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cate_with_a_c's review against another edition
Oh my god it’s so frickin dry. You really couldn’t have translated it better from how to write short hand in old timey England? There’s a WHOLE thing in the foreword I’m how Anne Lister wrote short hand and way and the why she coded stuff and you kept it that way? DNF.
It’s not the diarist herself I’m annoyed with it’s the shoddy editing that left it unreadable. You have context know and you shot the book in the foot by keeping it as is. Atrocious.
It’s not the diarist herself I’m annoyed with it’s the shoddy editing that left it unreadable. You have context know and you shot the book in the foot by keeping it as is. Atrocious.
sofm's review against another edition
5.0
Can’t give someone’s personal diary anything less than 5 stars. These diary entries are from the years before what’s depicted on Gentleman Jack which gave more insight into her rollercoaster relationship with Mariana. (The fact that she got an STD from M!!!) Anne Lister was unapologetically herself and fought for an authentic life that TO THIS DAY is perceived as unconventional. I really related to her especially when she got all “woe is me” because same.
It makes me happy to know she found Anne Walker to share her life with even though it broke my heart to learn she died very young.
It makes me happy to know she found Anne Walker to share her life with even though it broke my heart to learn she died very young.
wildwoila's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.5
Lesbian (trans? neurodiverse?) ultra-conservative landowner in 1820s Yorkshire. Haughty intellectual, considers imperfect behaviour 'vulgar', but keen to 'agreeableize' in good society. Incorrigible flirt, hopeless romantic. Fascinating but excessively detailed.
eemms's review against another edition
4.0
I'm done!! Finally!! That felt like it took forever. Not sure how to rate this. 3? 4? my rating scale is only calibrated for fiction.
Definitely recommend if you're interested in first person accounts of wlw life in the early 1800s. Anne herself I found mostly unlikable. She's unsatisfied with her place in life (which is a pretty good place!), dislikes most of the other families in town, snubs them and then is upset when they don't keep up the friendship. Anytime anyone gets something wrong, she writes in her diary that she feels /she/ would've done it much better. Anyone she doesn't like is vulgar, and she'll write things down like "I assured so-and-so of us always being great friends, but I intend to never visit her again if I can help it".
The first hand account of 1800s lesbianism is unparalleled. She thinks (and at least per her diary she seems to be right) that she can have pretty much any woman she wants, and has several flings in among some long term lovers. She writes frequently of her need for a female companion to live out her life with. She did have plans for this, but the woman in question married, and though they are still in correspondence and planning to eventually be their own household, the husband is a problem. Once she gets a venereal disease things slow down a bit, but not before she's passed it on!
The parts I really enjoyed were the little bits of life in such a different time. There's a leech-woman, who Anne requests for bleeding separate from the local doctor. She descales her teeth with a pen-knife but also mentions buying tooth brushes several times. Clock time wasn't standardized, so she will sometimes mention by what clock she's noting the time and how it differs compared to say, the church tower. She walks SO MUCH, and seems to only eat two meals a day, plus sometimes tea.
I do recommend it if you're interested in LGBTQ history of the time period. The footnotes are in the back (ugh!! I know it's standard but I hate it) and seemed targeted at an academic reader interested specifically in 1830s Halifax, not a lay person such as myself - I didn't find them very useful. I also could've used a quick-reference character guide, as the recurring Halifax families started to get confusing. But the editor includes occasional summations of changes in Anne's life, her travel plans, etc, that help keep things easy to follow.
Definitely recommend if you're interested in first person accounts of wlw life in the early 1800s. Anne herself I found mostly unlikable. She's unsatisfied with her place in life (which is a pretty good place!), dislikes most of the other families in town, snubs them and then is upset when they don't keep up the friendship. Anytime anyone gets something wrong, she writes in her diary that she feels /she/ would've done it much better. Anyone she doesn't like is vulgar, and she'll write things down like "I assured so-and-so of us always being great friends, but I intend to never visit her again if I can help it".
The first hand account of 1800s lesbianism is unparalleled. She thinks (and at least per her diary she seems to be right) that she can have pretty much any woman she wants, and has several flings in among some long term lovers. She writes frequently of her need for a female companion to live out her life with. She did have plans for this, but the woman in question married, and though they are still in correspondence and planning to eventually be their own household, the husband is a problem. Once she gets a venereal disease things slow down a bit, but not before she's passed it on!
The parts I really enjoyed were the little bits of life in such a different time. There's a leech-woman, who Anne requests for bleeding separate from the local doctor. She descales her teeth with a pen-knife but also mentions buying tooth brushes several times. Clock time wasn't standardized, so she will sometimes mention by what clock she's noting the time and how it differs compared to say, the church tower. She walks SO MUCH, and seems to only eat two meals a day, plus sometimes tea.
I do recommend it if you're interested in LGBTQ history of the time period. The footnotes are in the back (ugh!! I know it's standard but I hate it) and seemed targeted at an academic reader interested specifically in 1830s Halifax, not a lay person such as myself - I didn't find them very useful. I also could've used a quick-reference character guide, as the recurring Halifax families started to get confusing. But the editor includes occasional summations of changes in Anne's life, her travel plans, etc, that help keep things easy to follow.
emilykatemcbain's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
5.0
genuinely one of the most fascinating things i’ve ever read!!
jmp_'s review
5.0
I loved this - it was so cool to feel connected to queer history by reading it in someone's own words. You really become immersed in Anne's life. Not all of it is interesting, but there are so many little moments that shine though, both those that feel very familiar and those that feel very alien.
avasbookmark's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.75
natlsw15's review against another edition
Struggled to engage in it, read on a recommendation but it wasn’t as readable as I had hoped, and I felt lost and not enthusiastic enough to restart to re-establish what was happening.
honeymonster's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
3.0
This is a very important historical document and all, but it's honestly rather boring in spots. Also I did not like Anne very much. Her snobbery wore on me.