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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
points for the author, anne lister can choke <3
adventurous
informative
sad
medium-paced
A really interesting biography. This is of course not the book's faults, but after watching and falling in love with the show I was actually kind of surprised to learn how much of a terrible person Anne Lister was. Kind of a bummer.
I became interested in this book following the Netflix series “Gentleman Jack” but I have some conflicting thoughts with this one. The downside: It was easy to tell that the author did not think highly of Ann Lister, which I found unfortunate since it would have been a much better novel without that bias. On the other hand, it was a recollection of some fascinating history of a woman that was not ashamed of who she was. I plan to visit Shipton Hall in the future!
In my opinion this book presents a rather unfair portrayal of Anne Lister and the way she behaved towards her lovers. Steidele’s criticisms of Anne Lister seem lacking in nuance and consideration for the fact that Lister was a complicated person who lived 200 years ago. The complexity of Anne Lister’s situation as a masculine-presenting lesbian in the early 19th century is completely disregarded for the sake of a very narrow perception of her as some kind of monster. Whether Lister truly was the manipulative predator portrayed in the book or not is up for debate, but the fact that Steidele used almost entirely secondary sources leading to misinformation definitely diminishes the credibility of her sweeping judgements. I almost enjoyed the book but it seems at points to lack important context, and some of the facts are straight up wrong and misleading. Anne Lister’s life was so vast and trying to compact it into a single small volume is a recipe for disaster. I really would not recommend reading this. For anyone interested in reading further about Anne Lister, I recommend Jill Liddington and Helena Whitbread’s books.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
The only reason this book did not receive 5 stars is because by the end of it I had grown exceptionally disillusioned with its subject - the infamous Anne Lister herself, which, in my opinion, means that the biographer, Angela Steidele, did an excellent job of depicting Anne as a fascinating but real person, not often in the most favourable of lights, but attempting to remain objective throughout.
The narrative takes us along for a ride, through the darkest crevices of Anne Lister's extraordinary diaries. The reason I say they are "extraordinary" is that Anne Lister, an occasionally redeemable narcissist, wrote down in minute detail her daily routine and the goings on in the world around her, placing herself at the centre of a period in British history, which many have found fascinating.
Whilst I personally started this book expecting to immediately fall in love with the dashing and debonair character of Miss Lister (due to my unrelenting love for historical and modern LGBT biographies and the powerful stories they often tell), I found instead a conceited and self-serving individual, who was, above all, terrible at being a successful landowner, which is what she seems to be esteemed for by fans. In fact, most of her time appears to be spent abroad, attempting to woo this lady of the aristocracy or that.
I would highly recommend this book due to its historical accuracy and the attempt to delve deeper into what is, for the most part, an unsympathetic character. Although, like me, you may not like Miss Lister by the end of it, you would be able to appreciate her unwavering devotion to her freedom and prosperity, as well as her brash sense of identity.
The narrative takes us along for a ride, through the darkest crevices of Anne Lister's extraordinary diaries. The reason I say they are "extraordinary" is that Anne Lister, an occasionally redeemable narcissist, wrote down in minute detail her daily routine and the goings on in the world around her, placing herself at the centre of a period in British history, which many have found fascinating.
Whilst I personally started this book expecting to immediately fall in love with the dashing and debonair character of Miss Lister (due to my unrelenting love for historical and modern LGBT biographies and the powerful stories they often tell), I found instead a conceited and self-serving individual, who was, above all, terrible at being a successful landowner, which is what she seems to be esteemed for by fans. In fact, most of her time appears to be spent abroad, attempting to woo this lady of the aristocracy or that.
I would highly recommend this book due to its historical accuracy and the attempt to delve deeper into what is, for the most part, an unsympathetic character. Although, like me, you may not like Miss Lister by the end of it, you would be able to appreciate her unwavering devotion to her freedom and prosperity, as well as her brash sense of identity.
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
challenging
slow-paced
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A fascinating peek into a queer world that people pretend did not exist back then.
I am both inspired and a little repulsed by Anne Lister, mostly because she broke hearts constantly and then blamed all reaction on the poor girl.
I am both inspired and a little repulsed by Anne Lister, mostly because she broke hearts constantly and then blamed all reaction on the poor girl.