The Real Beatrix Potter is a fascinating and revealing biography of
one of the world's most cherished children's authors.
Beatrix Potter's famous little white books have enchanted generations of
young readers who adored the characters she created and of course her
own distinctive illustrations.
Born into a typically repressed Victorian family it was assumed that
Beatrix would achieve little more than finding herself a rich husband,
and so there was no point in bothering to educate her.
But the Potters underestimated their daughter. Stifled by the lack of
stimulation, she educated herself in art, science, and of course a great
love of the natural world.
The success of Peter Rabbit proved her to be creative genius who could
have become the toast of the London literary scene, but when her fiancé
tragically died Beatrix retreated to the Lake District where she
reinvented herself as a successful farmer, a canny businesswoman and an
early environmental pioneer.
Passionately campaigning to save the area from development she helped
establish the National Trust, and despite her great wealth Beatrix lived
out her days in humble anonymity.
