It works for books, too

    As I mentioned over the way, I've recently joined Instagram, and it's great for a quick snap and a brief comment on current reading or something I've just acquired, say.

   Yesterday I posted this picture of Linda Lear's biography Beatrix Potter: The extraordinary life of a Victorian genius which I'm greatly enjoying. I've known of the book for some time, but it was James Rebanks' mention of it in The Shepherd's Life which prompted me to buy it, as, in later life Miss Potter - by then Mrs. Heelis - was of course a noted breeder of Herdwick sheep.

    I'm still on the early chapters covering her youth, and always interested in the genesis of creativity, I noted the passage on her childhood reading (which included " 'Miss Edgeworth and Scott's novels' ") which culminates, " ... this rich diet of art and literature contributed to a lifelong delight in rhythm, cadence, wordplay, humour, dialect and dialogue: all nourishment for her imagination and the creation of her own literary style."

Comments

[Sunday Taylor]

Just discovered your blog through instagram! This book sounds very good. I have a wonderful book on the home and garden of Beatrix Potter and would love to visit it one day!

[Cornflower]

I hope you will get the chance, Sunday! I visited Hill Top ages ago but would love to go again. Meanwhile, I have Marta McDowell's and Susan Denyer's books on Beatrix Potter's gardens/home on my wish list.
Re. Instagram, I found your lovely blog by that means and have subscribed to it, so good things all round!

[Jeannine Atkins]

Like Sunday Taylor, I am happy to discover your blog, but it was not via Instagram, which you make look fun, but your article on Erika Robuck's House of Hawthorne In Historical Novels Review.

Linda Lear's biography was good company for me in our snowy New England winter, and I like the quote you chose about Beatrix Potter's childhood reading. I think you'll enjoy the parts with the sheep, too, which all links with her long appreciation of those special lakes and hills.

[Cornflower]

Welcome, Jeannine, and thank you so much for stopping by! I didn't know the article was out (I'll no doubt get a copy in due course), but I'm glad it brought you here.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Linda Lear's biography - I am loving it and am delighting in all the detail.