
Learned By Heart
From the award-winning author of Room
by Emma Donoghue
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Pub Date 24 Aug 2023 | Archive Date 31 Aug 2023
Pan Macmillan | Picador
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Description
The heartbreaking story of the love of two women – Anne Lister, the real-life inspiration behind Gentleman Jack, and her first love, Eliza Raine – from the bestselling author of Room and The Wonder.
'A rich and spellbinding 19th-century story of forbidden love' – The Independent
'Donoghue evokes a relationship that is convincing and exquisitely touching' – The Guardian
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.
Shortlisted for the Atwood Gibson Prize
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781035017768 |
PRICE | £16.99 (GBP) |
PAGES | 336 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews

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.
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