Top 10 villainesses in literature

Emerald Fennell is a young British actor who recently appeared in Any Human Heart, the adaptation of William Boyd's bestselling novel. She plays Princess Merkalova alongside Keira Knightley and Jude Law in the film version of Anna Karenina. Shiverton Hall, her debut novel, began life as a television script.

Fennell named her top ten villainesses for the Guardian, including:

Annie Wilkes from Misery by Stephen King

If you're going to get rescued from a car crash, you had better hope it's not by your Number One Fan, Annie Wilkes. And you'd better not be carrying the manuscript of the book which kills off her favourite character. A baby-talking, comfort-eating, serial-killing nurse, Annie Wilkes is terrifying and brilliant combination of cheery prudishness and irrational, murderous rage.

Read about another villainess on the list.

Misery is one of Lesley Glaister’s top 10 books about incarceration.

--Marshal Zeringue