Anna Maria Hickson diary, 1838-1839

A gem of a diary kept by a girl of 14, the intelligent and sophisticated daughter of a prominent upper middle-class family growing up on a country estate in early Victorian England, in fact during the first year of the reign of Queen Victoria. The diary, a closely wrottem 150-page document, evokes the genteel society of the period, and does so with real presence, while also making a poignant personal statement. There are many interesting narratives here--of education: French lessons, dancing lessons, reading; of pastimes and recreation including games, donkey riding, walks in the woods, flower gathering, swimming, and shell gathering; of travel: a visit to London to see the Coronation, another to the Italian opera; of encounters with peers, siblings, and companions, and with the adult world of family, teachers, maids. This is a record of inner life as well, of intimate thoughts and feelings that reveal a lively endearing personality. Here is a highly observant, feisty young woman with a mind of her own, but also one who is vulnerable, subject to moments of self-doubt, and even self-loathing; a young woman with a love of privacy and secrecy--her diary is her refuge--sentimantal, at times a bit melodramatic, in love with nature and the beautiful, but also outspoken, at times witty and sardonic, drawn to the whimsical and grotesque as well as the idyllic, tough minded in her opinion of others, occasionally in conflict with the adult world. Description and information provided by seller.