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Sarah

Sarah & Jane Discuss the Studious Heroine

by Sarah on Nov.08, 2009, under Book Chat

Sarah: Smart heroines rule. Many of us find the heroine who is Too Stupid To Live tiresome and ahbor when we encounter her, mostly because (a) it makes for craptastic plots and (b) a smart heroine is a heroine to cheer for. Sometimes the smart heroine gets hoisted by her own petard, but most of the time, the women who earn their roles as among the best romance heroines stand up for themselves and speak their minds.

Here’s a peek at my bookshelf, and some of the keepers I have that feature sharp, smart heroines:

Jane: Let’s face it, a heroine who doesn’t read is not a heroine. It’s hard to imagine reading a book about a protagonist who doesn’t like to read. I can’t even think of one although I am sure that there must be characters out there in the forty plus years of romances. Often, however, the heroine is not just a reader, but a serious reader. Historical heroines are known for liking their Latin translations, almost always better than the boys with whom they were tutored. In Honor’s Splendour, Madelyne is sitting on Duncan’s horse watching her stepbrother’s keep burn.

“Delenda est Carthago,” Madelyne whispered to herself, repeating the vow made so long ago by Cato, an elder of ancient times.

Duncan was surprised by Madelyne’s remark. He wondered how she’d ever come by such knowledge. “Aye, Madelyne. Like Carthage, your brother must be destroyed.”

Heroines are not only serious readers but very smart readers. There is the very smart Lily Walters in Elizabeth Elliott’s The Scoundrel who pretends to be a flighty society girl when she really is a cryptologist. Speaking of heroines that are secretly the smartest ones in their family, I love the book Mr. Impossible wherein Daphne Pembroke studies in secret:


She soon learned, among other painful lessons, that her brilliant scholar husband, exactly like stupider men, believed that intellectual endeavors put too great a strain on the inferior female brain.

Claiming to have her best interests at heart, Virgil Pembroke forbade her studying Egyptian writing. He said that even male scholars familiar with Arabic, Coptic, Greek, Persian, and Hebrew had no hope of deciphering it in her lifetime. This he deemed no great loss: Egyptian civilization being primitive—greatly inferior to that of classical Greece—decipherment would contribute little to the store of human knowledge.

Daphne was a clergyman’s daughter. She’d made a sacred vow to love, honor, and obey her husband, and she did try. But when it became clear that she must pursue her studies or go mad with boredom and frustration, she chose to risk perdition and disobey her husband. Thereafter, she continued her work in secret.

Virgil had died five years ago. Sadly, prejudice against women scholars did not die with him. This was why, even now, only her indulgent brother and a select group of friends knew the secret. Everyone else believed her brother Miles was the linguistic genius of the family.

I love the smart heroine. In Arm Candy by Jo Leigh, the heroine is a mathematician. At one point, she is holding the arm of the hero and thinks to herself that her arm is forming an isosceles triangle.

For some reason we love our Latin quoting, math solving, cryptology busting heroines. So far we know that if you have long hair, like to read books, wear spectacles and quote a bit of Latin, you might be a heroine of a romance book.

Who are your favorite studious heroines? (And which book on your keeper shelf is in the worst shape imaginable? Got pics?!)

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7 Comments for this entry

  • Janet W
    November 11th, 2009 on 11:07 am

    Beth Armitage of Jo Beverley’s “An Unwilling Bride” … she is extremely well-read altho not as bright as her gorgeous and brilliant marquess of a husband, Lucien. Their courtship is sprinkled with Latin and even Greek.

    One of my favourite tropes — and I have 4/5’s of your displayed books on MY keeper shelf. As for the worst case book, suffice it to say I travel with a glue stick. If one buys in UBSs, learning how to repair books goes with the territory. I’ve even made covers!

    Reply
  • SonomaLass
    November 8th, 2009 on 5:26 pm

    My two favorite smart heroines recently were Sabine in Carolyn Jewel’s Indiscreet and Bryony in Sherry Thomas’ Not Quite a Husband.

    Checking the keeper shelf, the books in the worst shape are M.M. Kaye’s The Far Pavilions, Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana, Melanie Rawn’s Exiles of Ambrai and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Forbidden Tower. All are very old and frequently re-read.

    I was reading some of these out loud, and my son just remembered that he had my copy of Mercedes Lackey’s Magic’s Price in his car — it’s been there for a while, so it may well make the “in worst shape” list. Terrific.

    Reply
  • Karen H
    November 8th, 2009 on 2:23 pm

    I unfortunately cannot name a specific smart/studious heroine because that’s basically the only ones I read and I read voraciously. I think that makes them commonplace to me so that none stand out. I most love smart-aleck heroines who don’t take any guff from anyone. If the heroine’s a milquetoast and very young, I give her a few pages to develop but after that, or if she’s not very young, then I just don’t read the book. I cannot identify with and definitely do not enjoy reading about a TSTL person. I also don’t read if there’s too much meanness or cruelty. While she’s not studious, I enjoy Nora Roberts’ Eve Dallas since she’s smart about what she does and pretty much about herself as well (and, okay, there’s Roarke, sigh).
    As far as books in bad shape, those would only be those that I could only find used and for which I haven’t yet discovered a better copy. I’m one of those weirdos who doesn’t crack the spine (and will never lend to someone who does, including my own mother!) and whose books look new even after I’ve read them. I also don’t reread books since I prefer to read something new (my TBR pile is more of a mountain in the Himalayas so I’m never short of new material) though I do like to read a favorite author’s entire booklist, no matter how old the books are. I’m going to check this post tomorrow to see if I can discover some new authors with smart heroines (and I apologize for not contributing one).

    Reply
  • Jill Myles
    November 8th, 2009 on 11:21 am

    I really loved the heroine in Meredith Duran’s BOUND BY YOUR TOUCH that came out this summer. She was a scholar but she didn’t beat the reader over the head with it. She was just smart, educated, and devoted.

    Oh! And the heroine from MR. IMPOSSIBLE.

    I never remember the heroine’s names (sad) but I remember the books. Both of those were totally terrific.

    Reply
  • Debra
    November 8th, 2009 on 10:56 am

    I have so many that I loved. I also loved Perfect and allot of Judthi’s other books. Another I loved was Katerine Stone’s Promises. Hate to even show you what that books looks like like, and it is a hard cover. I just have to many to list.

    Reply
  • Emmanuelle
    November 8th, 2009 on 8:42 am

    Jane Darlington for me too. I keep picturing her wrtiting down equations on cereal boxes, diapers…
    grrrr really make me want to reread that one ;-)

    Reply
  • Shiloh Walker
    November 8th, 2009 on 8:32 am

    The book on my keeper shelf in the worst shape imaginable? I’d say Endurance by SL Viehl.

    It used to be Children of the Night by Mercedes Lackey, but I finally had to buy a new one because it was damaged beyond all hope.

    Favorite smart heroine-I dunno, too many to think of. Maybe Jane Darlington from SEP’s Nobody’s Baby but Mine.

    Reply
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