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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
A really interesting character, morally nebulous but what an obsessive journaliser and trove of historic details. However, this book felt flat in many places; context was only added in a few places, and at some points the author seems to draw incorrect conclusions. Also it appears she didn't read any of the diaries herself and so was reliant on secondary sources. Planning on reading a few other books on Anne Lister to gain a wider view.
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
🌶
VIBES - Fine
Queer women in history
This biography of Anne Lister mostly focuses on the women she seduces. While I understand the importance of portraying queer women (and men) through history, this seems to almost boarder on fetishisation. She was fickle of heart and manipulative AF. Anne was toxic but do I hate that or do I love that for her? I'm not sure. I find it sort of comical how for most of history queer women were not spoke about or even thought to not exist because the men (and some women) didn't want to give the women folk any ideas. It was common place for two women to share a bed in the early 1800's. I didn't know much about this time period, as I'm not a history buff, but it's sort of fascinating. Anne was obsessive about her diaries, which to be fair is probably the only reason we know about her at all. Not my favourite non-fiction but interesting nonetheless.
VIBES - Fine
Queer women in history
This biography of Anne Lister mostly focuses on the women she seduces. While I understand the importance of portraying queer women (and men) through history, this seems to almost boarder on fetishisation. She was fickle of heart and manipulative AF. Anne was toxic but do I hate that or do I love that for her? I'm not sure. I find it sort of comical how for most of history queer women were not spoke about or even thought to not exist because the men (and some women) didn't want to give the women folk any ideas. It was common place for two women to share a bed in the early 1800's. I didn't know much about this time period, as I'm not a history buff, but it's sort of fascinating. Anne was obsessive about her diaries, which to be fair is probably the only reason we know about her at all. Not my favourite non-fiction but interesting nonetheless.
slow-paced
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
slow-paced
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
the author of this biography does some reaching and i’m not always onboard with her conclusions but i thoroughly enjoyed reading this, Anne Lister is endlessly fascinating
This book was a nice read for the first couple of chapters. After that, it began is feel stale and mostly get on my nerves.
I loved the cheekiness in the beginning, but that quickly began to get annoying. Mostly, the book felt repetitive and drawn out. It reminded me of a historical article reviewing her diaries, rather than a book recounting the diaries.
This is a recommendation if you’re queer and into history, but not a big recommendation anyways.
I loved the cheekiness in the beginning, but that quickly began to get annoying. Mostly, the book felt repetitive and drawn out. It reminded me of a historical article reviewing her diaries, rather than a book recounting the diaries.
This is a recommendation if you’re queer and into history, but not a big recommendation anyways.
Gentleman Jack is a biography of Anne Lister, Regency Yorkshire landowner known for her relationships with women and explicit diaries partly written in code. Full of quotations from her diaries, it is a good biography for anything looking for an introduction to Lister's life and what she wrote about in her diaries. Likely to be of most interest are her various relationships with women—often surprisingly openly for Regency society—and her interest in travel, scaling mountains and visiting countries across Europe and even Azerbaijan. Steidele also weaves in elements of the act of uncoding Lister's diaries and the reticence of earlier generations to reveal their explicit lesbian sex, which is crucial to thinking about the reception of Anne Lister.
Before the BBC's upcoming drama of the same name, the biography is a good way to learn more about a fascinating historical figure. It is engaging and readable, giving enough explanatory detail that you don't need to know the period well. Without knowing a huge amount about scholarship around Lister, it is difficult to comment on its accuracy and depiction of her, but it certainly is an interesting book.
Before the BBC's upcoming drama of the same name, the biography is a good way to learn more about a fascinating historical figure. It is engaging and readable, giving enough explanatory detail that you don't need to know the period well. Without knowing a huge amount about scholarship around Lister, it is difficult to comment on its accuracy and depiction of her, but it certainly is an interesting book.