The Independent asked current “literary luminaries” to choose their favorite fictional character of all time. Jane Austen’s characters, both big and small, get quite a few nods. If I had to choose my favorite fictional character of all time, it would be an arduous choice. Singling out Elizabeth Bennett or Claire Randall Fraser would be easy, but I think I would have to choose the character that I have read more times than any other from the book that I read when I was very young and still pick up every couple of years: Josephine March. I wanted to be Jo so badly as a young girl. I still love her intelligence and stubbornness, though it gets her in trouble.
Who would you choose?
–Jane, thinks of Jo writing in the attic