This account of Anne Lister's life and loves is obviously thoroughly researched and, while the subject is fascinating, it does read a little dry - even the details of Anne's sex life get a little repetitive. Anne was a truly extraordinary woman who owned her sexuality and desire without shame or apology. However, she also seems to have been quite a self-centred, egotistical and mercenary individual. Definitely, she was a complex character and I was fascinated by her life - not just her lifestyle choices but also her travel. Given the time she lived it really was remarkable. I was surprised that the author revealed what seemed to be a profound dislike for Anne at the end of the book rather than just presenting the facts in a neutral manner and letting the reader draw their own conclusions - though I did agree that Anne was more in love with herself than anyone else.

Anne Lister is such a fascinating character she should easily make a good biography. Unfortunately I found this dry and the writing style with parts of the original letters thrown in didn't work for me.

I tried to read this and managed most of it but I just did not like this. Anne as a character I do not like because how she treats her lovers and the way she behaves so flippantly with them. The tone was a bit dry in places and I felt like I had to push through the book and it was not a pleasure to read.

I had no idea the BBC series was coming out when I first requested this but I absolutely loved it and it provides a brilliant background to the show.

Gentleman Jack tells the story of Anne Lister, a woman considered by many to be the first 'modern' lesbian. This certainly was a big part of her character but after reading this what struck me more was how she had so little regard for the so called normal expectations of a woman in those days. A truly extraordinary woman. Unfortunately this is quite dry telling of her story, so I felt my attention wandering a lot. I'm grateful to have learned about this woman but hope with the upcoming TV series based on her a more vivid biography might appear.

What a read. What a trove of research.

Regardless of what you think about the life of Anne Lister, this is so well put together. Whilst it initially felt disjointed and didn't flow. As I progressed through, it was so very carefully delivered, weaving in the detail from Lister's own diary.

Lister's life itself is so interesting as well, particularly her travels had me fascinated.

This year I have challenged myself to read one non-fiction title a month. My love of melodramatic Victorian lesbian fiction (naming no names!) is well-known amongst my library colleagues, so the first title I chose was Gentleman Jack. I was familiar with Anne Lister due to the recent controversy over the wording on her 'blue placard', which described her as gender-non-conforming rather than as a lesbian. She was clearly both! I struggled to relate to Anne as she was a land-owner and a strong supporter of the Tory politicians who enclosed common land and responded to labour strikes with shocking brutality. It was very clear to me that a woman without her means would have been unable to live as freely as she did. That said, I was greatly taken by the (ahem) 'expressive' language she used in her coded journal entries, and found myself quite jealous of her excess (the luxury travelling carriages in particular!) Anne was a philanderer who rinsed one spinster's bank account after another, spending their cash to renovate her ancestral home and travel through Europe, particularly the war-torn parts! She seemed rather self-deluded at times, describing herself as faithful until death yet having no qualms about cheating on her partners, sometimes with their younger relatives. An interesting character, if not one we should aspire to! Angela Steidele's book managed to hold my attention where many biographies have failed, probably because so many of Anne's experiences were described in great detail by the Gentleman herself. This isn't to say that Steidele has nothing to contribute- she is frequently witty without passing too much judgement, and provides important socioeconomic context for those of us who know little about the period in which Anne lived. I am looking forward to the upcoming eight part (!) drama on Anne's life- if they used this book as their reference material, it will be one hell of a ride.

This is an accessible written, entertaining historical look at the life of proud lesbian Anne Lister, told as unflinchingly as she lived her life.

It has footnotes and sources but isn't overwhelmingly steeped in academia.

Not quite what we stock in our shop right now, but as we expand to grown ups it's certainly well researched and entertaining.

"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.

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.

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.

Gentleman Jack was an interesting read on many levels—firstly, as a commentary on the life of a lesbian in the early 19th century, and secondly, as an account of a fascinating woman who did some amazing things in the course of her life. Anne Lister was certainly quite a character, and while I was intrigued by her romantic exploits, it was more her extensive travels that gripped me. This work shines a light on a little-known figure who deserves more recognition. The only reason I give this book four stars rather than five is the fact that, at times, I found the prose style a little tiresome. Although the story captivated me, the writing didn't. However, I certainly recommend this work to readers interested in queer history or those simply looking to learn more about fascinating personalities from the past.

This is the biography of Angela Steidele and boy she certainly lead an interesting life. Prior to this book I had never heard of her before. Extremely interesting.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Serpents Tail Profile Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review

Gentleman Jack is a biography of Anne Lister, Regency Yorkshire landowner known for her relationships with women and explicit diaries partly written in code. Full of quotations from her diaries, it is a good biography for anything looking for an introduction to Lister's life and what she wrote about in her diaries. Likely to be of most interest are her various relationships with women—often surprisingly openly for Regency society—and her interest in travel, scaling mountains and visiting countries across Europe and even Azerbaijan. Steidele also weaves in elements of the act of uncoding Lister's diaries and the reticence of earlier generations to reveal their explicit lesbian sex, which is crucial to thinking about the reception of Anne Lister.

Before the BBC's upcoming drama of the same name, the biography is a good way to learn more about a fascinating historical figure. It is engaging and readable, giving enough explanatory detail that you don't need to know the period well. Without knowing a huge amount about scholarship around Lister, it is difficult to comment on its accuracy and depiction of her, but it certainly is an interesting book.