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A review by libras
Gentleman Jack: A Biography of Anne Lister, Regency Landowner, Seducer and Secret Diarist by Angela Steidele
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
I had to stop lol, even though I was halfway through.
No shade on this author - I think the way she laid out the diary entries and let Anne Lister speak for herself, while providing context and some insight now and again. The story of the diaries, the cipher Lister wrote in, the detail of them and what insight it reveals about this era and queerness... utterly facsinating.
That said, Anne Lister is such a deeply unlikable person for me. The way she treated her partners, her own stuck-up personality and hypocrisy, how manipulative and pointlessly cruel she could be. She was a very messy person, and while that's very human and she had very real problems to deal with in her life, I couldn't personally tolerate it. I wanted to throw down the book at her desire to keep a former girlfriend in an asylum for fear she'd blab their relationship, and later, Anne Lister contracted an STD and refused to tell her current and future partners. Lord. Not to mention all the standards and double standards she expects of her partners, and her desire to control them and string them along. But I digress.
Important part of queer history, but unfortunately, not one I'm particuarly interested in pursuing further.
No shade on this author - I think the way she laid out the diary entries and let Anne Lister speak for herself, while providing context and some insight now and again. The story of the diaries, the cipher Lister wrote in, the detail of them and what insight it reveals about this era and queerness... utterly facsinating.
That said, Anne Lister is such a deeply unlikable person for me. The way she treated her partners, her own stuck-up personality and hypocrisy, how manipulative and pointlessly cruel she could be. She was a very messy person, and while that's very human and she had very real problems to deal with in her life, I couldn't personally tolerate it. I wanted to throw down the book at her desire to keep a former girlfriend in an asylum for fear she'd blab their relationship, and later, Anne Lister contracted an STD and refused to tell her current and future partners. Lord. Not to mention all the standards and double standards she expects of her partners, and her desire to control them and string them along. But I digress.
Important part of queer history, but unfortunately, not one I'm particuarly interested in pursuing further.