In a day and age when feisty women full of courage ready to fight to the death fill bookshelves and Bookstagram’s feed, one might wonder where our favorite quiet heroines have gone. Have they disappeared completely, never to be heard from again? Are they still on this journey with us making their way quietly, but learning powerful lessons of strength and endurance?
When the topic comes around, each book nerd has their own curated list of what they are looking for in a heroine. I, like so many others, appreciate a good fight scene with a brave woman brandishing her weapon, making her enemy kneel before her. But the truth is that lately I have picked up too many books with self-absorbed heroines who use too much violence and seduction to get their own way. And, to be honest, they rarely seem to learn anything.
I like my characters to learn, grow, develop, become more than they thought possible. Give me a book with depth and keep the rest somewhere far from me! My favorite characters can be the feisty ones when they learn great things, but often the greatest growth happens in those underestimated “quiet girls.”
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Favorite Quiet Heroines: The Goose Girl
I just completed reading The Goose Girl. Can you hear my happy sigh? It was lovely and, as I told my favorite readers in my newsletter (sign up here and receive a free book!), lyrical and engaging. I love when the main character of a fairy tale retelling is a female who doesn’t understand her worth and must fight for it in order to save those she loves. I applaud an author who in this day and age dares to write a woman who is unsure of herself at the beginning and has no talent with swords. Not that I don’t like and applaud strong, loud women. We need people of all kinds! But this was a wonderful change of pace.
I don’t want us all to have to be Spartans, or Vikings, or fierce Celts. Let’s just say, I take karate and have worked with various weapons. Therefore, I can safely say some of us are just not great at it no matter how wonderful our instructors are. (Yes, I’m raising my hand.) Not that it’s not a blast, but I’m better at reading and writing. So finding a book with a female who learns to use other talents was affirming for me and if you pick up the book, I bet it will be for you, too!
The Blue Castle‘s Valancy
Let’s not dismiss L.M. Montgommery’s lesser known favorite quiet heroine, Valancy Stirling from her book, The Blue Castle. Considered an “old maid” by her stodgy clan of kinfolk, Valancy escapes her boring life in an imaginary blue castle. People forget she is sitting next to them or that she has feelings because she is so painfully shy and quiet. What they don’t realize is that she is witty and bright, just too timid to share herself with the world.
When she receives a terminal diagnosis, she loses all her fears and begins to live the life she always wanted. She says what she is thinking, begins caring for others outside herself, and even proposes to a man she’s in love with. She doesn’t embrace a wild, reckless life, but finds the beautiful, quiet life that she’s always wanted. The question is, how long will it last?
I love Valancy and how she throws off the constrictions of those who don’t have her best interests at heart. I totally cheered her on when she discovered a quiet, moving faith in God instead of blindly following her family’s traditions. If you haven’t added this book to your TBR, I highly recommend you do!
Another of Our Favorite Quiet Heroines: Rapunzel
When I first began writing what would become Beyond the Tower, I met the imprisoned Rapunzel. She was a lonely young woman living on books and waiting for visits from her witch. Rapunzel dreamed of great things, but lacked the courage to take her life in her hands. Until, that is, she met Paul, who climbed her braid to meet her.
Quiet characters can be tricky and I worried people might underestimate my Rapunzel and her dry wit. As her story continued, I learned more about her. She revealed why she held people away from her, how she didn’t trust herself because of the way she was raised. I also learned of her hopes, her dreams. Like a flower she slowly unfurled, revealing a depth of character I had not fathomed. It has been a great adventure to write the tale of such a creature, and I love offering her first book for free in KU or .99 USD on Amazon. If you prefer paperback or hardback, you can find them on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or in my little Bookshop that supports indie bookstores.
The Quiet, but Passionate Jane Eyre
I have a confession to make, my Rapunzel may have been subconsciously based a little on Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. I discovered my love for this classic in eighth grade, slogging my way like a typical adolescent through the first quarter of the book. But then, once the composed and quiet Miss Eyre arrived at Thornfield I could not put it down. The mysteries surrounding her life at Thornfield shocked and horrified me, keeping me turning those pages.
Though Jane had a passionate temper as a child, life taught her to be almost silent and withdrawn. She was awkward in company and had a horrible time making and keeping friends. But once she left behind the odious boarding school of her miserable childhood, this quiet woman grew to embrace life. She made friends as she served as a governess, she began to trust herself and her worth. Though she was tempted to leave behind her self worth for the temptation of love, she fought her way through until she found true love at the end.
And Finally, Cress from The Lunar Chronicles
Our last of the favorite quiet heroines is a different take on Rapunzel. Whereas my Rapunzel has grown up isolated in a tower, Cress has grown-up in space on a satellite all alone. Given to fits of fancy based on the vid-dramas she consumed daily, her life is upended when she is “rescued” and made part of the rebel group. Her tale is book 3 in The Lunar Chronicles, and Cress is the quiet heroine that some may find a little too simpering. (My bestie and I had this disagreement, and I had to laugh at how differently we viewed her). But considering her upbringing, I love Cress’s quiet courage as she leaves all she knows behind. She is literally stranded in a desert, later kidnapped, and falls in love with a bit of a rogue captain.
I enjoy a fairy tale retelling with a different twist, don’t you? A tech-geek Rapunzel grown up in space who has to use her neediness to defeat the lunar queen while learning how to socialize? Yep, that makes Cress a favorite quiet heroine!
Now Your Turn
I have by no means exhausted the list of our favorite quiet heroines. There may need to be many more additions or parts to this particular post. Who are some of your favorite quiet heroines and what sets them apart?
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About JacQueline
As the author of The Journey series, a young adult fantasy retelling Rapunzel’s misadventures, JacQueline also wrote Memoirs of a Headcase: Held by the God of Hope, to share hope in the battle against chronic pain and depression. Currently she lives in North Alabama with her karate husband and three book-crazy kids. All opinions expressed on this website come from her own experience. Do not substitute it for professional therapy or medical advice. Any affiliate links used on this website will provide additional income to JacQueline’s family at no additional cost to you.
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Photo Credit: Kelly Sikkema, JacQueline Vaughn Roe (2 book flatlay), Til Jentzsch, and Kristina Flour.
