The Peter Rabbit Lady

The Real Beatrix Potter by Nadia Cohen is a fascinating insight into one of the world’s best known and loved children’s author. Beatrix Potter was so much more than just a famous author. She was a woman ahead of her time, caring little for the fashionable drawing rooms of Kensington and preferring the rugged outdoors of her beloved Lake District.

Even as a child Beatrix Potter was curious about nature and animals. She loved drawing them and also experimenting. These were activities which she shared with her younger brother.

The famous Tale Of Peter Rabbit was at first refused by the publishers Warne and co but after the success of a self-published run, they published it in 1902 and sold 200,000 in just a few months. The rest as they say is history.

Beatrix Potter was not just the Peter Rabbit Lady, she was passionately involved in conservation and a supporter in the setting up of the National Trust. It is said  that “without Beatrix Potter, many experts believe, that the Lake District would not still be here today.” With her funds Beatrix Potter bought up huge areas of the Lake District in order to keep it in the hands of the local people. Her first purchase was her home Hilltop Farm in 1905. In the 1920’s she would buy a larger farm with Herdwick sheep on it and promote the breed.

Nadia Cohen calls Beatrix Potter a trailblazer. She was a woman ahead of her time, quintessentially English but with a world-wide appeal down the generations. Her books have been translated into 46 languages and she is very popular with the Japanese.

Beatrix Potter’s heart has always been for children. She wanted her books priced at no more than a shilling so children could afford them. Children wrote to her and she replied to their letters.

I have always loved Beatrix Potter’s books. I read them as a child. I read them to my children and I read them to my granddaughters. Beatrix Potter’s books are as much loved today as they have always been.

Thank you Nadia Cohen for a fascinating look into a favourite and much loved children’s author.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON