Character Connection: Miss Alexia Tarabotti


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Character Connection

Don’t you just love larger-than-life characters? The ones who jump off the page and grab you? Whether you love them or hate them, you can’t be indifferent to them.

I would love to know about the characters who just won’t leave you! Most of you will probably post about how much you love (or loathe) each character, but this is a great place for the more creative ones among you to let go and have fun! Write yourself into a scene with Anne and Diana. Write a love poem in elvish for Aragorn. Draw a picture of Harry obliterating Voldemort. The possibilities are endless.

Be sure to post the book’s title and author, and be very careful not to give away spoilers while talking about how much you love your characters.

Mr. Linky will be posted here on The Introverted Reader every Thursday.

Miss Alexia Tarabotti is the main character in Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, beginning with Soulless.

Miss Alexia (it feels disrespectful to leave off the Miss) is, to quote from my review, “a fantastic character. At twenty-six, she’s firmly on the shelf in Victorian society, but she’s okay with that. Better to be on the shelf than married to some half-wit who can’t keep up with her own intellect and curiosity. She gets enough of that from her family. They don’t know she’s soulless and put all of her quirks down to the fact that her father was Italian. But they’ve left her just a little insecure about her appearance and desirability. Just enough to make her feel real.”

She meets her match in sexy Lord Maccon, who just happens to be an Alpha werewolf. You would think that a non-werewolf female would be cowed by a true Alpha personality, but not Miss Alexia. She is more than up for the challenge. In fact, she loves the challenge. She wouldn’t respect anyone with less strength, so she glories in the fact that Lord Maccon is her equal in so many ways.

I had sort of pictured Nia Vardalos as Alexia, but once I saw Rachel McAdams in Sherlock Holmes, I thought she would be a perfect Alexia.

Who did you connect with this week? Link your post on Mr. Linky, then be sure to go check out the other Character Connections!

I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s, my local independent bookstore, and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

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2 Comments

  1. +JMJ+

    When I read Soulless last year, I wasn't very impressed with Carriger's writing. Her insistence on driving home the point that Alexia is a spinster who surprises everyone around her, even those who know her well, got really old after a while. I think she uses the s-word at least three times in every chapter–and I noticed she used virtually the same phrase about someone's surprise at a "spinster" being so successful in cracking a case twice in the same scene.

    My impression was that Carriger really wants to be Alexia and is desperate to have us like her. =P

    On the other hand, I've shared these thoughts with another Carriger fan, who told me that that affectation in the writing bothered her in the first novel as well but wasn't so prominent in the second and third books. She totally encouraged me to keep reading, assuring me there was more to love about this character. =)

    As for casting . . . I love Rachel McAdams, but she seems far too pretty! I'd pick Minnie Driver for her strong, unconventionally attractive features and ability to play "pushy" but fun women. (But could she pull off a half-Italian spi–uh, a half-Italian character? Hmmmmm!)

  2. Hmmm, I haven't head of this series but it looks interesting and Alexia sounds intriguing.

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