Who is your favorite female lead character? And why? (And yes, of course, you can name more than one . . . I always have trouble narrowing down these things to one name, why should I force you to?)
Austen’s ladies: Elinor, Elizabeth, Emma, Fanny, Anne, and Catherine. Each have their strengths and weaknesses, and none are perfect. Some I like better than others. Only in the last year have I come to appreciate Fanny a little better, and I’d gladly take up her book as readily as any of the others.
Princess Leia: Yes, she started out as a movie character. However, thanks to the Expanded Universe of novels and comics, she’s so much more than the leader of the rebellion. In books that takes place as far as 40 years after the destruction of the first Death Star, she’s gotten married, had children, become the chief of state (president), and finally became a Jedi Knight.
Hermione Granger: Because Harry and Ron would be so lost without her. 
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Austen does have a gift for creating wonderful leading ladies, doesn’t she? And Princess Leia is another good choice!
That’s why picking just one Austen was so hard.
And Leia’s been a heroine for me since ‘77. One of the few childhood constants that I’ve never really grown out of.