We began this week looking at a famous Margaret, so it seems fitting that we end with another.

Today's famous fan is a well-known American author of considerable popularity in his own right: Mark Twain.

Today's Anne-inspired celebrity may surprise you! Twilight author Stephenie Meyer has been very open about the inspirational role L.M. Montgomery played in her life.

It's no secret that Lucy Maud Montgomery has a large and devoted fanbase. However, you may be surprised by some of the authors and celebrities who count themselves among those fans. This week, we'll be highlighting the work and profiles of some of the well-known figures Montgomery inspired. Today's spotlight falls on fellow Canadian Margaret Laurence, best known for her novel The Stone Angel.

Whether it is Emma, Elizabeth, Fanny, Marianne, Elinor, Catherine or Anne that you most identify with, we all must be grateful to Jane Austen for creating these iconic women in the first place.  As part of our End of Summer essay contest on the most inspiring women, we received the following pieces dedicated to Austen.  Please add your own thoughts to the discussion on the beloved author’s wide-ranging impact!

Although Scout Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird was recently named one of our top fictional heroines, it is her creator, Harper Lee, that Elizabeth Ballif chose to honour in our Woman of Inspiration essay contest.  Below, the 21-year-old explains how the novel helped change the way she interacts with others.

Fans can now officially start voting for their favourite heroine in the last week of our Ultimate Classical Heroine Contest on our four Facebook pages (Anne of Green Gables, Wind at My Back, Road to Avonlea and Sullivan Entertainment).  The top four contenders are Jo March from Little Women, Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, and Marilla Cuthbert and Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables.

It is the final week of our Ultimate Classical Heroine Contest and here are your four top contenders for favourite leading lady: Anne Shirley, Marilla Cuthbert, Jo March and Elizabeth Bennet!  With a total of  2,056 votes being cast for our “Enchanted Eight” women, it was a very close race.

The top “Sweet Sixteen” heroines in our Ultimate Classical Heroine Contest have now become a group of “Enchanting Eight”.  The voting officially ended at midnight on Sunday and we are left with the following results:

It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.

Emma Woodhouse is perhaps the most comical of Jane Austen’s heroines – though she doesn’t always mean to be.  The daughter of a wealthy gentleman, Emma is born into a privileged life unknown to some of her female counterparts in Austen’s other novels.  Her matchmaking abilities (the abilities she believes she possesses) are put to the test in her honest, though misguided, effort to see her friends happy.