Learned By Heart

Inspired by the real-life diaries of Eliza Raine and Anne Lister - 'the first modern lesbian,' also known as Gentleman Jack - Donoghue's mesmerising historical novel is a tour de force of rich characterisation and period detail.

In 1805, at a boarding school in York, two fourteen-year-old girls first meet.

Eliza Raine, the orphan daughter of an Indian mother, keeps herself apart from the other girls, tired of being picked out for being different. Anne Lister, a gifted troublemaker, is determined to conquer the world, refusing to bow to society’s expectations of what a woman can do.

As they fall in love, the connection they forge will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Full of passion and heartbreak, evocative and wholly unique, Learned by Heart is a beautiful and moving historical novel from acclaimed author Emma Donoghue.