Book dossier

Beatrix Potter

by M. Daphne Kutzer

"In celebration of Peter Rabbit's centennial birthday, Beatrix Potter: Writing in Code presents the first full-length study of Potter's entire canon, examining all twenty-six tales in a biographical and cultural context. Close reading demonstrates how plots and imagery in the stories parallel Potter's life and socio-political concerns. Drawing extensively on the author's coded journal and private correspondence, M. Daphne Kutzer argues that Potter's picture books for children contain disguised references to her personal life, political viewpoints, and business acumen. In its novel approach, Beatrix Potter, Writing in Code peers through the veil of nostalgia that often clouds critical responses to the tales, thereby revealing previously overlooked complexities and subtleties. Attention to Potter's career and private reflections illuminates not only the surface meanings of her books but also their artfully coded social, political, and biographical commentary. Regarded in this light, they tell us as much about Potter and her world as they do about mischievous rabbits and mice."--Jacket.