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

Erin Blakemore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 2010

An exploration of classic heroines and their equally admirable authors, The Heroine's Bookshelf shows today's women how to tap into their inner strengths and live life with intelligence and grace.

Jo March, Scarlett O'Hara, Scout Finch—the literary canon is brimming with intelligent, feisty, never-say-die heroines and celebrated female authors. Like today's women, they placed a premium on personality, spirituality, career, sisterhood, and family. When they were up against the wall, authors like Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott fought back—sometimes with words, sometimes with gritty actions. In this witty, informative, and inspiring read, their stories offer much-needed literary intervention to modern women.

Full of beloved heroines and the remarkable writers who created them, The Heroine's Bookshelf explores how the pluck and dignity of literary characters such as Jane Eyre and Lizzy Bennet can encourage women today.

Each legendary character is paired with her central quality—Anne Shirley is associated with irrepressible "Happiness," while Scarlett O'Hara personifies "Fight"—along with insights into her author's extraordinary life. From Zora Neale Hurston to Colette, Laura Ingalls Wilder to Charlotte BrontË, Harper Lee to Alice Walker, here are authors and characters whose spirited stories are more inspiring today than ever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Marketing consultant Blakemore finds that in moments of struggle and stress she revisits her favorite childhood women authors and their plucky heroines for respite, escape, and perspective. Jane Austen, who broke off an engagement and threw away her last chance at a respectable marriage, poked fun at polite society and its expectations of women in her novels, and she created a self-assured, self-respecting protagonist in Pride and Prejudice's Lizzy Bennet--who also doesn't need a man to complete her even if Lizzy does get a rich, handsome husband in the end. As Blakemore pushes against the boundaries of her own life, she also identifies with selfish Scarlett O'Hara, who, lacking in self-awareness and oblivious to the emotions of others, shoulders life's burdens and moves ahead, "her decisions swift, self-serving, and without compromise." The Little House on the Prairie series reminds Blakemore that when we focus on people and life instead of on material possessions, we learn to acknowledge what really counts. She finds inspiration, too, in Little Women, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Color Purple, and Anne of Green Gables, and offers some nuggets of wisdom, but for the most part, her observations are familiar and pat. (Nov.) (c)
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Review

"...Blakemore makes a charming case for rereading."  (The Washington Post)

"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." (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

"To readers' delight, each chapter examines a leading lady's fictional journey and her real-life creator's own narrative, underscoring both the parallels and contemporary application of meaningful life lessons." (Boulder Daily Camera)

"...a helpful and entertaining conversation starter at book groups."  (Book Group Buzz [American Library Association])

"...a frothy literary latte; rich and sweet and deeply satisfying."  (Austenprose.com)

“Blakemore finds comfort and inspiration in revisiting the tales of literature’s leading ladies and exploring the lives of the women who spun them. [She] makes a charming case for rereading.” (Washington Post )

“[A] delightful guide to what the heroines of some of the great novels by women writers, and those writers themselves can teach us about life.” (Beatrice.com )

“If you’re stumped for your next pleasure book and want to submerse yourself in a literary past sprinkled with powerful, independent women like Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott, Blakemore’s book provides the perfect portal.” (New York Press )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (October 19, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006195876X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061958762
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #386,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Award-winning author Erin M. Blakemore learned to drool over Darcy and cry over Little Women in suburban San Diego, California. These days, her inner heroine loves roller derby, running her own business, and hiking in her adopted hometown of Boulder, Colorado.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Author Has Excellent Taste, January 5, 2011

By 

Diane B. Wilkes "Diane Wilkes, Voracious Reader" (Oreland, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Heroine's Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

The concept of THE HEROINE'S BOOKSHELF by Erin Blakemore is terrific: utilize the lessons of various beloved heroines/protagonists to inspire you. The author has chosen 12 particular qualities and uses 12 female protagonists written by 12 different women authors to illuminate them.

The qualities are Self, Faith, Happiness, Dignity, Family Ties, Indulgence, Fight, Compassion, Simplicity, Steadfastness, Ambition, and Magic. The protagonists range from Elizabeth Bennet from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Self) to Celie in THE COLOR PURPLE (Dignity). Each section includes examples of how the protagonist exemplifies the particular quality, some biographical information about the author that evinces the quality, along with times in your life when you might most want to read the book. Blakemore then lists three "literary" sisters of the protagonist/heroine, a kind of "If you liked Elizabeth Bennet, you might like..."

It didn't hurt my appreciation of this book that Blakemore's protagonist pool is one with which I am very familiar. I have read all the books she includes, and Elizabeth Bennet, Anne (Shirley) of Green Gables, Francie Nolan (from A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN), Scout Finch (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD), and Jo March from LITTLE WOMEN are some of my most beloved and revisited heroines. I enjoyed reading about them and their creators. In many cases, I knew a great deal about the authors but in others (in particular, Frances Hodges Burnett), I now want to read and learn more about them. I love books that stimulate the passionate reader in me.

However, not all is paradisiacal in the heroine's bookshelf. By assigning a beloved character a particular quality, it puts her in a sort of box. Yes, Elizabeth Bennet has a wonderful and flexible sense of self--she knows who she is and she is willing to examine her own frailties and prejudices. But her connection to family ties is at the heart of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and she certainly shows fight in her dealings with Lady Catherine. One of the things that makes Lizzy so delightful is her humor and there's no section on that particular quality. This seems a grievous omission to me. ("I dearly love a laugh.") Also, occasionally the author's biography and the quality of the protagonist don't flow naturally, and at times the comparisons seem forced.

I also disagree with some of Blakemore's choices of literary sisters--she sometimes confuses her authors with her protagonists. The depressed, erratic Esther Greenwood from A BELL JAR a literary sibling to Jo March? I think not. Cathy Earnshaw is NOT Jane Eyre's sister, even though Cathy's creator is Jane Eyre's author's sister.

However, this book offers a delightful path to revisiting some favorite characters and, even if you disagree with some choices, it's a wonderful starting off point for you to assign your own literary inspirations.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting insights, September 7, 2010

By 

Cathe Fein Olson "Avid reader and writer" (curled up with a book) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Heroine's Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Twelve books written by women with strong female characters make up what the author calls The Heroine's Bookshelf. Children's titles like The Secret Garden and Anne of Green Gables made the list, as well as adult titles including The Color Purple and Pride and Prejudice. The author explains how the heroine can help with different life challenges such as: Compassion, Fight, and Faith, and gives related books/heroines that also exemplify that characteristic. I found the insights into the books and what we can learn from them interesting, but what I enjoyed even more was the information about the authors and how the author's experiences shaped the characters in the books. There were several books profiled that I haven't read, but are now on my "to read" list . . . as well as several I want to reread. This is a great little book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful meditation on literature by and about women, February 13, 2011

By 

Bluestalking Reader "Bluestalking Reader" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Heroine's Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

I didn't expect this book to be so good. Sounds like a strange comment for the first line of a review, and I can say with almost absolute certainty not one I've ever used before. But it's true. When I encounter a book about books or authors written by an author I've never heard of before, more often than not I'm disappointed. Either the tone isn't appropriately serious and respectful of great authors and works, or the points mentioned by the author are so well-worn anyone could have written the book. But, in this case, I was pleasantly surprised.

Perhaps it was because I've read all the works mentioned, and that I love all the writers included. I loved revisiting these iconic books and authors, learning new things about them - interesting facts I hadn't known before, save the story of Louisa May Alcott. I know that pretty well from having read a couple biographies of her, and also visiting her former home in Concord, MA.

But it's more than that. The musings of Erin Blakemore were personal, yet universal. I loved the way she wove in plot points, biographical information about the authors and her own reactions. In all cases her insights were intelligent and right on. I could tell she was a true bibliphile, someone who doesn't just love books but also has the capability of expressing herself and how these works had an impact on her personally.

This book was simply a joy, and one I plan to return to in the future. Again, that's not something I can say about just any book, even if I loved the book the first time around. Reading this book felt like discussing literature with a friend, sharing personal responses to books we both loved. This book is a little gem.