The Life of Beatrix Potter

all of which celebrate the English lifestyle and rural landscape through the adventures of animals. Born to a comfortable middle-class family in London in 1866, Potter spent much of her early life in her own company. She was educated in her parents' house by a governess and rarely saw her brother Bertram, who was sent to boarding school. Having little social contact with children of her own age, Potter began to be drawn into her own world of writing. When Beatrix was 15, she began to keep a diary written in a secret code of her own invention. Even Beatrix herself, when she read back over it in later life, found it difficult to understand. It was not until 15 years after her death that the code was cracked. To the outside world Beatrix appeared a shy and reserved person, but in her diary she was able to express herself openly, and she was critical of the paintings of a number of artists of the day.