Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.
The rules are simple:
- Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
- Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
- Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
- Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.
This week’s topic is Secondary/Minor Characters Who Deserve More Love. My list features secondary characters from literature whom others authors have made the focus of their own novels.
Bertha Mason from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre in Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Charlotte Lucas from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in Charlotte by Helen Moffett
Abel Magwitch (sort of) from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations in Jack Maggs by Peter Carey
Clara Marley from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in Miss Marley by Vanessa Lafaye & Rebecca Mascull
Mrs Ahab mentioned in Moby Dick by Herman Melville in Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
Flashman from Thomas Hughes’ Tom Brown’s School Days in Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
And finally, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels:
Professor Moriarty in Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz
Irene Adler in Goodnight, Mr Holmes by Carole Nelson Douglas
Mrs Hudson in Mrs Hudson and the Spirit’s Curse by Martin Davies
Dr John Watson in Dead Man’s Land by Robert Ryan
I’d love to hear if you know of other secondary characters who have been given starring roles in novels?
I remember hearing about the outrageous Flashman some time back, but I hadn’t linked it to Tom Brown at all. And it seems Abel Magwitch too got some additional book spotlight. Super spin on this week’s TTT!
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Aren’t you clever to figure these out?! I guess Huckleberry Finn features a secondary character from Tom Sawyer.
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Great picks!
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-secondary-characters-who-deserve-more-love/
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I thought this week’s topic was hard because others really need to have read the books to recognize the secondary characters. Looking at others’ posts I’ve never heard of most of the books, let alone the characters!
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I love that you picked secondary characters who have already gotten their own books! I enjoyed reading What Kitty Did Next (about Kitty Bennet from Pride & Prejudice).
My post this week
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Given my blog’s name, I should read that 😁
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It does seem to be a good fit! 😉
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A great twist on the prompt! I haven’t read any of these books.
I twisted the topic some, as I have trouble remembering secondary characters.
When you get the chance, I hope you stop by my post: https://readbakecreate.com/10-books-that-deserve-more-love/
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Great idea for your TTT post. I’m often surprised too that books I’ve loved have so few ratings. It’s good us book bloggers do our best to compensate for that 😁
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i enjoyed your twist on this topic – i didn’t know about some of these titles! My TTT
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There were a few that were new to me as well while I was doing my research. Not surprised though that Sherlock Holmes has inspired so many spin-offs. I guess as well there may be a copyright issue with more recent books which is why authors stick to the classics.
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I’ve seen a lot of P&P characters on lists today. I chose Mrs. Bennett for mine because she just makes me laugh!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Yes, I could have gone for Longbourn by Jo Baker as well.
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I read Jack Maggs and to be honest… I wasn’t terribly impressed with the book. It was well written but… OMG some of the plot holes in it were just… inexcusable – for me!
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I’ll cross that one off my wishlist in that case…
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I reviewed it on my blog a LONG time ago! Here: https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2013/05/14/what-the-dickens/
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Some great ideas here. I’m hopeless when it comes to remembering secondary characters.
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