Raised by Literary Overachievers

A love letter to Matilda, Lucy, Lyra, & Anne

“Her own small bedroom now became her reading-room and there she would sit and read most afternoons, often with a mug of hot chocolate beside her.”

I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t reading. As a little girl I’d stay up way past my bedtime- huddling under the duvet with a dollar store flashlight awkwardly braced under my chin as I devoured whatever I’d hauled home from the library that week.

The memory is a little fuzzy, but I think the limit was ten books per visit. I maxed it out every single time. I’d spend hours spinning the shelves- discovering the saccharine and sun soaked drama of Sweet Valley High (perhaps a few years too early) and feeling strangely seen as I slouched in a chair reading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Books, and the characters who lived in them raised me- and, in their own way, saved me. Here are the ones I love most.

Matilda Wormwood from Matilda

I resonated deeply with Matilda the first time I read her story, and again after seeing the film adaptation. She is bullied by her family, dismissed and misunderstood- but finds refuge in the kindness of strangers. A gentle librarian, the inimitable Miss Honey, a few loyal classmates…and, of course, books.

She is unflappably optimistic; when her father refused to buy her anything to read she simply walks (as a preschooler) to the public library. Before her fifth birthday she will have already read Steinbeck and Hemingway, Bronte and Austen. She’s a genius, but it never feels smug. Her intellect feels like a form of rebellion in a family that is dimwitted and mean. And as if that wasn’t enough, her brilliance literally becomes magic. She stirs pancake batter unaided. Slams doors with her mind. And sticks up for the underdogs without lifting a finger.

Tell me that’s not everything a bookish, slightly odd little girl ever dreamed of.

Lucy Pevensie from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

At first glance, Lucy and I don’t have much in common. She’s the youngest sibling, I’m the oldest. She was living with a strange professor due to the second world war, I was growing up in the early 90’s in suburban Canada with no fear of air raids.

However, I desperately wanted to be her.

Lucy is the first of her siblings to discover the way to Narnia through the infamous wardrobe, poking through the dusty fur coats to emerge in a winter wonderland. Instead of freaking out she carries on with a confidence only a child could have. She is a friend to everyone, believes when no one else does, and experiences Narnia with such joy that it becomes contagious.

I was utterly obsessed with the idea that maybe, just maybe if I opened the right door or stared at the back of my closet long enough, that I’d find my own Narnia. That I’d be chosen too.

Lyra Belacqua from The Golden Compass

Lyra was a heroine after my own heart, and as an adult I even named my bike after her. An intelligent, unruly tomboy who runs wild around Oxford with her daemon Pan, Lyra’s life is forever changed after eavesdropping on a conversation she wasn't meant to hear. (Isn’t that how the best stories begin?).

She was everything I wanted to be. Brash, clever, quick-witted and scrappy. She didn’t shy away from danger, instead she barrelled right into it- especially if it meant protecting the people she loved. Unlike the more polished heroines of fairytales, Lyra is unrefined. She gets dirty. She runs across rooftops. She fights grown men. She isn’t chosen because she’s good…she’s chosen because she’s interesting, and I found that endlessly compelling.

Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables

I was taken to the tall grasses and red sand dunes of Avonlea when I was very young, having being gifted a box set of the Anne of Green Gables series. It brought me great joy to peek into her world- the precocious orphan with her infamous carrot red hair.

Anne had a flair for the dramatics, a deeply romantic heart, and a wild imagination that made everything- every walk, every mistake, every friendship (every cordial mix up) feel like an adventure. To read Anne is to love her. A heart of gold, a temper that flared as fiery as her hair, and an ability to find beauty in even the toughest moments. She was, and is, one of my all time favourite fictional characters.

And there you have it, my original girl gang. Who did you want to be when you grew up? Let me know your childhood literary heroes in the comments, I’m sure I’m forgetting someone iconic.