One of my goals in 2020 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.
I don’t know where I got this little biography, The Tale of Beatrix Potter by Margaret Lane, but I’m glad I picked it up!
Beloved the world over for her sweet and imaginative childrens books, Beatrix Potter’s work is well known. Her life remained shrouded in mystery and speculation until her coded journal was found and deciphered.
I grew up with The Tale of Peter Rabbit and the other Beatrix Potter books. I was acrtually super surprised that my husband did not. I thought ALL kids read these books growing up!! These books, featuring anthropomorphic animals with little waistcoats and independent lives, were a huge impact on my childhood. Until I read this biography of the author, I took that fact a little for granted. I’m glad that I could read about Potter’s life and have my love of these books rekindled. Her story is also extremely fascinating. I had known that Peter Rabbit was originally written as a letter to the child of a friend, but I had no idea the rest of Potter’s story. This book was very interesting; Potter’s life was sheltered and solitary as she was sequestered and contained by her parents. In her early childhood her and her brother were very close but as soon as he was able, he left and started a life without his sister. She wasn’t allowed to do the same until she was well in her forties. The way she escaped and created was to dream, draw and write stories, many of which later became her books. She had many pets growing up and was completely devoted to them. She also kept a shockingly detailed and and very secret journal, creating her own code and writing in teeny script. It was only years after her death, when the journal was discovered and years after that, when it was decoded, that her true thoughts and feelings about her life and her true history were known. I would highly reccommend this book to those who like literary biographies, people who were fans of her books, or anyone interested in one woman’s journey to freedom.
Have you read this book?
This book was mentioned in my November Wrap Up.