The Heroine's Bookshelf
Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder

The literary canon is filled with intelligent, feisty, neversaydie heroines, and legendary female authors. Like todays women, they too placed a premium on personality, spirituality, career, sisterhood, and family. When their backs were against the wall, characters like Scarlett OHara, Jo March, Jane Eyre, and Elizabeth Bennet fought backsometimes with words, sometimes with gritty actions. Their commonsense decisions resonate even more powerfully in a world where women are forced to return to the basics, paring down and shoring up their resources for what lies ahead. In this compelling book of beloved heroines and the remarkable writers who created them, Erin Blakemore explores how the pluck and dignity of literary characters such as Scout Finch and Jo March can inspire women today. She divides these legendary characters into chapters that pair each with their central qualityAnne Shirley is associated with irrepressible Happiness, while Scarlett OHara personifies Fight. Each chapter includes insights into the authors lives, revealing how their own strengths informed their timeless characters. From Zora Neale Hurston to Colette, Laura Ingalls Wilder to Charlotte Bront, Jane Austen to Alice Walker, here are some of the most cherished authors and characters in literature.