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

Whenever life hits a bump in the road or I find myself stressed out the first thing I turn to is a book. Books ground me and give me a form of escape from my present circumstances. They let me take a step back and look at my problems from another point of view and provide a much needed mental health break. While I have done this all my life I have often felt very alone in my solace in fiction, until I discovered the internet anyway. But a print book, in IRL, now that’s a different sort of validation and this is why The Heroine’s Bookshelf is ranked among my top reads this year.

In her book Erin Blakemore showcases twelve books with their fantastic heroines and authors and shows how each one can help inspire and improve our lives in show more different ways. She covers everything from faith to dignity, compassion, ambition… even magic. Each chapter covers one theme and talks about how both the heroine and the author embody that theme in their lives and in their books. Laura Ingalls Wilder embodies Simplicity, Charlotte Bronte and her heroine Jane Eyre show steadfastness, while Margaret Mitchell and her heroine Scarlett O’Hara fight every step of the way.

I loved how each chapter covered not just the literary heroines and their themes and adventures but also took the time to research each author as well. Often the history of an author proved to be surprising and very relevant to both the heroine they would go on to write and the theme that both they and their heroine would represent. Both Lizzy Bennet and Jane Austen were true to themselves against great financial and societal odds. Both Celie and Alice Walker led lives of dignity in impossible circumstances. It surprised me as well how many of these great female authors were forced to publish anonymously or under male pseudonyms and often led lives of poverty and degradation because they wanted to be true to themselves and write.

What I loved most though was how reading the chapters dedicated to my favorite books offered me insight into my own life that I hadn’t considered before. The lines she draws are fascinating to follow and I really felt like I learned a lot about my favorite literary heroines, about my beloved female authors and, within this new context, myself as well.

Highly recommended reading for bookish types, The Heroine’s Bookshelf offers more than life lessons, it offers new insight into favorite characters, great authors and even yourself. show less

For such a small book, The Heroine's Bookshelf packs quite a punch. It is one of those books that makes a reader proud to be female, while also making one appreciate the lessons learned from childhood heroines. It is the perfect novel to read when feeling blue or at a crossroads in one's life because it simultaneously reminds one of all those who have experienced similar thoughts/sensations/emotions while confirming the idea that we are not alone in our struggles. In a book filled with lessons, it is the most powerful lesson of all.

Ms. Blakemore does a fantastic job of presenting each beloved character in a fresh new light while simultaneously confirming why they are beloved in the first place. At the same time, she shares the struggles show more each author had to overcome in order to present these extraordinary characters with the world. Fighting to be heard among men, fighting depression, letting one's voice be heard - they are all issues that these authors dealt with while writing, which lends a note of familiarity to the entire proceedings because they continue to be problems today.

The Heroine's Bookshelf posits the idea that heroines in novels can be important roles models in spite of being fictional. From Scarlett, one learns never to give up the fight. Who can forget the importance of happiness and looking on the bright side of things learned from Anne? What about staying true to one's own beliefs, as shown to us by Jane? Often, the authors' stories can be just as, if not more, inspirational than the heroines themselves. If they can overcome their own conflicts to write these extraordinary characters, we all can do the same in our own lives.

The Heroine's Bookshelf makes me want to revisit and rejoice in each heroine all over again. Read at a time when I am struggling with my own demons in my personal life, Ms. Blakemore reminded me that I need to stay true to my own values, to fight for them, to never forget my sense of wonder, and to have faith. It is a reminder that I feel everyone needs to receive, and one that I will truly cherish. show less

In times of stress, there's almost nothing better than rereading a cozy favorite book and shutting out the world. And who better to remind us of how to be the heroines of our own lives than the heroines of our favorite books? From Jane Eyre, my own personal favorite, to The Color Purple, Blakemore takes a closer look at our favorite female characters, the books they star in, and the authors who wrote them. She not only isolates a few of the greatest traits of these heroines, but explains how we can take them away and use them in our own lives.

The Heroine's Bookshelf was everywhere in the book blogosphere last month and with all the praise it garnered, I couldn't resist getting a copy for myself. So when it popped up on Amazon Vine, I show more eagerly requested it, just knowing I'd love a book about so many of my favorite female characters. It's difficult for a book to live up to those high expectations, but this one managed just that. It's a delightful, heartening little read, that reminds us we're not alone and certainly made me want to go right back to these literary favorites. Perfectly written for a time when many women's lives are getting more difficult, when the pennies have to stretch that much further, this is a book that has a place on every woman's bookshelf.

What I really loved most about this book was that Blakemore didn't stop at the actual heroines in the novels. No, those are the women we're all familiar with, that we have already come to love and store within ourselves. She also talks about the fabulous female authors who created these literary heroines and their own foibles. She speculates on their motivations for creating the strong girls who still manage to inspire us today and adds them into the mix of real life - because much as we'd like it, our lives aren't fiction with a neat conclusion. Our lives are messy, and so were these authors', but they stood above that and created literature that transcends. Maybe our acts of heroism aren't writing, but that doesn't mean they can't inspire us.

Split into sections for the trait each character epitomizes, Blakemore takes us on a literary journey of sorts, through one heroine's capacity to love, to another's classification of magic, to a third's unrelenting faith. Even without having read all the books (I have never read The Color Purple or Colette's Claudine works), I still felt I gained from those sections. As an added bonus, I'd now love to read them, and plan to do so in the very near future. The entire book felt like it was written just for me - and it reminded me of how fortunate I am to love reading and to find inspiration in it on a regular basis.

If you are a woman and love to read - if you spent much of your childhood lost in a book like me - The Heroine's Bookshelf is simply a must read. I'm thrilled to have it on my shelf.

Originally posted: http://medievalbookworm.com/?p=2976 show less

Delightfully nostalgic and enlightening

Behind every unforgettable heroine stands her remarkable creator. Debut author Erin Blakemore explores this theme in The Heroine’s Bookshelf, twelve essays devoted to her favorite literary heroines and the unique correlation between their writer’s life and the character she created. From Jane Austen’s spirited impertinence of Elizabeth Bennet, to the effervescent optimism of Lucy Maude Montgomery’s Anne Shirley, to the dogged determination of Margaret Mitchell’s Scarlet O’Hara, anyone who has ever sought solace in the pages of a classic novel or inspiration for new perspective during troubling times will be enthralled by every essay in this book.

Literature is comfort food for me and show more there is something inherently reassuring about reconnecting again with the books that we read for the first time during our childhood and early adult years. Blakemore and I share this affinity which she elaborates upon in her introduction.

“Call me a coward if you will, but when the lines between duty and sanity blur, you can usually find me curled up with a battered book, reading as if my mental health depended on it. And it does, for inside the books I love I find food, respite, escape, and perspective. I find something else too: heroines and authors, hundreds of them, women whose real and fictitious lives have covered the terrain I too must tread.”

The twelve heroines and their authors she chose to evaluate and share with us are several of my favorite too. Some fight physical hardships, poverty and hatred, snobbery and prejudice and emotional insecurities, and others the foibles and follies of human nature. Each is memorable to me because they faced struggles and challenges, confronted them boldly and creatively, and emerged victorious; a stronger and better person for their endeavor. Just their names alone: Scout Finch, Jane Eyre, Francine Nolan, Mary Lennox, Jo Marsh and Laura Ingalls evoke nostalgia, sending me in an instant to a faraway happy place of comfort, adventure and romance. In addition to revisiting my favorite heroines, my pleasure was heightened by knowledge of their author’s lives that I had not previously known, giving me a deeper understanding and respect for each of the heroines and their creators.

Besides blogging about Jane Austen, I am a bookseller at Barnes & Noble. Occasionally, when a book just bowls me over like The Heroine’s Bookshelf, I select it as my staff rec and talk it up amongst my fellow booksellers. A group of us were seated in the break room yesterday afternoon; ladies who are passionate about reading and love classic literature. As I lifted up the cover and firmly told everyone that this book is a must read, I proceeded to list all of the twelve heroine’s discussed. The ooo’s, ahh’s and immediate enthusiastic chatter that erupted sent shivers up the back of my neck. Just the mention of each heroine’s name sparked such vivid and happy memories. Everyone had their favorite heroine and a personal story to go with it. It was like a drug, a literary endorphin rush! I asked who wanted to read my copy next and a unanimous reply of “me” resounded like the joyous hallelujah chorus in Handle’s Messiah! Sweet music for a passionate reader, joyous bookseller, and dedicated book blogger.

The Heroine’s Bookshelf is a frothy literary latte; rich and sweet and deeply satisfying. Beautifully designed, it will make the perfect gift for the literature lover in your family or circle of friends. I wholeheartedly praise it to the skies and recommend it to all who wish to become the heroine of their own life.

Laurel Ann, Austenprose show less

In simple explanation the author, Erin Blakemore, takes character traits (such as dignity and compassion) and pairs them with a classic of literary fiction (such as _Jane Eyre_ and _Little Women_). Blakemore then proceeds to explore the character trait through the lens of the book's main character. What results is a delight.

A combination of memoir, literary commentary, psychological profile and author biography, this book blends all these facets together flawlessly. In an era of girls/women behaving badly, Blakemore introduces us or re-acquaints us with heroines worthy of our time and emulation - using both a book's characters and their creators. But this is not some 'sweetness and light' exploration; Blakemore does not shy away from show more the flaws and imperfections of those she writes about. Instead she frames these flaws as obstacles to be overcome and tools to transformation.

Timely yet timeless, this book has something to offer any woman, from high school student to senior citizen. As the book chapters are named according to the profiled trait you can immediately find and read the section you find most interesting and/or pertinent although my recommendation would be to read the book cover to cover at least once. Each chapter concludes with a short 'read this book (when)' bibliotherapy section and a list of books that further address the character trait. This book is a gem. Recommended for gifting to any woman you hold dear (including yourself) and one I'll be referring to (and referring others to) for years to come.

Disclosure: I received this book as part of the Members Giveaway program - thank-you for this gift. show less

This book's subititle, "Life Lessons from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder" exactly describes this delicious little gem. Each chapter is devoted to the life lessons that Blakemore, and millions of other readers have gleaned from a literary heroine such as Jane Eyre, Jo March, or Scout Finch, and her author/creator.

From the very first words of the introduction I identified with the author. Again and again this book resonated, and I found myself mentally crying out an emphatic "Yes!".

At other times, I was delighted to gain a new perspective of an old friend.

I suppose that it would be a bit redundant to say that I LOVED this book and that I highly recommend it. It's being added to my list of favorites, for sure!

[The Heroine's Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder] by [Erin Blakemore] explores how our admired literary characters can be examples for us when life gets tough.

There are 10 chapters, each with a different topic. There is Self (Lizze Bennett), Happiness (Anne Shirley), Family Ties (Francie Nolan), etc. The concept is great but while I enjoyed reading it (and I read it over several months) Blakemore's comments are often mundane.