Top ten lesser-known literary heroines

At the Telegraph Anna Murphy tagged the ten "most inspiring fictional women you may never have heard of," including:

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

It is hard to pick from Wharton’s world-class line-up, but Lily Bart is one of the greatest women ever written. As a 19th-century lady without means, she is in need of a fortune. But she keeps not closing the deal. Can she reconcile her desire for love with the socio-economic imperative?

Read about the other entries on the list.

The House of Mirth is one of Anna Quindlen's five best list of novels about women in search of themselves, Jay McInerney's five essential New York novels, Megan Wasson's five novels that explore the dark side in New York City, Rachel Cusk's five best books on disgrace and Kate Christensen's six books that she rereads all the time; it appears on Robert McCrum's top ten list of books for Obama officials.

Also see: Nine notable unsung heroines.

--Marshal Zeringue