Learned By Heart

Who would have thought that a book about two girls attending a boarding school in the early 19th century would be so fascinating. I was completely absorbed in their lives, their relationship and the whole school-life scenario. The prose is beautiful, so many phrases that I read over and over for the sheer brilliance of Donoghue's use of language. The fact that it's based on a true story is icing on the cake with the author's note at the end giving further information on the massive amount of research involved and adding even more depth to the story. Wonderful and highly recommended.

Based on the life of Anne Lister, now famous (or infamous) owing to the television adaptation ‘Gentleman Jack’, the book explores the love between Anne and Eliza, a childhood friend who becomes her lover.. The story has its joyous moments of the exploration of love between two girls, and into womanhood, but it also has a darker side in its focus on the deteriorating mental health of Eliza - or is it a response to the attitudes towards homosexuality of the time? The themes in the book are sensitively explored, and the story moves with steady momentum. A book to be savoured and enjoyed, but not one for those who like a fast paced story - I loved the almost ethereal quality of the writing.