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A review by sapphosgirlfriend
Gentleman Jack: The Real Anne Lister by Anne Choma
3.0
I was a little disappointed with this one, to be honest. I finished watching Gentleman Jack and now found myself fascinated by Anne Lister, and I was very excited to read more about her life beyond the scopes of the TV show. However, this book doesn't really go much beyond that, and only covers about two years of Anne's life which are mostly also portrayed in the TV series. This is a shame to me, as there is so much more of her life to explore.
That aside, this book does give fascinating new insights about what drove Lister, and what her passions were. We learn more about the academic inside her, and her drive for studying which wasn't understood or allowed in her time. Moreover, this book helps explain Anne's drive for getting a wife that really had to be upper class and rich, as status was more important than love in marriages in that time period. It was particularly interesting how she based her entire idea of lesbian relationships around heterosexual relationships, as that is all she would have known.
If you haven't seen Gentleman Jack the TV series, give it a go! It's a great portrayal of the first modern lesbian marriage.
That aside, this book does give fascinating new insights about what drove Lister, and what her passions were. We learn more about the academic inside her, and her drive for studying which wasn't understood or allowed in her time. Moreover, this book helps explain Anne's drive for getting a wife that really had to be upper class and rich, as status was more important than love in marriages in that time period. It was particularly interesting how she based her entire idea of lesbian relationships around heterosexual relationships, as that is all she would have known.
If you haven't seen Gentleman Jack the TV series, give it a go! It's a great portrayal of the first modern lesbian marriage.