I couldn’t finish this book. This makes me sad as I hate giving up. I didn’t find it a riveting enough story, it was incredibly slow.
Maybe I’ll give it another try when I can.

This is a lovely and tragic telling of Anne Lister's school friend and their imagined relationship at school in nineteenth century England. It might sound dull but Emma Donoghue brings the whole story and period to vivid life with the tender friendship between the girls developing and having consequences into their adult lives.

The characters are so lively and Anne Lister is a loveable rogue even at 15 and even when she behaves badly, this is lively telling of a true story and leaves you wanting more from the author and from Anne and Eliza.

In the year 1805, within the confines of a boarding school in York, destiny weaves an encounter between two fourteen-year-old girls.

Eliza Raine, orphaned and bearing the heritage of an Indian mother, deliberately keeps her distance from the other girls, wearied by the constant attention drawn to her uniqueness. Meanwhile, Anne Lister, a precociously talented provocateur, fervently aspires to conquer the world, steadfastly refusing to yield to society's narrow expectations for women.

Amid their journey, as an affectionate bond blossoms, the profound connection they cultivate becomes an enduring presence throughout the tapestry of their lives.

A tapestry woven with fervour and heartache, exuding a captivating and wholly distinct essence, "Learned by Heart" emerges as a luminous literary work penned by the celebrated author, Emma Donoghue.

This literary gem resonated deeply with me. I hold a particular fondness for historical fiction, especially when it unearths unfamiliar eras and circumstances. This novel is a brilliant embodiment of that. The meticulous research and enthralling storytelling not only ensnared my reading senses but also enriched my knowledge. An immensely gratifying read, destined to charm aficionados of historical fiction.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I have enjoyed previous books by Emma Donoghue and was delighted to receive a copy of her latest for review.

This novel revolves around the relationship between Eliza Raine, daughter of a British man and Indian mother, who is brought back to England to be educated when orphaned and Anne Lister, whose life was fictionalised again in a show called, ‘Gentleman Jack.’ I rarely watch television, so had no idea about either of the women, but I am pleased that I discovered their story. Although fiction, this is a story based on truth, and the author manages it well.

The story of the girls meeting at Manor School in York are interspersed with later journal entries by Eliza Raine, in 1815, as she thinks back on a time of happiness. This is a slow and moving novel, character focused and also with an interesting school setting which explores the boundaries that so many girls faced at the time. I enjoyed this very much and thought Donoghue brought the characters and the time to life. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

A stunningly researched retelling of Anne Lister and her first love Eliza Raine. A coming of age love story set against the backdrop of a boarding school in York. Eliza a lonely "dusky" orphan from India becomes fast friends with the walking dynamo Lister. Two girls battling their differences from society find they are the other half to each other's lost soul. A triumph

I was thrilled to be granted a copy of this book, but sadly it did not live up to my expectations. It wasn't till about two thirds of the way through that it became interesting, being until then a catalogue of school lessons and incidents, The characters other than the central two, pupils and staff alike, were insufficiently developed.

Reading the afterword, I think a factual telling of the two main characters' lives would have been more rewarding.

I thought the strongest point of this book was that it seemed extremely well researched. I have not read many of this authors books so this was the first and I am very impressed with the writing style. I immediately found it engaging even though it was a slow paced book. I thought the relationship between the two characters was so thoughtful and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I've read and enjoyed a few of Emma Donoghue's books and I loved Gentleman Jack so I was excited to read a book exploring Anne Lister's time at school and relationship with Eliza Raine.

It took me a while to get into the book and at times I wished the plot would move forward a bit more quickly but overall, I really enjoyed it. It was very well written and clearly very well researched, and the relationship between Anne and Eliza was told beautifully.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC

A masterful reconstruction of the story of Eliza Raine, starting at a boarding school in the early 19th century.
Not only does this story depict the despair of being in a boarding school during the Napoleonic Wars, and how Eliza fell in love with a fellow boarder, but also how this affected her future life..
Life would have been difficult enough for Eliza as this story shows, but the author suggests, backed up by the published diary of Anne Lister, Eliza's lover, what Eliza went through subsequently.
The ways that people with money, who didn't quite fit in were treated is glimpsed here.
An idea of how York would have looked in Napoleonic times, and what was happening there can be found in the story.
Brilliant story, wonderfully told. Not to be missed.
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reader's copy for honest review.

It's always a pleasure to see what Emma Donoghue has chosen to write about next - she's an author whose work covers a huge range of topics, settings and eras. 'Learned by Heart' is a true historical novel in that it dramatises historical events well underpinned by fact. I didn't realise quite how closely it was historical as opposed to fictional until I read the author's notes (always important for a historical novel, and Donoghue doesn't disappoint). However it is still at its heart a story and beautifully written work of fiction.

The novel is set in the early 19th century, in a girls' boarding school in York. The point of view character is Eliza Raine, an Anglo-Indian fourteen year old orphan who is painfully self-conscious about her skin colour and suffers prejudice both because of her ethnicity and because she was born 'out of wedlock'. Eliza's school life is transformed when she gains a new roommate, the charismatic and unconventional Anne Lister. Many readers will be familiar with Lister from the TV series 'Gentleman Jack'. Eliza and Anne become close friends, and eventually lovers. The sections set in the school are interspersed with Eliza's unsent letters to Lister written ten years later, when it's clear Eliza's life has taken a turn for the worse but not exactly why or how.

A lot of the book is simply about the daily life at the school and the growing relationship between Eliza and Lister. Some authors wouldn't be able to get away with writing about humdrum everyday life for such a long stretch, but Donoghue can because she manages to make everything she writes fascinating to read. And it works brilliantly within the structure of the novel because you really get to know and like the characters in a way that means you are very invested in them emotionally when the novel reaches its climax. The glimpses of Eliza's life ten years on helps to build the tension - you know things aren't going to work out as the teenaged girls hope they will, and are waiting to find out what goes wrong.

I found the book very moving particularly once I'd read the author's notes and discovered Eliza was a real person and the known facts about her life. I had assumed whilst reading that she was an invention. Lister is a very interesting character - an extraordinary woman in real life as well as the novel - but it's Eliza, the quieter one, who I really felt for and identified with.

Donoghue is outstanding at conjuring up place and time - her writing is so vivid that you feel a sense of dissociation when you stop reading. Several times I felt quite confused to realise it was summer as the book had really made me feel it was winter (and York, and 1805). Thinking back, it's true of all her books - even those I read a decade or more ago - I can still see the locations in my mind's eye very clearly.

I would highly recommend this book as an extremely well written piece of fiction, with great characters and the ability to really transport you to another time and place. It's a must-read for fans of historical fiction, and those with an interest in LGBTQIA+ history.

A fictionalised account of Anne ‘Gentleman Jack’ Lister and her teenage love affair with fellow pupil, Eliza Raine, is a beautifully nuanced description of first love and passion. Its arresting opening chapter – a letter written years later from a clearly distressed Raine – sets up a mystery that keeps tension high and serves as a counterpoint to the rich, unveiling of the rise and fall of the affair that follows. 4.5 stars.

A fictional reimagining of the true story of Anne Lister's first love, Eliza, at boarding school in York.

Beautifully rendered, stunningly researched, a true literary your de force. I couldn't recommend it more.

As we've come to expect from Emma Donoghue, another beautifully told story. This novel tells of the first love affair of Anne Lister better known as "Gentleman Jack" from TV fame. As a 14 year old she attends school in York where she shares a room with Eliza, the illegitimate daughter of an Indian mother sent to England by her English father to stay with a ward. Even at 14 Lister is a free spirited, outspoken character encouraging rule breaking and exploring at every opportunity whereas Eliza is very conscious of her colour and difference in this new country where she has been sent to learn how to be English and unlearn how to be Indian. Over the course of a year they form a relationship that becomes intense and sexual as only first loves can, until it ends suddenly. The letters from Eliza to Lister inserted throughout the book indicate that she never got over Lister, spending most of her adult life incarcerated in institutions. Their brief affair played a large part in ruining her life, whereas Lister went from strength to strength and woman to woman. I found the author's notes fascinating. The book was obviously well researched and written. A very interesting and delightful read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

In 'Learned by Heart' by Emma Donoghue, Eliza Raine, a child with mixed Indian and English heritage, is placed at The Manor School by her guardian. She is there with her older sister, but her sister wants nothing to do with her. As a result she often feels lonely and marked out by the colour of her skin and other people's thoughts about the 'country marriage' that her parents entered into. That is until Anne Lister joins the school (of Gentleman Jack fame) and their friendship develops into a passion that for Eliza leads to her being treated as insane.

Drawing on extensive research by Donoghue, this book is based on the little explored relationship Anne Lister had with Eliza during her school days. Donoghue also pulls together research from other sources about the time period. Unfortunately all this research shows, and there were several passages of detail I skipped through due to them doing little for the plot. Indeed, for me, while this novel started well, I found it a bit slow. Despite this I am sure many will enjoy it, particularly fans of Anne Lister's diaries and the programme Gentleman Jack.

Emma Donoghue is a must read read author for me although I was a little dubious on learning this book was about Anne Lister's first love, Eliza Raine. I needn't have worried. This Lister is just as forthright but seems slightly less sure if herself in matters of love.

The amount of research on this book has been phenomenal but we are still left with enough of an imagined story to let Emma Donoghue's beautiful prose shine through.

The story is imagined through Eliza Raine's eyes (of whom little is known - but what little there is has been adroitly ferreted out by Ms Donoghue and a whole mess of fans/researchers). I don't actually care about which bits are fictional and which fact because it all comes together in a wonderful story of young love. It's not the happiest of endings but if you know anything about Lister (and you'd have to have lived under a rock not to have heard about Gentleman Jack) you will already know that she had many lovers over her lifetime.

I was fascinated by the young Lister as much as Raine. This story actually made me want to read more about the unusual occupant of Shibden Hall when before I've been somewhat ambivalent. This may have something to do with long queues of traffic on the way to Shibden which began after the first episodes of Sally Wainwright's drama. I live around 2 miles away from Shibden Hall and you certainly couldn't ignore the buzz in the area about Miss Anne Lister.

This is a beautiful story, delicately handled. I didn't love it as much as Haven but I would highly recommend the read.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the advance review copy.

Spoiler warning - but this is a historical novel, so the spoilers only refer to things that happened historically

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶.’

I was incredibly excited to receive this ARC from Netgalley and Pan Macmillan as Emma Donoghue is easily one of the best writers for historical fiction I have ever read. I love sinking into the meticulously researched worlds and getting to know such fascinating historical figures in the costume Donoghue imbibes them with which such skill and nuance. On this outing, Donoghue turns her storyteller’s eye to that of Anne Lister’s first ‘wife’, Eliza Raine, a peer of hers at the Manor School. The first year or so of their relationship is what Donoghue focuses on with her narrative, the more conventional narrative bookended with letters from the adult Eliza Raine writing to Lister from the asylum she has been committed to. The result is a rather jarring juxtaposition between the idealistic and urgent experience of young love and its more mature and tragic consequence.

This was an incredibly romantic read. There is a real tenderness to the connection between Raine and Lister. Characteristically, Donoghue does not rush the process of their falling in love. The charming and arrogant Lister leaps right off the page and the more subtle exploration of identity Raine struggles with as a young lady with an English father and an Indian mother is touching, giving greater understanding to her hesitant character. Raine’s position as someone who is viewed as Indian by her skin colour but still raised in privileged British ‘society’ that profits from the violent suppression and exploitation of India is an interesting one. She recognises the ways she is ostracised and alienated from the other girls but also that she is not simply Indian either. She has been ‘packed [off] to be thoroughly Englishised' but has no idea what is to come next for her. While I do think Donoghue was right to tackle this complex topic of identity, I don’t know that she went far enough with it. There are great episodes throughout demonstrating the hypocrisies of the society Raine lives in, including an excellently done section regarding a teapot and the ethics of sugar sourced by slavery in the West Indies vs that of indentured servitude in India where the liberal heads of the school proudly and ignorantly claim the latter is an ethical option, but they are definitely reduced to episodes throughout the book, rather than serving as infrastructure throughout, in my opinion. I don’t think Donoghue was always successful in what she was trying to achieve, making it at times feel a little tokenising much in the same way the narrative criticises the characters of doing.

Part of the reason for this was also I believe the length of the book. This is hardly my usual critique, but I think this novel would have been better if it had been substantially longer. Donoghue has clearly done the research needed, but certain aspects felt rushed, especially towards the end it. The letters from Raine throughout giving clues to the resolution of their relationship I feel would have been more impactful if we actually got to see it happen rather than read about it in the (excellent and fascinating) historical note at the end. While I really enjoyed the narrative, it felt strange to cut it off there when obviously Donoghue wanted to incorporate the additional themes of Raine's heartbreak and the casualties of Lister's hunger for experiences beyond what she already had. It seemed a strange choice to me to relegate it to the historical note when it is so clearly instrumental to the story Donoghue wants to tell.

That being said, I did really enjoy this book. I highlighted so many lines because of how perfectly they evoked the emotion intended and the utter blissful romance of first love while also understanding that what they are doing could be their ruin. I will be purchasing a copy for sure, and it is definitely a great book for anyone interested in Anne Lister.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶.’

Different from her other novels.
I only realised that Lister was the character portrayed in the TV series Gentleman Jack about a third of the way through the book.
Eliza and her older sister Jane the black orphans from India are sent to manor school in York. The girls are the wards of Dr Duffin who cares for them but does not love them.
Eliza has an attic room at school which she has to share with Lister an unrefined girl from a country family. At first Eliza sticks with her gentle friend Fanny, but is soon won over by Lister's cleverness, humour and charm. The two girls develop a close friendship and become lovers. They have many adventures, until Lister breaks her leg falling out of a window, she is sent home and Eliza continues her education while pinning for Lister. Eliza is eventually committed to an asylum and composses letters to Lister which are never sent. Is Lister a fortune Hunter or a genuine person?
I enjoyed the details of school life and the backgrounds of the other pupils at the school also the sense of morality at that time. The explanations at the end helped clarify a few points.

Having just visited Anne Listers home in Shibden, Halifax, this was the perfect book to read. It added such depth, background and colour to the whole history. The book brought to life Anne's early life and was absolutely fascinating. A great read.

Learned by Heart explores the developing relationship between Raine and Lister set in the 19th century as they attend a girls' boarding school that aims to sculpt and prepare them for marriage. Raine is the daughter of a "country marriage" of an English father and an Indian mother who struggles to find her identity growing up in England. Lister As their relationship develops into love, the impact of their relationship is slowly revealed through letters from Raine to Lister 10 years later as Raine reflects on their relationship.
A slow-paced, fascinating read
Beautiful, immersive writing as always from Emma Donoghue.

This book tells the story of a young Gentleman Jack (Ann Lister) based on her time at a school
In York where she has a relationship with Raine, an orphan born in India. Until I read the author’s note I didn’t appreciate just how much reality was in the book.

I feared that I would only be able to picture the BBC/HBO version of Lister as I read but that couldn’t have been further from my mind. The plot is well paced and impeccably written and I haven’t enjoyed a historical fiction book as much since the first time I read Sarah Waters’ Tipping the Velvet. I’d very much like to see this adapted for the screen.