Badass Ladies of the Twilight Universe: Leah Clearwater

“‘Sam told me to beg.  He told me to literally get down on my knees if I have to.  He wants you home, Lee-lee, where you belong.’

I saw Leah flinch when Jared used Sam’s old nickname for her.  And then, when he added those last three words, her hackles rose and she was yowling a long stream of snarls through her teeth.  I didn’t have to be in her head to hear the cussing-out she was giving him, and neither did he.  You could almost hear the exact words she was using.” (Breaking Dawn, 262-263)*

 One of the pleasant surprises of Breaking Dawn was the emergence of Leah as a character.  Statements and events in New Moon and Eclipse tell the reader that Leah is having a rough time of it, simultaneous to Bella’s various dramas but in the background.  Her boyfriend first becomes distant, then suddenly dumps her for her cousin.  Her father suffers a fatal heart attack.  Then she becomes a wolf.  The turmoil derived from being the only girl tied to a patriarchal tradition strikes a poignant tone when Leah’s voice becomes present in Breaking Dawn.  The “brotherhood” that we see uniting the pack in New Moon isn’t doing anything for Leah.  She knows that some members of the pack wish she would go away, but she is determined to not be ignored.  Leah’s commitment to her own thoughts and feelings make her a striking character.  I suspect that this is an unpopular opinion, but I love the unseen moment in Breaking Dawn when Leah goes into the Cullen’s house to yell at Bella.  It’s who she is – she marches into a house full of her sworn enemies to throw down with a pregnant girl.  It’s not terribly classy, but it is ballsy, and the fact that she doesn’t care about who doesn’t want to hear her opinion makes her a favorite of mine.  Just as if Edward were real, I wouldn't want to date him, if Leah were real, I would want to hang out with her.  She's got some quality snarky asides.  I like to imagine that even if Sam had ended up with Leah instead of Emily, she would have told the members of the pack to make their own damn muffins.  Stephenie Meyer has said that if she was going to continue within the Twilight universe, Leah is a potential narrator.  I, for one, would love to hear more of her voice.

*Meyer, Stephenie. Breaking Dawn. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008.