Top Ten Tuesday: Heroines

Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

10. Nancy Blackett, Swallows and Amazons. Shiver my timbers, she's great! Nancy, (never Ruth, for pirates are ruthless) is a fearless adventurer, ship's captain and ruler of her group of family and friends. Most early- 20th century children's adventure stories are very much male-led, but Nancy, aged about thirteen, takes command of every expedition, whether that be gold-mining on the fells or a trek to the "North Pole" organised from her sickbed. Nothing frightens Nancy... except perhaps her fearsome Great-Aunt.

9. Precious Ramotswe, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Founder of Botswana's first and only detective agency, Mma Precious Ramotswe is a kind-hearted person who loves her country, loves people and has found her purpose in life in making a difference solving the seemingly insignificant but still devastating problems of everyday life. In an increasingly cynical world, decency and a cup of tea can be just as heroic as anything loud and ostentatious.

8. Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey. 

"No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be a heroine."

But when she is taken on a trip to Bath, one of the social centres of Georgian Britain, Catherine finds herself caught up in an adventure to rival those in her favourite "horrid" gothic novels. (Never mind that it was all in her head!)

7. Arya Stark, A Song of Ice and Fire. A hot-headed child with a great proficiency with a sword, survived great dangers and terrifies even grown men. However, in later books she moves closer to the dark side, and what was cool at first (a preteen assassin) becomes slowly more uncomfortable reading.

6. Coraline Jones, Coraline. Just an ordinary, bored, inquisitive girl who finds the courage she needs within herself when faced with danger from her button-eyed Other Mother.

5. Lucy Pevensie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The child who discovers Narnia and, with her innocence, faith and loyalty is the catalyst for saving the magical land from the evil White Witch.

4. Granny Weatherwax, Discworld.

"I can't be havin' with that."

Proof that heroism is not just a young woman's trait. Any of Terry Pratchett's witches could be included in this list, but Granny Weatherwax, with her stubbornness, headology and no-nonsense manner is my personal favour. She even dares to play Poker with Death for a child's life.

I HAVE TO KNOW. WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I HAD NOT... LOST?'

'At the cards, you mean?'

YES. WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE? 

Granny laid the baby down carefully on the straw, and smiled.

'Well,' she said, 'for a start... I'd have broken your bloody arm.'

3. Eowyn of Rohan, Lord of the Rings.

 “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.”

A fierce, brave daughter of fierce, brave people, Eowyn too often gets overlooked and relegated to look after the women and children of Rohan while her kinsmen ride off into battle. She is their equal and more than their equal, and when she is brought face to face with one of the most terrifying beings of the Third Age of Middle-Earth, she laughs in his face.

2. Victoria McQueen, N0S4R2. She's a troubled-character, but she will do anything to rescue her son from the clutches of the creepy Charlie Manx and his Christmasland.

1. Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables. Which will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. She may not be a swashbuckling adventurer like some of the other characters on this list, but the more I read her story the more I am in awe of how she got through a lonely, miserable childhood up to the age of eleven and still managed to retain her sense of wonder and optimism.

I always feel closest to Anne at this time of year, probably because she arrived at Green Gables in the spring, and the book is so descriptive of the sunshine and apple-blossoms.

Runners-up

Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird
Sara Crewe, A Little Princess
Bobbie, The Railway Children
Hermione Granger, Harry Potter
Jo March, Little Women