Beatrix Potter was born 157 years ago today on 28 h July 1866 and lived to the age of 77 (22nd December 1943). I bet she never imagined that, 121 years after her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published commercially and eighty years after her death, her stunning illustrations and her ‘little books’ would still be widely read and loved all over the world.
I have a confession to make. I only read my first Beatrix Potter book this year as part of my research for The Start of Something Wonderful, but I have long been aware of her beautiful illustrations.
As a lover of the Lake District, it would be impossible not to be aware of the incredible part that this passionate and determined woman played in conserving the landscape for future generations, buying up farms and land which property developers wanted to snap up, and later gifting them to the National Trust.
With the Lake District being my happy place, I was eager to add it to my settings repertoire and, a couple of years ago, asked Boldwood Books if I could pen a series there. I was thrilled when they said yes and knew immediately that Beatrix Potter would feature.
In The Start of Something Wonderful my main character, Autumn Laine, is an illustrator who has lost her creative sparkle and hopes she’ll find it by walking in the footsteps of her heroine, Beatrix Potter. I’d created Autumn as an illustrator for a greeting cards company and, when I did my research into Beatrix Potter, was thrilled to discover that was how she’d started out. The more research I did, the more parallels I found between the two women and it has been such a privilege to explore these connections as Autumn’s story unfolds. It has also been lovely reading so many of Potter’s books and looking through her captivating illustrations.
Beatrix Potter has a massive impact on Autumn Laine’s career but she has also had a huge impact on me. I’ve visited her home, Hill Top, on several occasions but went back this Easter to finalise my research. My visit was on the publication day of Summer Nights at The Starfish Café and it felt right to celebrate the publication of my nineteenth book in the place where such an enduring author penned many of her twenty-three Tales.
Big hugs
Jessica xx
Make sure to pick up your copy of The Start of Something Wonderful: https://mybook.to/Startsomethingsocial