Did you know how gansta Beatrix Potter was?!?!

Squirrel Nutkin escaping certain death

Okay, I have to admit that I'm reading Beatrix Potter for the first time in my life. I wasn't originally going to study in the Lake District. At most, I would drive through and take frequent writing and photography stops.

Then, I was blessed when Mom (that's all I know - other than James's mom - and I prefer the first one) offered to host me. Long story short, my friend's mom-in-law invited me to stay with her on my leg to study in Haworth and Halifax. So, that freed up some money to extend my research to the Lake District and stay there a few days.

In order to justify staying in the dreamy Lake District, I had to find some authors to learn about. Next to Wordsworth and Keats, I thought Potter would be a sweet addition.

"Have you read anything about Beatrix Potter's life???

This woman is amazing. She was a Victorian daughter who couldn't do anything without her parents' permission until she was married. She came from a decently well-to-do family who had high hopes for any man she was to marry. They holidayed in The Lake District, and she would paint all the flora and fauna. Before her first book (that she SELF published), she was highly regarded for her attention to detail and accuracy of her paintings. She was about as beautifully independent as they come (even by modern-day standards. Imagine what folks must have thought about her back then)!

But, outside of her independence, talent, and success, this woman fell in love with the Lake District. Industrialization was starting to take over the countryside, and many of the smaller farms were going out of business. And this lady said, "Not on my watch!" (Not her real quote)

She met with conservationists and bought all kinds of land and properties. AND she managed all of them! That's crazy! She bought Hill Top with the proceeds of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. And her stories and paintings were so beloved that she was able to keep buying more and more land. And, she was smart! She ran the whole merch market and created a successful brand all based on the lives of animals and the land she worked so closely with since she was a child.

Okay, that's what actually hooked me on her. Like, she's a bad ass, and then I went to read her sweet little books...

On page two of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, the mom just casually reminds the kids not to go over to the farmer's because their dad was killed and put in a pie there.

Page two. Then, page three is the four kiddos scampering off, and Peter's dumb tail goes to the farmer's. (I wish you could see my face right now) Spoiler Alert: shenanigans ensue, and when Peter gets home, he only gets "some sips" of chamomile tea before bed, but the well-behaved siblings get bread. The end.

Damn.

Potter didn't sugar coat anything. I knew that about her outside of her books (I mean she was a single, WOMAN, entrepreneur in the super early 1900s), but I just figured these would be little sweet stories to read at bedtime. Man, I would have had some questions if Mom had read these to me when I was a kid.

It's wild, Fam! She was so hardcore that Peter Rabbit was actually modeled after her real-life bunny named Peter Piper, and when he died, she skinned him herself and kept his pelt for posterity's sake.

She was like a biologist/mycologist/painter/author/conservationist all wrapped up into one. The common thread I see is storytelling. It was in her bones from a very young age, and she was going to figure out how to tell these stories no matter the obstacles. Tell the stories of the nature around her. She was so steeped in it. That was her whole world.

Isn't that gorgeous?!?!

I highly recommend checking out Beatrix Potter's story. I'm late to the fandom, but (moving forward) anytime I can talk about this supreme specimen, I will gladly gush!!!

I've only read The Tale of Peter Rabbit and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, but my educated guess is that all twenty-four of these books show the complications of predator-prey relationships, ownership, adventure, independence, respect, and actions/consequences. Not gonna lie, Peter and Nutkin kinda aggravated me, but I'm looking forward to investigating if any of the other main characters are cool and respectful.

We'll see :)