Which British literary character has stayed with you long after closing the book?

Arthur Conan Doyle's brilliant, eccentric sleuth set the template for every consulting detective that followed. His deductive genius and prickly humanity continue to captivate readers more than a century on.

The second Bennet sister navigates love, class and prejudice with intelligence and quiet defiance. She remains one of literature's most beloved heroines and a benchmark for character-driven fiction.

Emily Brontë's tormented anti-hero embodies obsession, vengeance and the wild Yorkshire landscape itself. Few characters in English fiction provoke such conflicted feelings in readers.

Tolkien's hobbit gave generations of readers an unlikely hero who proved courage often comes in small, comfort-loving packages. His journey from the Shire reshaped modern fantasy.

Agatha Christie's meticulous Belgian detective brought order to chaos across decades of mysteries. His fastidious manner and moral clarity have made him a fixture of British crime writing.