The Heroines

Summary (from the publisher): Although a true lover of books, Anne-Marie Entwhistle prefers not to read to her spirited daughter, Penny, especially from the likes of Madame Bovary, Gone With the Wind, or The Scarlet Letter. These novels, devoted to the lives of the Heroines that make them so irresistible, have a way of hitting too close to home -- well, to the Homestead actually, where Anne-Marie runs the quaint family-owned bed and breakfast.

In this enchanting debut novel, Penny and her mother encounter great women from classic works of literature who make the Homestead their destination of choice just as the plots of their tumultuous, unforgettable stories begin to unravel. They appear at all hours of the day and in all manners of distress. A lovesick Madame Bovary languishes in their hammock after Rodolphe has abandoned her, and Scarlett O'Hara's emotions are not easily tempered by tea and eiderdowns. These visitors long for comfort, consolation, and sometimes for more attention than the adolescent Penny wants her mother to give.

Knowing that to interfere with their stories would cause mayhem in literature, Anne-Marie does her best to make each Heroine feel at home, with a roof over her head and a shoulder to cry on. But when Penny begins to feel overshadowed by her mother's indulgence of each and every Heroine, havoc ensues, and the thirteen-year-old embarks on her own memorable tale.

Eileen Favorite's lively, fresh, and enormously entertaining novel gives readers a chance to experience their favorite Heroines all over again, or introduces these fictional women so beguilingly that further acquaintance will surely follow. Narrated by the courageous and irreverent Penny, The Heroines will make book lovers rejoice.

Review: The Heroines has a brilliant plot idea but suffers from poor execution. The novel centers around 13-year-old Penny, who lives with her mother Anne-Marie in a bed and breakfast that regularly hosts heroines from classic novels. 

I liked the idea of pursuing well-known classic characters like Scarlett O’Hara and Heathcliff by taking them out of context – it provides an interesting meta writing quality to the novel. However, the plot of this novel was all over the place. I especially disliked the psych ward aspect of this novel, as well as the timeline, which was far from chronological and sort of skipped all around. Additionally, Penny was an irritating narrator and I didn’t buy that her narrative voice was that of a 13-year-old girl. Plus she was just whiny and her relationship with her mother was irritating and not believable. 

I think if Favorite had chosen a different direction with this novel, and handled the fantasy aspect of the appearances of the fictional characters differently, this could have been an excellent novel. I was disappointed that her great idea suffered from a poorly crafted narrative.

Stars: 2