A (Few) Girl(s) After My Own Heart

A Bit of Me(Me) is hosted by Danielle of There's a Book.

I was going to skip the theme for this week in order to simply post photos of my vacations, but I decided I couldn't pass up a little love for (a few of) my favorite heroine(s).  (You should know by now I have a hard time picking one favorite anything.)   

When I think of a favorite heroine in literature, the first few that come to mind are always: Anne Shirley and Jo March.  Really, those two shaped my childhood and on into my later years (I still love to watch the  Anne of Green Gables mini-series).  I even wrote a letter to Anne, expressing why I loved her and how I wanted to be her.  And Jo.  Oh, how I loved having a girl who didn't quite fit in, a girl who wanted to write and wear pants, to be my best friend.

But then I had to think of Kit Tyler from The Witch of Blackbird Pond, one of the first books that really sparked my love of reading.  I wanted to be her.  I wanted to wear her dresses (yes, how ironic that I loved Jo March, who didn't want to wear them).  I adored Nat. 

Then in the middle school and high school years, I discovered Jane Eyre, a much more sophisticated role model, but one who I adored for her romantic heart and yet her resolve of steel.  From her I learned not to give in to temptation despite what your heart wants.  She was one tough woman.  And, of course, Elizabeth Bennet who wielded a tongue that made me so envious I memorized whole sections of the book (and movie).  A women who obviously made mistakes, but who could still overcome and accept them.  And there was always Eowyn, the heartbroken, but never-giving-up destroyer of evil, who found a way to mend her broken heart (which, as I'm sure everyone did at that stage in life, I related to completely).  How could I possibly choose among them all?  

I couldn't.  Of course not.  So, I revel in those women who can be tough and tender.  Who can spurn a man with the best of them, and then come to love them.  Who are never perfect, but still manage to overcome their weaknesses.  Ah, the power of a writer to bring to life those women we can relate to and aspire to be like.  (It didn't escape my notice that all but one of these women was created by women who likely held some of these traits in their own personalities.)  

Can you pick just one?

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