I'm thinking about some of the women who have written some of my favorite novels. Most of them don't get much respect, even when they write bestsellers.

The late Mary Renault (that's a pen name by the way) is a rare exception. Her historical novels about the ancient Greek world are widely regarded as masterpieces, by both literary critics and classicists.

But, speaking of Victorian romances, after Laura Argiri spent almost 20 years writing a highly stylized literary novel —in the form of a gay romance with a distinctly Victorian feel — readers loved it but critics savaged her.

Despite her novel being meticulously researched, brilliantly detailed, poetically framed, and often glowingly beautiful, the literary world called her a "lightweight."

She was a woman, she was writing about love in the Victorian era, and many of her characters were queer. That was enough for the men who control the industry to dismiss her 20 years of work producing a brilliant piece of literary fiction.

And so it goes ...