‘Heroines’s Bookshelf’ celebrates female literary characters

Imagine a world of literature without Scout Finch, Scarlett O’Hara or Elizabeth Bennet. Strong female characters are beloved by many for a variety of reasons, but all can agree that the literary world would be a pretty bland place if not for characters such as these.

In her book “The Heroine’s Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder,” author Erin Blakemore looks at 12 of the most popular female literary characters in history and how they have affected her life as well as the lives of others.

Dividing her book into 12 chapters, Blakemore matches 12 personality traits to a specific fictional character. For the chapter on “Happiness” she looks at Anne Shirley from the “Anne of Green Gables” series, while the chapter on “Dignity” features Celie from Alice Walker’s novel “The Color Purple.” Scarlett O’Hara is the epitome of feistiness in the chapter titled “Fight,” while Harper Lee's Scout Finch teaches readers lessons in compassion in “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

Along with lessons learned in her own life, Blakemore includes information from the author’s background and what went into the writing of each book to round out the chapters. Each chapter ends with modern day parallels and suggestions of books with similar themes or heroines.

A slender volume, “The Heroine’s Bookshelf” packs a lot of information into its 200 pages and will be right at home on any literature lover’s bookshelf.