<b>Donoghue's captivating historical fiction centers around two real-life young women in an early 1800s British boarding school who fall into a clandestine love and break each other's hearts.</b>

<b><blockquote>Hypotheticals, impossibilities. The dreams of youth rarely come to pass, I remind myself. We were not the first young lovers to fail at love in the end.</b></blockquote>
Early in the story, <i>Learned by Heart</i> very much reminded me of <i>A Little Princess.</i> That was one of my favorite books when I was young, and within <i>Learned by Heart,</i> the concern with classism, money, and control, the living in the attic, the stern headmistress, and the links to India made me feel as though this was a grown-up version of the loose framework of Frances Hodgson Burnett's story.

But as <i>Learned by Heart</i> progresses, Donoghue builds a rich story around the real-life figures of Eliza Raine and Anne Lister.

Raine was a wealthy orphan--one of two daughters born to a white British father and an Indian mother, who were committed but unmarried--sent from India to England at age 6. She grew up in a cold, strict British boarding school in the early 1800s. Lister arrives as a wild, curious, unconventional, brilliant tomboy--and is paired as roommates with Raine in the drafty dormitory attic. It almost seems as though the school heads would like to forget either of the troublesome young ladies exist.

The teenage roommates become unlikely best friends, then fall into a deep, forbidden attraction, pledging their eternal love to each other. Their romantic connection is passionate but clandestine, and they manage to evade the scandal and punishment that would befall them if their situation were made known to the conservative school administrators--or if it were made plain to the other students, who are all vying to avoid formal reprimands and seem prone to sacrifice each other to the teachers' and headmistress' wrath.

When the two are separated by circumstances, Lister moves on to explore long-term romances with various of their mutual friends, breaking Raine's heart a little more each time.

The book is partially epistolary, and the letters involved are primarily written by Raine (who is in a mental institution) to Lister. Donoghue's Author's Note explains that while more of Raine's letters survived so that they inspire the correspondence in the book, Lister was in fact frequently writing back to her former love--but many of Raine's belongings were lost.

The unraveling of Raine's mental state on the page is striking--but she does have "lucid moments" and periods of calm. It's difficult to consider Raine's mental illness without crediting the likely powerful influence of her worries about her orphaned state, her cold relationship with her sister, her lack of autonomy as a female, her financial future's reliance on her age and marital state, and the secretive nature of her desire and single close relationship--which ends in heartbreak, followed by years of prolonged angst, yearning, and continual disappointment.

I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company.

Emma Donoghue is also the author of Room, The Pull of the Stars (which I loooved; it was one of My Twelve Favorite Books of the Year when I read it), and other books.

This book was tense and took me a while to get into, but I appreciated the author's always great way with words. It was a well done historical fiction.

Okay....I'm sorry but this was utterly forgettable. I had decided to DNF this about 40% of the way through - and then the completionist in me had to finish it and it was so easy to listen to before bed because I felt like nothing was important and if I fell asleep before my timer stopped then I wouldn't really miss anything. Can I tell you anything important about the main characters? No. What about the plot? Honestly no. The premise sounded lovely and I would kill for more queer/sapphic historical fiction in the world but this was not it. I'm sure this is absolutely the book for someone but it is not me.

Based on real events, this story was beautifully written and I was rooting for Eliza and Lister the whole time. Their budding relationship was powerful, and as the reader I felt like I was on the edge of my seat as the girls dared to break some of the many rules at the Manor School for Young Ladies. The description of the school and the time period of the early 1800s was fascinating yet terrifying to imagine actually living through. I now know a lot has been written about Lister's history, yet I appreciate the time period that Emma Donoghue focused on in this novel; 14 & 15 years old is such an important period of development in a young person's life. I particularly liked the descriptions of Lister and her daring and charisma. Even though the ending did not feel satisfying to me, this was still a great story.

Emma Donoghue's books are always on a topic that I have absolutely zero knowledge or interest in, but the moment I start reading her books, I find them completely fascinating. Did I ever feel a burning desire to learn about monks living on a rock for years? Nope. Did I become super invested in their survival? Definitely. Donoghue has a way of making the mundane totally captivating for hundreds of pages and Learned by Heart is no exception. The pace of this book is pretty slow, but the writing is engaging and seeing the relationship develop between the two characters is engrossing. If you're looking for a fast pace, action centered book, this isn't it, but if you want to savor beautiful writing, Learned by Heart is an absolute treat.

Do you know when playing Solitaire is extra fun? When you’re escaping from a book!

This novel, specifically. It’s about two girls, Eliza and Lister, who fall in love in 1805 at an English boarding school. They chatter. And chatter. Nothing happens. Oh, and other girls in the school chatter. And chatter. I thought I’d at least wait until Eliza and Lister became lovers—because then something would be happening—but I got too impatient and stopped. There was another story line of Eliza writing letters to Lister years after boarding school, when they were adults, but that didn’t grab me either. Solitaire, oh Solitaire!

I really had a weird and wild reading trajectory. I was about to ditch the book at the halfway point—bored and annoyed and not attached to the characters in the least. I was finito. Then I felt all this guilt doing the big DNF (since I’m more or less obligated to review the book), and my goody-two-shoes were squeezing my tootsies, urging me to keep reading. A lightbulb came on—I needed to change my approach! Anyway, who says you have to start at the beginning and keep going straight forward? I was desperate (and feeling rebellious), so I decided to check out the end of the book. Damn if I didn’t get pulled in! Lo and behold, I realized I was reading the book backward (!), grabbing 20-page chunks at a time. A totally new kind of reading ride, I guarantee you. My head was jumping around with beginnings and endings sort of jumbled, surprises muted, but hey, I realized I was liking this book after all. Suddenly, the characters seemed to have such depth, and Eliza’s letters from her future days seemed intense and poignant. Finally, I could appreciate the good writing.

I had been looking forward to reading this one because I loved Donoghue’s Room and The Pull of the Stars. I admire the author’s writing. This book is well-written, too, but damn, that first half is dull.

This story is based on two real people with the same names. Lister was the first known lesbian of modern times. The author, who says she became obsessed with Lister, did an incredible amount of research, and she worked on the book for decades. It’s cool that she created this story, imagining what Lister’s and Eliza’s lives were like. The recent BBC series “Gentleman Jack” is also based on Lister’s life.

I’m doling out 3 stars—an average, based on the first half being 2 stars and the last half being 4 stars. Who knew that reading a book backward would work!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Emma Donoghue is an automatic-read author for me, and "Learned by Heart" had everything I expected from her: meticulous research, engaging characters, and incredibly skillful writing. The only reason I haven't given it five stars was that I found the last section so depressing. I understand the novel was based on a true story, so Donoghue didn't have the option of a happily-ever-after ending. However, I was hoping for some kind of redemption or resolution or... something other than just, "Wow, that's sad." Perhaps this says more about me than about the book!

This is a very slow burn of story. I thought Haven was too but somehow it engaged me more. This book did not hold me attention. Ann Lister and her classmate Eliza share the attic room in a boarding school. As two misfits, they become fast friends. The story is well researched and well written. I just needed something faster paced this time.

It’s really tough to get past the fact that this is one of the most depressing reads of the year.

Emma Donoghue writes beautifully and that’s as true here as it is in her other novels, but the story is a bit of a letdown, being both hopelessly bleak and also not especially original.

Certainly there were some constraints for the author here because the plot is based on two real people, but this one ended up feeling like there may not have been enough there to justify The novelization of their story. Though Donoghue did her best, it’s not an especially original plot, regardless of the fact that it’s at least somewhat true.

I liked the girls, at least in the early going, but the story never really gets anywhere that we haven’t seen books like this go many times before, and the conclusion is so dismal that it leaves the reader wondering what the point of investing in the first place was.

Donoghue has done some wonderful work in the past. Read Akin instead of this one.

Learned by Heart is an interesting historical fiction about Anne Lister and Eliza Raine whose love story begins in a boarding school in England in the early 1800s. There are so many important topics covered on these pages including lesbians, family relationships, racism, friendships, and mental health issues. This is a well written, well researched, tense and compelling book.

Thanks for NetGalley and Little, Brown for the eARC of this novel. This was clearly a passion project for Emma Donoghue, and I enjoyed this story of Anne Lister's first lover in a girls' school in York. Eliza Raine is presented as she would have been, overwhelmed and overmatched by the likes of Lister and by England itself, which tried to better her while disdaining her (she was half Indian). The boarding school feels very real, if perhaps a little too well-researched. I am not sure if we needed that many details. The biggest issue I had was with the structure of the novel. It is told in two time periods, and the latter period is underdeveloped. Much of what could have been explored in that section is explained in an author's note at the end. Still an enjoyable read.

"Who can live on love alone?"

Who are the authors you automatically gravitate towards? I have several favorite writers, ones I consistently delve into primarily due to my familiarity with their writing style. There's a sense of comfort that accompanies this familiarity, making them a reliable choice for my reading. And then there's Emma Donoghue. Ever since I devoured her 2010 novel Room in a single sitting, I've been a devoted reader of her work. However, I can't claim that any of her subsequent books have resembled that groundbreaking novel. In fact, I return to Donoghue's writing precisely because I can never anticipate what to expect. None of her novels share similarities. Despite the certainty that her next book will be entirely distinct from the last, I am confident that her talent for creating vivid settings, engaging plots, and well-developed characters will consistently captivate me, regardless of the subject matter. Her latest work, Learned by Heart, adheres to this tradition.

This time, Donoghue embarks on a literary journey to craft a fictionalized narrative centered around the historical figure Anne Lister. Lister is celebrated for her groundbreaking marriage in 1824, which positioned her as one of the earliest openly lesbian women to enter into matrimony. Beyond her sexual orientation, Lister is celebrated as a prominent diarist, and it's these well-documented writings that Donoghue extensively researched to construct the foundation of her novel. Before her widely known marriage, Lister spent her formative years as a student at a boarding school for young girls in York. It is within this educational institution that Donoghue's novel takes its starting point.

Eliza Raine, born to a prominent Englishman and his Indian lover, finds herself on the periphery at Miss Hargrave's Manor school. Her mixed heritage and orphaned heiress status set her apart from the other girls, making her an outsider in a place where being different is not encouraged. The school's primary mission is to mold its students into proper women of the era, often stifling any hint of creativity or individuality they possess. Eliza appears to have resigned herself to this fate, believing she must conform.

Destiny, however, has other plans in store. Enter Miss Lister, a force of nature who disrupts the established order. Unlike the other girls, she refuses to conform and insists on being called by her last name, akin to how a man would be addressed. She willingly shares the cramped attic room with Eliza, avoiding the company of the other girls. Lister stands as a stark contrast to Eliza, taking pride in her intelligence and her rebellious nature, fearlessly challenging the status quo. Over time, Eliza will be gently drawn out of her shell, forging an unbreakable bond with Lister in the process.

Learned by Heart may be Emma Donoghue's most deeply personal novel to date. In her author's note, she reveals that nearly two decades of research have gone into this work, acknowledging how her fascination with Anne Lister played a pivotal role in launching her professional career. This deep reverence for her characters resonates vividly within her prose. Typical of Donoghue's writing, she skillfully transports readers back in time and space, this time ensconcing them within the cozy confines of an attic bedroom. It's in these scenes of self-discovery within confinement that the narrative truly comes alive. The exploration of forbidden thoughts, transgressing both school rules and societal norms, injects a palpable tension into the storyline. This tension, juxtaposed with the more familiar elements of coming-of-age storytelling, weaves a captivating narrative.

I'll briefly note that outside of these gripping moments, there are instances where the plot seems to lose its momentum. Donoghue's meticulous research is evident, but the monotony of school lessons and games doesn't significantly propel the story forward. Readers may find themselves eagerly awaiting a return to the central love story. Nevertheless, Learned by Heart captivates with its poignant blend of historical fact and exquisitely crafted fiction. It is a brilliant testament to why Emma Donoghue remains one of my all-time favorite authors. I extend my heartfelt thanks to her publisher for providing me with a copy of this remarkable book.

This slow burn really hits on the head the feelings of being a teenage girl. This felt different to me than Donoghue's other works, but I still really enjoyed it. This is a fictonal account of real people of whom I knew nothing about so I don't have any qualms with how they were portrayed, but am definitely very interested in learning more about the people behind this story.

When I tell you all that I WEPT.... this one is up there with The Song of Achilles for me.

Learned by Heart is based on the true story of a relationship between Anne Lister and Eliza Raine, boarding school roommates and classmates in 19th century York. It is absolutely exquisite. Donoghue said that in some ways, she has been working on this book for two decades, and it definitely shows--this book is incredibly well-researched and thought out.

I really don't know what else to say--it's just a masterpiece. Donoghue's writing is of course excellent, the story is fascinating, the structure was brilliant... reading it very much did feel like watching a movie in my mind. I would love for there to be a movie adaptation of this book--feels like it has the makings of a classic like Pride and Prejudice that I would want to re-watch regularly.

Overall, one of the best books I have ever read. Full stop.

In this compelling, meticulously researched, latest historical fiction, Emma Donahue turns her sharp focus to the plight of women in the early 1800’s Britain. The scene opens in 1805 at a “finishing” boarding school in York for girls – mainly focused on getting them out of their dismissive parents’ homes and teaching them the manners, arts and skills that will make them attractive future wives.

There’s Eliza Raine, a 14-year old orphan of a British doctor and unofficial “country wife” in India, who gets sent from Madras India to live with her father’s stuffy colleague after her father’s ship goes down at sea. She’s acutely conscious of and embarrassed by her brown skin, which makes her both exotic and lesser in the eyes of both her classmates, headmistresses, and larger Yorkshire society. She’s put in a cramped, sloped attic room given her lesser status, though she does stand to inherit sizeable money from her father’s estate upon turning 18 or getting married, whichever comes first. Eliza’s older sister Jane blithely ignores her, she finds her guardian endlessly standoffish, and hope for connection finally arrives in the form of a new boarding house girl, Anne Lister.

Anne, who goes by Lister, proves herself at age 15 delightfully rebellious, tom-boyish, brilliant, confident, and charming. Lister’s been raised in the countryside, where she’s spent much of her life gallivanting about with her older brothers. What Lister lacks in family money, she makes up in worldliness, bravado, and ambition to both travel the world and maintain her independence. Lister and Eliza form a close friendship in their attic alcove, having long conversations in the dark after the headmistress takes away their lantern early each night. Eliza finds herself mesmerized and swept up into Lister’s whirlwind, while Lister finds Eliza beautiful and exotic. A passionate romance between them eventually unfolds as a first love for both.

Interspersed with the chapters focused on the boardinghouse story unfurling, alternate chapters are letters written 10 years later, from Eliza who finds herself in what passes as an insane asylum for women and Lister who’s not responding to her passionate entreaties – which may, or may not, be reaching Lister. Eliza’s in an asylum right next to their boardinghouse, where as girls she and Lister saw how the “garden’s been built up, like a hillock, so they can look out without getting close enough to escape” and the women inside save to the passing boarding house girls, “A hand goes up like a tiny white flag” of surrender. Eliza’s letters become increasingly intense, threaded with both gloom and longing. It’s only until the end of the novel that Donahue reveals what’s really going on with Eliza.

For me, the most fascinating outtakes from the book concern the narrow options available to women in the early 1800’s. Besides the boarding schools leading to invisible lives as women subservient to their husbands, there’s the insane asylum run by male doctors, a Spinning Charity school for poor girls who spend most of their days spinning wool, a daring woman horseback rider who competition a race only to have to give up as her only being allowed to ride side-saddle loosens the saddle, and to Jane’s abandonment by her husband and social estrangement. With bleak prospects for women, Lister’s forged independence becomes even more admirable, and her desire to live a life not in the service of men more relatable.

Donahue ends her novel with a long’s authors note tying in the known history of Anne Lister, based on her 5-million-word diary kept by Lister. Parts of this journal had been written by Lister in code, given the prevailing complete societal disapproval of gay relationships. Lister also shows up as the heroine of the BBC and HBO series, “Gentleman Jack.”

Thanks to Little Brown and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

This is going to be a strange review, I think. I received an EARC from Netgalley a few days ago, so I read the book quickly as it will be published tomorrow.
As I was reading it, a review came out today in The LA Times, and I learned it is based on a true story,which I did not know. Not only that, but one of the characters, Ann Lister was the basis for the show Gentleman Jack.
After finishing the book, I read the author's note and learned how Donoghue came to write the book, which is almost as interesting as the book itself.
The book begins with a letter written from Raine to Lister in 1815,then goes back to 1805 when the girls meet in boarding school.
Most of the action takes place in a boarding school, a typically English school where girls of wealth are treated basically as if they are poor, with no heat and little food, to give them "character" and prepare them to be good wives.
Raine is a half-Indian heiress, of which there were a few in this era, when Englishmen living in India had Indian "wives" and sent their children back to England to be educated.
Into Raine's life comes Ann Lister, a very unique individual.
The book, based on diaries and letters
Was a little slow starting for me, as it begins with Raine writing to Lister in 1815 from an insane asylum,so it is not really clear if this is Raine fantasizing or just being lucid.
Then we are back in school and the action and dialogues are seen through the eyes of 14 year old girls
Donoghue has a very distinct writing style, and she is clearly invested in this story. If you enjoyed Room, and The Wonder, you will certainly enjoy this book.
Ann Lister is one of the most famous historical lesbians, and this story of adolescent love is at times heartbreaking and heartwarming. I predict it will be a best seller and also have people looking to watch Gentleman Jack, which I did watch a few episodes of, and will now try to watch again.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my copy for my honest review.
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Emma Donogue tackles important subjects. In Learned by Heart we are transported back to a Great Britain in the early nineteenth century. The story centers around the growing relationship between two female students at an English boarding school, one of mixed race , with one parent from India and the other British. Very slowly, painfully slow for me, the two girls forge a friendship which ultimately becomes a romantic one.

Lots of research went into this literary work as it features Anne Lister, and her first love, Eliza Raine.
I admit I am an outlier here. I just found the dialog very stilted and the letter writing not to my my liking. Despite the two key social issues of same sex relationships and racial prejudice and discrimination, I was mired by the pace and a story line that left me wishing I could feel more involved with the characters. I tried but was unable to read past mid book. It is ver unusual for me not to finish reading once I start.

My thanks to NetGalley and little,Brown and Company for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

How did I not know that this story was the one focused on a person from Gentleman Jack before I picked it up? Once I learned this, oh my goodness, I squealed in delight.

First of all, love an unreliable narrator. Love fiction based in historical reality (because what is history, really, besides retold fiction?). Loved following the story, the writing style, the way that I just needed to know more and more.

Really, Donoghue is a hit for me. I jump at the chance to read any of her books as they are coming out. Don't miss this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: racism, misogyny, homophobia, death.

Eliza Raine is different than the other girls who attend the Manor School for Young Ladies in York. She's the daughter of an Englishman and an Indian mother, a woman who was not formally wed, and when she returned to her father's home country as a little girl, it was a fact she was made distinctly aware of. Only fourteen, she keeps to herself at school, isolated in a room by herself, away from the other bedrooms. But when Anne Lister arrives -- charismatic, fearless, bold Anne -- Eliza's world is turned upside down and, as the two girls grow up, their relationship will leave indelible marks on them both.

Anne Lister is considered one of the world's "first modern lesbians." She was, as I described her in this book's summary, bold and charming -- a true go-getter in every sense of the word. While there have been quite a few adaptations and books revolving around her life (including the wonderful and critically acclaimed Gentleman Jack, which has managed to bring her into cultural consciousness), few have made little more than a passing mention to her education at a school York, where, at only fourteen, she fell in love for the first time with another girl. This girl has, for the most part, faded from history: Anglo-Indian, the daughter of a doctor, and someone who paid the price for daring to be fearless, something that whiteness and wealth seemed to protect Lister from.

Eliza is our narrator, and we alternate between passages of her memories of them as schoolgirls, and her letters written to Anne some ten years later. At first, as a fourteen year old child, Eliza is hesitant, doing her best not to get any marks at the Manor, keenly aware of the fact that while her compatriots may get away with some things because of their whiteness and privilege, she will not. She stays in a room by herself, sequestered away on the other end of the building, never quite sure if it was intentional or merely because of convenience. Her life suddenly becomes interesting, however, with the entrance of Anne -- and if, like me, you've read about Eliza and Anne before, you might have an idea where all of this is going.

Donoghue is truly a master at her craft. She so effortlessly and seamlessly weaves together true emotion, humor, and something quite heavier, all while spinning together such beautiful sentences that I sometimes had to pause just to appreciate them. Perhaps it comes from years spent perfecting her writing, but there surely has to be something else, something innate, that makes her so damn talented. She is an expert at capturing whatever time period she's writing about, and it's obvious that she does very intensive research. As you might expect from the novel's plot, there are many heavy topics addressed here -- sexism, racism, homophobia, and more -- and Donoghue does it with both a sense of how important they are, and sometimes with a little tongue-in-cheek.

In particular, though, the racism that Eliza experiences is very thoughtfully dealt with, and I think Donoghue does an excellent job of showing us just how much white privilege allows Anne to get away with what she does. Anne, of course, faced many challenges throughout her lifetime, and as a butch lesbian in the nineteenth century, her obstacles are nothing to be sneered at, but the juxtaposition of Eliza's life with Anne's makes a clearcut display of how wealthy white people are allowed to be eccentric, or different, without losing their liberty.

Another element I must compliment is that Donoghue does not romanticize Anne. If you've read her journals or studied her life to some degree, it becomes obvious that Anne was many things, but she was not often kind, nor was she very self-aware. She could be avaricious and cruel, and more often than not, she discarded her many lovers with seemingly little care to their feelings or the impact on their futures. Not to say that there weren't many good things about her, but it's nice to see this realistic, flawed portrayal of her, something like the real person. Eliza, too, has her flaws, and the characterization and development is yet another reason why Learned by Heart was a five star read for me.

Ultimately, the storyline here is tragic, and I was moved nearly to tears by the end. This book is beautiful, and wrung real emotions out of me. Because of Donoghue's decision to uplift the voice of a woman who was silenced in real life, I will always remember Eliza Raine.

Highly, highly recommended -- get yourself a copy as soon as you're able.

Learned by Heart is only the third Emma Donoghue book I’ve read, and despite how different the three are, I love how singularly striking each is. This novel is divided between 1805 and 1815, focusing on Eliza Raine. She and her sister, both orphans, are the only half-Indian students in a boarding school in York. Eliza works hard to overcome others’ racist views of her, always on her best behavior, but feeling rather lonely. Her world changes when Anne Lister arrives at the school and becomes her roommate. Over the course of one school year, Eliza and Lister form a deep bond, but how does that change by 1815? While most of the book illustrates their time at the boarding school, brief interludes show Eliza ten years later, writing letters to Lister but receiving none in return.

Lister is a sparkling character. She comes off the page with such energy and personality. Only 14, she already has so much confidence in herself and isn’t afraid to speak her mind or be her full unique self. She’s vivid, freewheeling, and fun—a bit chaotic and troublesome, but affable to all around her. By contrast, Eliza is timid and soft-spoken. She’s cautious and keeps her head down. Personally, I relate much more to Eliza’s personality, but I also love how Lister injects her with more levity. Their friendship is one of opposites, and yet they understand each other so well, too. Soon, Eliza and Lister’s friendship unfolds into their first romance. Some of my favorite passages in Learned by Heart discuss Lister’s views on her sexuality and androgynous nature.

I love the whole setting of the boarding school, from their fellow classmates and teachers to the subjects they learn about. It took me back to my own high school days, albeit in the version of 200 years earlier. Despite the main characters being 14, this does not read as a YA book at all. Instead, it captures that youthful naiveté and energy, but with a more mature perspective grounding it. This is partially achieved by the interspersion of letters Eliza writes in 1815. The tone in those, in which she’s in a mental asylum, is so different from the tone during the longer sections focused on their school days.

Throughout my reading of Learned by Heart, I loved the characters and overall narrative. It wasn’t until I’d finished the book and read the Author’s Note that I learned how much of this is based on real historical figures and events! Anne Lister is famous in her own right, known as the “first modern lesbian” and for her five-million-word diary. Eliza Raine was indeed her first lover from their school days, and Eliza did truly spend time in an asylum. The whole Author’s Note is absolutely worth reading, and I’m curious to learn more about both women.

Learned by Heart is an absorbing novel, a quick read but also a story that will linger. Emma Donoghue is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She has an engrossing voice that carries through regardless of a story’s setting or themes. I already look forward to reading more from her soon, both from her back catalogue and whatever comes our way next.