There’s a love story in Beatrix Potter bio Miss Potter (2006; UK).

Miss Potter is about the beautiful imagination—Beatrix Potter’s illustrated animal creations, with a story. There’s also a lovely love story in this film.

Beatrix and her publisher are at first on working relations. The publisher Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor) supervises her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Unexpected is love in these kinds of working relationships. Nevertheless the affections grow between Beatrix and Norman and they fall ‘head over heels’ in love.

Beatrix’s smitten and so is he, but her parents are less than enchanted with the situation.

Love on hold

In the ‘upstairs, downstairs’ world in the early 1900’s England, daughters were expected to marry ‘up the ladder’ rather than ‘down’. Norman Warne wasn’t exactly what Beatrix’s parents wanted for her daughter, but according to Beatrix, love conquers all. Full stop and end of story.

Not the end of story. Her parents come up with conditions for their strong willed daughter before she considers marriage.  Even so, Beatrix is adamant that Norman and her love will conquer their conditions.

According to her parents, two months away in the country will determine if Beatrix’s emotion for Norman is only infatuation.

No it’s not, says Beatrix, but she agrees to go, because at the end of it, her love will still be the same. She just knows beyond doubt. It is one of those things where you ‘know that you know’ despite what others say and do. She does not think about if she’s wrong.  Her feelings for Norman, she says, are true.

Norman and Beatrix correspond through letters [i.e. the hand written type] while she’s away. Today, this may look like email, or chat, or texting, but the Miss Potter situation is so far removed from today. Miss Potter is one of those old fashioned love stories where the distance between couples is measured in train stops and not broadband.

But tragedy strikes and to the fore is the universal theme of tragedy that everyone may understand.

Unexpected and unfortunate this is, but life cannot be put on hold, even at times like this.

Besides, Beatrix’s bold, brilliant imagination is too good to let go.