PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen // Austen described this precious story as “her own darling child”, and I think it has long since become the world’s darling child too. The characters sparkle with strength and brilliance as they dance a quadrille of flirtation, aversion, annoyance and intrigue. Elizabeth pulls against Mr Darcy’s heart, just as Mr Darcy pulls against hers, here seen against the backdrop of Pemberley. And yet they can’t quite let go of each other either, joined in hatred and joined in love.

EMMA by Jane Austen // Emma for all her beauty, charm and wit is not quite cupid. She’s what would happen if Aphrodite or Venus had read the cards wrong. Her slow and sleepy little village is the target of her golden arrow, where she attempts to unite hearts that very much don’t belong together. But she does it with a nonchalant assurance that makes you almost believe she’s right. That’s what sees her lazily lying here, propped up on her elbows, basking in the sun and her own misplaced confidence that she’s set love to rights.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte // A story of revenge masquerading as a story of love, all tangled within the wilderness of the moors. It’s a descent from maddening love into madness itself. Here you can see the potential for love, pre-heartbreak, but still it seems tentative and unsafe. One seems certain, the other entirely unsure. The ghostly presence that runs behind is a confession of what is to come.

LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott // The March sisters have long been some of my favourite people. I think from the age of eight I’ve tried to absorb the four of them into my own personality, the way you do when you fall in love with a story as a little girl. I wanted to be an artist like Amy, desperate to please others, responsible and kind like Meg, a loved and quietly brave peacemaker like Beth and a headstrong writer like Jo. The things I loved about them all, were balanced perfectly with things that I didn’t like so much. It made them real, and I think I’ve long united their personalities within my own character in a way that wasn’t feasible within the book itself. It’s a picnic of conciliation.

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by Lucy Maud Montgomery // Anne is a little girl with the strength and heart of a lion, and an imagination and daring that adds shades of technicolour to Green Gables. I remember wanting to be ‘Anne with an e’ when I was little, she was loud whilst I was quiet and stubborn whilst I gave in. Her talkative vivacity and imagination felt brave to my eight-year-old brain. And I think now, that’s maybe what Lucy Montgomery intended, to teach little girls that they can be bold and loud when everyone else told them to be good and quiet.

THE SECRET GARDEN by Frances Hodgson Burnett // The Secret Garden made leaves and lakes and honeybees magical. Burnett made the outdoors a place for laughter, healing, adventure and kindness. She made gardens a home and a proof of essential human goodness. This magic doesn’t leave you when her story ends, it’s like she’s instilled in us a secret knowledge that walls of ivy, stepping stones over creeks and rows and rows of flowers are enchanting. Stepping into grassy, wooded beauty feels dream-like now and I think, for me at least, this is where it comes from.

REBECCA by Daphne Du Maurier // Rebecca casts a shadow over life at Manderley. Her lingering presence plagues the woman who fills her shoes, and so the story becomes a tale of self-actualisation against the backdrop of a revered and haunting memory. Here, the two women meet, one a memory but strong and alive with nerve, the other alive but ready to bow down to the ghost. Amongst the sea and rhododendrons, I hope to have drawn the sentence “Rebecca, always Rebecca. I should never be rid of Rebecca”.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN by Edith Nesbit // Bobbie, Phyllis and Peter were my heroes when I was little. They’re kind and brave and have adventure racing through their bones. When I was 11 that was my version of cool. So, here I wanted to imagine them with a certain 21st Century cool. That way they can have the same status in others minds as they have always had in mine.

THE BELL JAR by Sylvia Plath // Sylvia Plath makes a breakdown balanced, she demonstrates a so-called demise to be logical and intelligent. Caught by the story, we are pulled apart just like Esther with all the probability and reality that depressive episodes often aren’t allowed. Here we see her as she begins to emerge from an upturned bell jar, climbing above perfect houses and an angry sea and throwing tethers of femininity into the sky. A “mad woman” who maybe, in all actuality is just trying to get a better view of the world.

THE HANDMAIDS TALE by Margaret Atwood // A secret army of women in red, passing notes, information and letters back and forth under a sea of watching eyes. This is how I saw the Handmaids Tale, a quiet revolution. The story itself is a dire warning, a simultaneous prediction and revelation. But I didn’t want to draw the horror, I wanted to draw the silent strength. This is how I see the story of Offred, a spectre of power.

THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid // Evelyn Hugo really said “step aside” to each and every single one of the seven men she married. She said, “let me tell you the real story”. Here you see her, a star in the Hollywood night, sat holding hands with her one true person. I loved their love from the first page to the last. ‘The One Wife of Evelyn Hugo’ obviously just didn’t have the same ring.