One of the most difficult tasks for some young readers of this book will involve coming to a fair understanding of Victorian attitudes toward children and women. These may appear very peculiar, if not cruel, to modern sensibilities. Readers may want to turn Beatrix's mother into a cruel, witchlike character. She was not. Lane is sensitive to this difficulty and offers some background on Victorian attitudes. She carefully paints the Potter parents as stiff and conventional rather than meanspirited, noting that their daughter does not hate them, although she sometimes finds them irritating.

Young people may also have trouble understanding why Potter does not simply run away or rebel. In fact, this biography illustrates very well that open rebellion is often not necessary; Potter does get what she wants in the end. She is spunky and manages her parents remarkably well without causing too many outright...