Thirteen Literary Characters I Would Like As Friends

Over at A Reader's Journal last week, I read Booklogged's Thursday Thirteen post, and although I've never done a list as such, the theme was just too good to pass by. So without further ado, here is my Thursday Thirteen list of thirteen fictional characters I'd like to be friends with:

• Lottie Wilkins - at the centre of Enchanted April, Lottie is the sweetest and most genuinely nice person I can think of. She would be a good influence!


• Elizabeth Bennett - because who wouldn't want to be part of Lizzie's circle?? Austen quiz : which heroine are you?


• Cassandra Mortmain - after reading her diary (otherwise known as I Capture the Castle) it would only be polite to be friendly with this clever and observant young woman.


• Amelia Peabody - this intrepid heroine of Elizabeth Peter's mystery series would be intimidating but always entertaining, and good to have on your side.


• Mary Russell - the heroine of Laurie King's Sherlock Holmes mysteries, she is a scholar and a strong independent woman who also snags Sherlock. Sigh.


• Molly Gibson - the focus of Wives & Daughters, Molly is impetuous but always a very loyal and dependable force of friendship. You'd know you could count on her to get you out of a scrape


• Anne Shirley - I'd love to be friends with Anne with an 'e', but only in her childhood. Sadly, as she grew up and turned into a respectable doctor's wife with a houseful of children she became, alas, dull.


• Hagar Shipley - the 90 year old narrator of the fantastic Canadian novel The Stone Angel, Hagar is irascible but a marvellous raconteur. She'd have a few good stories to share.


• Valancy Stirling - another L.M. Montgomery heroine, this time of The Blue Castle. Poor Valancy needs a friend; but she stands up for herself and ends up living in the Muskoka woods and married to her true love, so hopefully her luck would rub off. (speaking of LMM heroines, which would you be? I took this quiz, and it turned out I was Kilmeny. Hmmm.)
• Amber Darke- another nature lover, the 'plain' sister in Mary Webb's A House in Dormer Forest is a charming person who is utterly unappreciated by her strange and suffocating family. But her good qualities shine through; she has strength of character to share.


• Helma Zukas - the librarian who stars in Jo Dereske's Miss Zukas mystery series, Helma is wonderful. She is uptight and detail oriented but so funny in a dry way, and we could share work stories...


• Laura Ingalls Wilder - (ok, so she's real. But we all know her as Laura in the books...) Because she'd know what to do if you were snowbound in a sod hut somewhere with only green pumpkins to eat...hmm, perhaps not so useful, but I once corresponded with one of her descendants, and if Laura was anywhere near as interesting she'd be a great friend.