“I don’t want lessons, I want practice…a bad or indifferent teacher is worse than none.”

“I say fearlessly that the Michaelangelo is hideous and badly drawn. I wouldn’t give a tuppence for it, except as a curiosity.”

The Tale of Beatrix Potter*, Margaret Lane.

Beatrix Potter was awesome. I forgot they made a Reneé Zellweger movie about her, so other than having a few of her beautiful books as a kid, this biography is all I know — and what I know now is pretty stupendous.

The Potter model of success seems downright modern. She honed her craft, started her stories as blog-like letters to kids, worked for herself, and self-published her first book. The engraving and printing of Peter Rabbit cost her 11 pounds. She invested in her passion, and then others followed.

“They were both approaching 40. Their friendship had grown steadily through four quiet but eventful years, and in temperament they seem to have been ideally suited.” Ugh. Finally engaged, and I say finally because she wasn’t allowed to be a person without a husband (at least at home) and he dies before she gets to marry him. (Not a spoiler. You can’t spoil history.)

If you need a “tie it to the moment” reason to check it out, it’s currently a popular time period — Beatrix could have dropped in on Downton Abbey if she was allowed to go anywhere. Because of course, if you’re not married, you don’t get to go anywhere — not even to live at the farm you bought with your own money.

She eventually marries another, that one farm turns into several, and then into the whole countryside which she bought and left to the National Trust. Her story has it all: Gender-barrier breaking success under the thumb of the same oppression; an artist story of commercial acclaim only in unhappiness; and supreme doing-it-for-yourself (especially during the war, she did more on her farms than men) all with an eye to altruism. Dang.

There’s a lot of story in those tiny books.

(*Book #2. Book #1: Born Round, Frank Bruni, Book #3 is ready to go on my Nook, Book #4 simultaneously ready on my phone. Prepared for idle times in the parlour, people.)

• Tags
• books
• 25 book challenge
• gender
• beatrix potter
• downton abbey