Ebook: Beatrix potter - her inner world

Even before she emerged from the cot in her nursery, Beatrix Potter was up against it. With her prodigious memory she recalled being placed 'under the tyranny of a cross old nurse' who introduced her to 'witches, fairies and the creed of the terrible John Calvin'. More sadness followed. She had no siblings of her own age and was brought up, virtually, in isolation. She also had a love affair that ended tragically. She was afflicted by two most unpleasant illnesses – one of which affected her for the remainder of her life – and she found herself often at odds with her mother. Yet, she grew up to become one of the most original of children's authors and illustrators whose books are as popular today as they were when they were first published, almost a century ago.

How did her sheltered upbringing, her tense relationship with her parents and, critically, her chronic and debilitating illnesses, determine the development of her personality and her evolution as...