When I was a fulltime public servant and recently crowned Wicked Defective Step Monster, I used to fantasize of sitting alone under a big tree and reading Beatrix Potter books. Forty years later, the time has come. I don't have a big tree anymore but I have my solarium aka my bedroom where the sun beams most afternoons.
Not being pressed for time these days, I've also been taking the opportunity to read this wonderful 500+ page biography of Beatrix Potter.
It is exceptionally well written and thorough. Beatrix was a survivor of Victorian expectations of an only daughter in a well off family living in London. She performed the role of dutiful daughter demanded of her but yearned for the freedom to choose her own life.
Her filial duties included accompanying her parents on their long and frequent holidays, including to relatives in Wales. She often wrote illustrated letters to young family members and friends, and it was from these that her Tales evolved. She studied the natural world, particularly fungi, and tried to get a resistant science fraternity to accept her findings. As her children's books became published and sold well, including in America, this most enterprising woman had the idea of spin-offs - toys and puzzles - well before our now ubiquitous 'merch'.
Beatrix and the technology of the time didn't quite get into films and DVDs but she made herself a wealthy woman. She returned constantly to the Lake District and eventually bought Hill Top Farm. She married late and wisely. William Heelis was a well regarded local solicitor who could provide expert knowledge as Beatrix sought to extend her Lakeland land holdings. Beatrix became an expert sheep farmer and conservationist.
Beatrix and William on the day before their wedding
Beatrix said her favourite Tale was the Tailor of Gloucester,
and claimed she definitely sided with Timmy Willy, the country mouse.
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