The Real Beatrix Potter

A mixed bag. Beatrix Potter’s life is really interesting, not least because of her unusual position as a women of wealth and power at the beginning of the 20th century. However I found the book quite dry, with many parts repeated and lots of extracts from other sources doing much of the work. It felt more akin to an extended magazine article or biographical essay, than a fleshed out biography - and it could have easily been reduced to half the size if the recycled sections were removed.

In saying that, I did speed through the story and learnt a great deal about Potter that I wouldn’t have gained by watching Renée Zellweger’s 2006 movie ‘Miss Potter’ alone! The book moves chronologically through her life, lingering on her lonely childhood in Kensington & Chelsea. It is well known that Beatrix painted and drew all of her famous animals, but I did not know that she was also an accomplished botanical artist and avid mycologist for a short while. She was incredibly scientifically minded, and in a different time would have no doubt been educated as such. Both Beatrix and her younger brother were fascinated by biology, and had a slightly gruesome hobby of taxidermy from a young age. Unlike the film, Potter didn’t actually venture to the lake district until she was 16 years old - but she did fall in love with it right away.

Cohen follows Beatrix’s isolated twenties and thirties, and her persistent struggle against her parents control as an unmarried woman. She was engaged to her gentle publicist before his untimely death, and moved to the lake district to grieve. She became a well respected local, and married a solicitor ‘Willy’ Heelis. The book charters Beatrix’s journey from a London literary wonder into a hardy cumbrian landowner and powerful player in the preservation of both land and traditional ways of farming. She was one of the founding funders of The National Trust, and her legacy cannot be understated.

I grew up with Peter Rabbit and the prestigious ‘little books’ that are so beautifully illustrated and meticulously designed. I fully believe that Beatrix’s global reputation as a unique children’s author is well deserved, however her lesser known role in conservation and protection of the Lake District is probably how she would prefer to be remembered, with her beloved home still being open to visitors today. Overall, I really wanted to engage more with this biography, but I found the two-dimensional character descriptions and constant hyperbole a little irritating. On a more positive note, I do think that (arduous though it feels to get there), Cohen does really home in on Potter’s forthright nature and non-nonsense work ethic, and I finished the book with a satisfying feeling that I could probably win a Beatrix pub quiz. A worthy quick read if you’re just looking to learn more about a very interesting woman, and are willing to look past the writing style.