Favourtie Heroines

If we are looking at older novels then I do like Lizzie in Pride and Prejudice. Yes she does make mistakes but she is so spirited, you have to admire her courage and her intelligence, plus she captures one of the most attractive men in fiction, Mr Darcy, so she has to be special.

I always had a sneaking regard for Amber in Forever Amber, she is not really admirable but she is gusty. Her main flaw is that she clings to her love for Bruce who is the worst hero in fiction. Amber deserves someone so much better but she never finds him. A lot like Scarlet O Hara, admirable in many ways, but really you want to shake her the way she clings to her infatuation for the totally drippy Ashley Wilkes. How clever of Margaret Mitchell to show to her readers what a waste of time he is, and yet fails to let Scarlet see it until it is too late. A truly remarkable story.

I often wonder what it is with these women who can’t see the right men for them. Temp Brennan in Kath Reich’s’ “Bones” series just can’t seem to see that Ryan is so perfect for her, come to think of it he ought to make up his mind too, so perhaps it’s not always women.

When I was a kid I loved Nyoka, Queen of the Jungle. She was a female equivalent of the Tarzan figure, and did many brave things, running around the jungle in this skimpy outfit, Saturday afternoon matinees would not have been the same but for Nyoka. Incidentally here’s a laugh for any passing Brits dropping by, Nyoka’s fiancé in the comic strip was called Larry Grayson!


A woman I admire in my own novels is Kate Merryweather in Dangerous Enchantment. Kate will protect the boy who should be king with her life. She does everything she can to keep him safe, even deceiving the man she eventually falls in love with. It was a courageous thing for Kate to do, for had the powers that be realized the truth, I am afraid Kate’s head would soon have parted from her shoulders.

So there you go lots of heroic ladies for us to admire!