Beatrix Potter's Farm, and a New Biography
January 29, 2007
In response to "Potter mania" (a syndrome currently related to Beatrix, not Harry), Great Britain's National Trust has extended the hours that the author's home Hill Top is open to the public.
"Miss Potter," a 2006 film starring Renée Zellweger, sparked a heightened interest in Peter Rabbit's creator.
An article in the Kitchener, Ontario, Record says that Potter-related tourism has been a real boon for the Lake District.
"The movie is helping our overseas visitors finally get over those horrible images of foot-and-mouth disease in the English countryside," said Andrew Poole, deputy manager of the World of Beatrix Potter, an attraction based in Bowness-on-Windermere, which centres on the author and illustrator's life and storybook characters.
Armchair travellers may prefer to enjoy Potter mania with a new biography (for adults), Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature, by Linda Lear. Although the Guardian called it dull, the American Library Association's Booklist magazine gave the biography a starred review, saying, "The result is a meticulously researched and brilliantly re-created life that, despite its length and accretion of detail, is endlessly fascinating and often illuminating." Booklist's own "state of the art Web site" requires a subscription to read any of the review, but you can read the entire thing at Amazon.
I'd love to visit Hill Top Farm - and the Beatrix Potter Gallery which is nearby... One day, maybe !
As for the biography, I thought the Guardian's review was rather sniffy - but then some of the critics have been pretty sniffy about the movie too, so I'm inclined to give the biography the benefit of the doubt ! I'm waiting on the library for a copy, so expect a review one day this year !
Posted by: Michele | January 30, 2007 at 06:37 AM
hi, Michele. Visiting the farm would be neat! I haven't yet seen the movie, but plan to.
I found several sniffy U.S. reviews of the bio, too.
Posted by: Susan | January 30, 2007 at 08:45 AM
I'll never understand why reviewers have to be so sniffy ! Promise me, if I ever am, to virtually kick my butt, please !
Posted by: Michele | January 30, 2007 at 01:26 PM