Hello Readers, Welcome to Day Three of The 12 Days of Books!
On this day, I bring to you the first of two books in our December selection that take us readers on a heroine-centric journey through literature. Every woman who reads has likely assembled her own cast of varied characters who have shaped and informed her ideas of who she is and who she wishes to be. With so many incredible stories available for the choosing, there is no end to the literary ladies that could be added to the ever-growing list. There is incredible beauty, however, in taking time to consider the ones that have most shaped you and why.
This month, we at The Write Teacher(s) present you with two different approaches on the examination of heroines through the books How to Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis, and The Heroine’s Bookshelf, by Erin Blakemore. It is my hope that you will be inspired to read, and to re-read, not only these two authors, but also the stories they discuss and the stories you wish they had.
How to Be a Heroine: Or, What I’ve Learned from Reading Too Much is a combination of literary exploration and personal memoir. The author, Samantha Ellis, is an Iraqi Jew who grew up balancing a modern London life, with a heritage spiced with the scents of Baghdad. The chapters in her book take us along on the literary journey that accompanied her coming of age and the development of her ideas on what it means to be a heroine. From fairy tale princesses to Anne of Green Gables, and from Lizzy Bennet to Scarlett O’Hara and beyond, Ellis’ heroines got more complex and more intriguing as she herself grew.
Ellis’ voice is an interesting one; her perspective is sharp and it is clear that she brings a well-defined sense of self to her writing, even as she relates her younger perceptions. She plays no favorites with her heroines. Rather than picking out her favorite girls, Ellis seems to draw on the ones that were most influential, whether she still admires them or not. She examines them with a critical eye, dissecting the characteristics she applauds from the ones she does not. In doing so, I think Ellis presents us with a great example for unbiasedly examining our own list of heroines, for identifying what in them has shaped us, and especially for determining what in them we want to shape us now.
Live, Love, Learn
Elise and The Write Teacher(s)