They’ve been dead for years, if not centuries, and (let’s be honest) they never really existed at all. So what can a modern woman learn from the petticoat-wearing heroines of classic literature? Tons, says author Erin Blakemore, who penned the delightful guide-to-life “The Heroine’s Bookshelf: Life Lessons from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder,” out Tuesday.

The book, a hybrid between literary theory and self-help, delves into books like “Gone With the Wind,” “Jane Eyre” and “The Color Purple” to ask present-day questions like “Should I marry that guy?” and “Should I buy that dress when I’m unemployed?”

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“When the line between duty and sanity blurs, you can usually find me curled up with a battered book, reading as if my mental health depended on it,” Blakemore writes. “And it does, for inside books I love I find food, respite, escape and perspective.”

The Heroine’s Bookshelf

by Erin Blakemore

Harper