Even before she emerged from the cot in her nursery, Beatrix Potter was up against it. With her prodigious memory she recalled being placed 'under the tyranny of a cross old nurse' who introduced her to 'witches, fairies and the creed of the terrible John Calvin'. More sadness followed. She had no siblings of her own age and was brought up, virtually, in isolation. She also had a love affair that ended tragically. She was afflicted by two most unpleasant illnesses – one of which affected her for the remainder of her life – and she found herself often at odds with her mother. Yet, she grew up to become one of the most original of children's authors and illustrators whose books are as popular today as they were when they were first published, almost a century ago.

How did her sheltered upbringing, her tense relationship with her parents and, critically, her chronic and debilitating illnesses, determine the development of her personality and her evolution as a writer? Andrew Norman, in this concise and insightful biography, seeks to answer these questions and to uncover the source of the inspiration that gave birth to a series of remarkable children's books, including the most famous of all The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Andrew Norman quotes extensively from Beatrix Potter's fluent and revealing letters, and traces the strong influences exerted by her family and by her love of animals and the countryside. As he describes her reaction to her childhood illness, he shows how she escaped from the pain and sorrow of the world by creating for herself another world – one to which only she had access.

As featured in the Western Daily Press, Cumberland News, Workington Times & Star, News & Star (Carlisle) and Farnham Herald.