The 10 best fictional mothers

The Observer came up with a list of the ten best fictional mothers, including:

Mrs March
Little Women

Louisa May Alcott’s saccharine vision of maternal perfection, Mrs March is endlessly patient, an ideal housekeeper and a highly principled woman. She protects her four children while still allowing them the freedom to make their own mistakes. Known by her daughters as “Marmee”, Mrs March (played by Susan Sarandon in the 1994 film) has a strong religious faith and yet is unconventional by the standards of the day. Unlike many 19th-century mothers, she does not push her girls to marry for money, instead ensuring they are educated and can make decisions for themselves.

Read about another mother on the list.

Little Women also appears on Eleanor Birne's top ten list of books on motherhood, Erin Blakemore's list of five gutsy heroines to channel on an off day, Kate Saunders' critic's chart of mothers and daughters in literature, and Zoë Heller's list of five memorable portraits of sisters. It is a book that disappointed Geraldine Brooks on re-reading.

Also see a list of the 10 worst mothers in fiction.

--Marshal Zeringue