Talking Behind Her Book: The Heroine’s Bookshelf
Posted by: Kaite Stover
It’s a little early to be writing about this short book, but it will be a helpful and entertaining conversation starter at book groups. The Heroine’s Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder by Erin Blakemore drops in November.
In a conversational introduction the author confesses to hiding between the book covers when the going gets tough. Readers everywhere understand this duck-and-cover methodology. Blakemore then offers readers twelve classic heroines who embody qualities the author needs a shot of in difficult times.
When she needs to gear up for a Fight, Blakemore calls on Scarlett O’Hara. When she feels the loss of Magic in her life, Mary Lennox is there to remind her where to look. When Blakemore feels the tension in her relationship with her mother, Francie Nolan explains it all for her.
In addition to offering some great tidbits about these classic authors’ lives it presents some interesting points for discussion about their most famous works. This book will also encourage reading group members to reminisce about the books that “saved” them whenever the chips were down. The emotional attachments readers have to characters, places, and plots are what really keep the pages turning.
