I’ve been reading for a long time, and have found it is the
characters that attract me to a story first, specifically, the heroine and the
hero and their personal qualities. This said, the way the heroine or hero is depicted on the cover always catches me, too, so maybe my choice is also a visual thing. Lately, many covers leave off the face, I suppose so readers can identify with the characters even if they look different from the reader. Cover art certainly has changed over time. Oops, digressing.
As a child and before horses took over my best character in
a book, I loved Boxcar Children by
Gertrude Chandler Warner. I think because the girls had an important part in
the story, the children helped each other survive. Before that, my reading
had been about all the princess type girls in all fairytales I read. Princesses are often portrayed as spunky, but
ultimately the prince saves them. East
of the Sun, West of the Moon was different. The girl settled her own future even
though initially abducted by her prince.
I started working in a drug store at fifteen back in the
sixties, and because I was working, I had money. The bookstand drew me. I bought
a copy of Emilie Loring’s Trail of
Conflict which was written in 1922 about the post-WWI arranged marriage between the socialite
daughter of a rich businessman and the man with upper crust ‘family ties’
fallen on hard times. Not her best, but interesting for a teenager, and like me,
the heroine was searching for love. Geraldine was a spunky but sometimes
clueless heroine who was courageous, but like most women of the time, she put up
with a lot of expectations from their man. (Not that Stephen is an evil,
obnoxious abuser, just used to giving orders.) Still, the
heroine dye was set for me as a reader for a while: Men protected naive, powerless women.
It got
worse with Barbara Cartland’s romantic Regency novels. Georgette Heyer’s
heroines were interesting, but still, the man ended up protecting his
‘princess’ no matter what her social standing. Most books of the time presented
spunky, stubborn heroines who for the most part capitulated to their man. I
also found I liked Betty Neel’s heroines who usually were average looking,
quiet ladies whose qualities only one discerning handsome, rich Dutch doctor could
appreciate. (Pretty strange, huh?) I wonder if this image is what women were really like or just sold
to romance readers? I also wonder what I was thinking. Luckily, life taught me remaining naive and powerless held a cost, too, and to be wary of preconceived, prepackaged ideas.
In my late teens, my taste in heroines began to change. In fantasy, Andre Norton’s women in her Witch
World series attracted me, and then the Lisa in the Dragons of Pern. Sure,
I liked the old ‘princess’ heroines, but a new image began to emerge. I began
to like bold women who took charge when necessary, who often became the protector
and worked with their mates in equal partnerships while fighting for their
futures. This often happened in science fiction and fantasy, although the character of Philippa
in Dorothy Dunnett’s Renaissance based historical The
Lymond Chronicles, fell into this pattern even though she did not become a major character
until the later volumes; yet she always made her presence known and was a true surprise.
I read across a wide variety of genres: fantasy, scifi,
romance, mysteries, suspense, chick-flick, contemporary, and I find many more
heroines whose stories suite me. I like those working against horrible
odds and disadvantages and living up to the challenge even if their happily
ever after isn’t perfect or they fail their challenge in some fashion. I dislike heroines who start out with
possibilities they never live up to, or fall back into the old “I need a man to
take care of me” pattern. These are the books I close and do not reopen.
Other authors are talking about their type of heroine. Next on the list is Marci Baun. Take a look. At any time a link might be lost, they are all listed below.
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