Gentleman Jack

"She is another man’s wife. I am solitary."

The deeper I got into this book, the less I liked Anne Lister. To quote the author, she really is a beast of a woman. An egocentric, selfish social climber I truly could not see that she had any heartfelt feelings for anyone except for her namesake Aunt Anne. Even so, this isn't a book about being a good person,  or even about love though I suspect that the BBC will sugarcoat the truth in an upcoming drama. Anne Lister was a woman who lived unashamedly true to herself. The simple admission that her lifelong flame was 'another man's wife' is such an honest, modern lament that I wonder just how much we really understand about the gender spectrum in other eras. Though I'm sure that the entirety of the journals are too much for the casual historian, I very much appreciated this snapshot of what proved to be a fascinating, if somewhat wasted, life. 'Neither politics nor business life, neither her studies nor love had brought her success, happiness or satisfaction' yet somehow it seems certain that Anne would be only too satisfied to see both a changed world for lesbians and the esteemed place that her words now have in it.

I hadn't heard of Anne Lister before I saw this biography on NetGalley, but I am glad I took a chance on it.  Anne Lister was a - in many ways - ground-breaking figure from the Regency period and Angela Steidele has done a fantastic job of making her life very readable.  Lister was an obsessive diarist, so it seems plenty (too much!) material was available; it has clearly taken a lot of work and skill to shape it into an interesting narrative.  I'm especially awed that the biographer herself is German and this book translated - I have no clue how that works with a diary written in a mixture of English and Lister's own private code, but I'm impressed.

Anne Lister is presented a lot in her own words here, which is fabulous and unexpectedly accessible as she really doesn't write in the way you would expect an early 19th century woman to write.  She was quite graphic about her sexual conquests, of which there were many, and really doesn't hold back in her views.  She is presented as pioneering in many ways, not least her extensive travelling, her open lesbian relationships and her manipulation of inheritance rules so that she could own her own estate and businesses.  A lot of what is included in the book doesn't show her in a positive light, for example her mercenary tendencies and her infidelity to her 'wives', but she was clearly an interesting figure and a force to be reckoned with.

The only thing that I found was that the last section of the book, detailing Lister's travels around Russia, were less engaging than the rest.  It seems, separate from the intrigues of society and her romances, Lister was an intrepid explorer, but not necessarily very interesting in her record- keeping.  I much preferred the more scandalous elements of her life!

Overall, this is an important book because it reveals someone who was very much living at odds with society's norms.  Although she can't be hailed in any way as an early feminist, her diary reveals a lot about Regency society and those who did not conform.  However, the book is also an entertaining read that presents a vibrant voice from the past.

Anne Lister is such a fascinating figure, and this is the first biography to really do justice to her and to her circle of friends and lovers.