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How To Be A Heroine (2014)

by Samantha Ellis(Favorite Author)

3.96 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0701187514 (ISBN13: 9780701187514)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Chatto & Windus

review 1: Brilliant book - it's made me want to reread all my childhood books that I loved, such as Anne of Green Gables, Ballet Shoes and Little Women. The author goes back and reassesses what she thought about her literary heroines, and how her viewpoint has changed from childhood to adolescence to adulthood - most importantly, how she has changed from thinking Cathy from Wuthering Heights is the epitome of a literary heroine... In fact, as her best friend tells her, the heroine of the Bronte's work is actually Jane Eyre. This is a warm, thoughtful and witty look at the books you think you loved... and why you may not love them anymore once you think more about what they were really saying about women!
review 2: Yesterday, I found an absolutely adorable little independ... moreent bookshop (if any of you are ever in Bath, you MUST pay a visit to Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights!), and this was out on a display. I sat in a comfy chair in the shop and read the first 20 pages, before realising that I really had to buy it so I could finish reading it! Which I've just done! The author was visiting Haworth with her best friend, and they had a disagreement over whether it was better to aspire to be Cathy, from Wuthering Heights, or Jane Eyre. She realised that her friend was right about Jane and decided to revisit the fictional heroines she'd looked up to as she grew up, looking at them again with adult eyes. I found this really enjoyable - lots of books I'd read but also some I hadn't. It's reminded me how overdue I am on a Jane Eyre re-reading, and has added a few others to my list (plus some that I definitely don't want to re-read). It was intermingled with autobiographical detail - why she'd responded in the ways she had to particular books at particular times in her life, and how her views changed in this re-read, and I liked the way she chose a book at the end (not going to tell you what) which she thought featured the heroine she most wanted to look up to. Definitely a thought-provoking analysis, and I'm really glad I felt inspired to pick it up. less

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