaks free from the limitations put on her, even as she grapples with the painful cost of distancing herself from her family. This memoir powerfully examines the courage it takes to reclaim one’s voice and rewrite one’s story.
“My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”
From Educated
Taylor Swift’s journey to reclaim her masters is just one powerful example of reclamation and resilience. These ten stories remind us that reclamation takes many forms and continue to inspire us all to own our truths and fight for what’s rightfully ours.
Looking for more Taylor Swift inspired reads? Check out our article Romantic Love Stories Full of Taylor Swift References!
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