| EMMA | Forename of a heroine in a novel of the same name by Jane Austen (4) |
| UNCLETOM | Character sold in a novel of 1852 |
| LIES | "Tell Me ___" (Hulu show based on a novel of the same name) |
| ANNA | Forename of a ballerina noted for her signature role in The Dying Swan and immortalisation in the fruit, meringue and whipped-cream pudding that carries her surname (4) |
| NOEL | Forename of a dramatist who wrote a play that takes its title from the opening line of an ode by Shelley: "Hail to thee, blithe spirit!" (4) |
| JANE | Forename of a Pre-Raphaelite muse and Arts and Crafts embroiderer who was the wife of William Morris, immortalised in The Blue Silk Dress, Water Willow and other paintings by her lover, Dante Gabriel |
| ALAN | Forename of a dramatist who, in excess of "40 years on" since his first stage play, is still a prolific writer despite being a nonagenarian (4) |
| LARA | Forename of a fictional British archaeologist and tomb raider in a series of video games and films (4) |
| BILL | Forename of a Microsoft co-founder and billionaire or the badger chum of Rupert the Bear (4) |
| FISH | 1998 novel by Daniel Wallace, Big _: A Novel Of Mythic Proportions (4) |
| XENA | Heroine in a spin-off of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" |
| EYRE | Observer takes in Queen Jane, a heroine (4) |
| CLEO | Heroine in a play by Will |
| IVAN | Forename of a physiologist whose experiments feeding dogs led to his discovery of classical conditioning (4) |
| EZRA | Forename of a founder of imagism who was briefly engaged to pagan mystic Hilda Doolittle, aka H.D. (4) |
| ANNE | Shortened forename of a Jewish girl remembered for her diary addressed in places to "Dear Kitty" (4) |
| ENID | Forename of a children's author whose Famous Five books/stories were illustrated by Eileen Soper (4) |
| AIDA | Help a heroine of opera (4) |
| MIMI | I am twice backing a heroine of Puccini's (4) |
| JOAN | Title heroine in a Shaw play |
