Emma Donoghue’s "Learned by Heart" is the fictional account of Eliza Raine’s romance with the infamous Anne Lister.

Having met in boarding school in early 19th century England, this is long before Lister became known as ‘the first modern lesbian’ and Gentleman Jack. The girls are young when they meet, age 14, and thrown together as roommates in the attic space of the school. They’re only friends at first, but as they grow close their relationship takes a romantic turn.

Not much is known about Raine other than she was Lister’s first love. But on the flipside, quite a bit is known about Lister, as she was a prolific diarist and much of what she wrote has been recovered. And it’s through her diaries, along with a small number of letters written by Raine, that Donoghue has pieced their story together. Her research is impeccable.

The novel is beautifully written and atmospheric in that it captures the essence of the time period and its maddening societal constraints placed upon women. It’s slow, though, and not much of anything important happens while the girls are together in school. The real goldmine is the letters written by Raine to Lister, ten years after they first meet, that are interspersed within the narrative. They’re compelling and insightful, and I wanted more of them.

My only wish for the story is a better outcome for Raine. But we can’t change history, can we? What a sad ending to such a passionate love.


My sincerest appreciation to Emma Donoghue, Little, Brown and Company, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown & Company for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest historical fiction novel by a favorite, Emma Donoghue - 4.5 stars rounded up!

In 1805 fourteen-year-old Eliza Raine is a school girl at the Manor School for Young Ladies in York. The daughter of an Indian mother and a British father, Eliza has always been judged by the color of her skin. She has her own attic room away from the other girls. When a new student arrives, Miss Lister, a tomboy who likes to be known only by her surname, like a boy, they become roommates. But soon their relationship goes further.

I love Emma Donoghue's writing and this book is no exception. Meticulously researched, this is a fictionalized true story of the relationship between these two young women The rigid atmosphere of the Manor School with all its rules and punishments feels like a character in itself. Interspersed between chapters are letters written from Eliza to Lister ten years on, when Eliza is in another institution. You can feel the angst and power of a first love. There is also much prejudice and classism present, as well as women's roles. While it felt a tad slow at points, this is another winner from Donoghue!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

I did not get to this title, so I don't feel comfortable rating it fully, hoping to get to it at some point soon!

Anne Lister of “Gentleman Jack” fame made a name for herself by defying stereotypes for women in 19th Century England, as well as her many love affairs with women as documented in her diaries and letters. In this novel, Emma Donoghue brings to life her first known romance, which took place in a boarding school near York. The story is not told by Lister, but by Eliza Raine, who was born to an Indian mother and English captain, thus forcing her to try and fit in both worlds, forever a losing game. When Eliza meets Lister, she finds who she believes to be her missing piece, and the love that grows between them leaves her forever changed.
This novel is partially told through actual letters written by Eliza to Lister as a young woman more than 10 years after their initial meeting. The rest of the book is written to fill in the gaps of their relationship through extensive research by Donoghue and in a writing style reflective of early 1800s England. Lovers of well-researched historical fiction will be interested in this novel, as well as those who enjoy Sapphic love stories and women fighting against patriarchal constraints in an effort to define their own destiny.

Entertaining, with some beautiful writing and richly drawn characters. But its themes of gender, sexuality, and race feel a little tame. If this had been written in the last century, it would feel very provocative and progressive. But in 2023, it comes across at times a bit staid or ho-hum.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Emma Donoghue, and Little, Brown and Company for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I had never heard of Anne Lister before reading Learned by Heart, and I fear I've discovered a new rabbit hole to fall into. Without this story even being based in real events, I would have been drawn to a story of young lesbians in the 1800s anyways, but the reality of the situation made the book even more enthralling. I appreciate Donoghue's notes in the back that establish more of a timeline of events; it is clear that she put so much care and research behind writing this book, which I commend heartily. This was a lovely and heartbreaking story that, while a bit slow at times, was beautifully written. I could feel the magnetism between Raine and Lister and loved seeing the sweetness of a young first love develop. Queer love can be difficult in many ways even now, so reading about it during this time was even more impactful. After reading the end notes, I was even happier this book was told from Eliza Raine's perspective, given that there is not much known about her today. It gave the book a unique edge that made this a compelling historical fiction. I appreciate Donoghue bringing a light to these women and their relationship in the modern world.

The beauty of Emma Donoghue prose breathes life’s into the the boarding school love between Ann Lister and Eliza Raine. There have been books and films about Ms. Lister but none have fine tuned into her life as a fourteen year old girl. The discovery of who they are and how they learn about themselves through one another is enlightening and tenderly shared. The desires and ultimately the sadness of one’s first love touches the soul. The world within them and the one that surrounds them shines on every page.
To this reader, the authors depth of time, research and emotion combine for a compelling and heartfelt read. Highly recommended and greatly enjoyed.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Little, Brown and Company for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Emma Donoghue brings us an absorbing historical fiction. Learned by Heart is a sapphic love story set during the early 1800’s in an English boarding school. At first, Eliza Raine barely tolerates the countrified Anne Lister. Eliza is a young lady of colour and means. After the death of their parents, Eliza and her sister Jane travel from India to York with their guardian, Mr. Duffin, a friend and colleague of her deceased father. This is Lister’s first experience with boarding school. Lister is brilliant and prideful. Upon entering King’s Manor she remarks that she self studied geometry, astronomy, various modern languages and Latin with a bit of help from the Vicar. Despite her pretentions and intellectual superiority, she is shabbily dressed and is soon relegated to a lower standing by the other girls. Neither ever quite fitting in, Raine and Lister find common ground. In time, the girls surrender to a secret and forbidden love.

Told in alternating chapters between Raine’s letters from Clifton House Asylum to her beloved Lister and reflections on the past. Learned By Heart is inspired by Anne Lister’s very real and extensive diaries. Three decades in the making, Donoghue’s meticulous research is evident in her creation of time and place. And typical of her writing, she gets to the hearts of her characters - the all-consuming nature of first love and what it is like to only wish to be loved and accepted for who you are. Readers who are drawn to historical fiction, stories of first love or the early history of the sapphic life.


Many thanks to the author @E_Donoghue, @LittleBrown, and @NetGalley for the advanced copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Look for it! Pub Date: 29 Aug 2023

On paper this should have been a 5 star read for me, but I found it to just be okay. I think in general, the structure of this book just didn't work for me. The way it was paced it felt like it took half the book for things to finally get started, and I often felt like I was learning more about the rules at this boarding school than I was learning things about these characters or their relationship. Since this is a story based on real people pieced together from Lister's journals, I suppose there's something to be said for an intentional vagueness of character to prevent over-speculating into the desires of real people, but as a fictional story, I just felt myself always wishing we got more insight into the girls' personalities. This book was also very dialogue-heavy, which sometimes works for me, but in this case it so rarely served to expand upon the characters that I found myself growing bored of it.

Having read the author's note I can tell how well-researched this book was, but it also made it feel like there was a lot of unexplored potential with Lister and Eliza's story. It seems like their meeting in boarding school is one of the least interesting parts of their life, and I wish that the book had covered more years and given us more of their story after they left school. All of their post-school years were summed up with great brevity in Eliza's final letter to Lister, and it just made me want more of that story rather than the many hours of boarding school prison that we got.

Anne Lister met Eliza Raine when both girls were students at boarding school outside of York during the Regency period. Eliza is half-Indian, the orphaned daughter of a doctor with the East India Company, sent to England with her sister to be educated. When Eliza and Lister (as she prefers to be called) are forced to share a room, Eliza finds herself unexpectedly enchanted by the unusual girl. They are also physically attracted to each other and the two become lovers and inseparable. Ten years later, Eliza is confined to a psychiatric asylum and writes to Lister, imploring her to write back and come and rescue her.

Fascinating historical fiction based on the lives of Anne Lister and Eliza Raine who become entangled in a forbidden relationship. Lister lived and dressed as a man and had several women lovers - Eliza appears to have been the first one. I learned about Lister when I read Gentleman Jack by Sally Wainwright, a biography of Lister's unusual life. Well-researched, fluid writing. Highly recommend to readers of historical fiction or interested in the history of LGBTQ.

This historical fiction, based on the romance between Anne Lister and Eliza Raine, set in 1805, is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. The awakening of passion and romance between the roommates at a manor house for girls, is palpable. The ending of the relationship and Eliza's heartbreak, obsession, jealousy and possessiveness (expressed in letters to Anne) is disturbing. The story pulled me in from the beginning and didn't let go. Highly recommend.

Caring about these characters proved impossible for me. For whatever reason, they remained just names on the page and never became real people which, it turns out, they actually were. I did find the tidbits of life in the early 1800s England interesting, especially the schooling of young ladies and society’s expectations of them. The novel is obviously well researched but just missed the mark for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC to read and review.

This is a captivating and beautifully written historical fiction novel, which I found to be as equally engrossing as Donoghue’s The Wonder and Pull of the Stars.

The novel centers on the more well-known Anne Lister and her romantic relationship with Eliza Raine during their time as teenagers in boarding school. Raine’s story is fascinating and the novel benefits from being told through her point of view. Raine offers the unique perspective of being a member of genteel English society in the early 1800’s, but as an Indian born, biracial and orphaned young woman, still struggling to feel fully accepted.

The novel was well-developed and paced and really just a pleasure to read. The information in the afterwards conveyed the level of meticulous research and fact that went into the novel as well. Highly recommended!! Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Learned by Heart is one of those books that takes you by the heart, pulling you along on a story of passionate, but frustrated love. The lovers in this instance are two young women at a boarding school in York in the early 1800s. The novel is based on the extensive, coded diaries of Anne Lister, one of those two young women. Anne is a tomboy determined to live life on her own terms, continually looking for challenges, continually asking questions, continually being "inappropriate." Anne is simultaneously viewed enthusiastically and dubiously by other girls at the school. The second of the two lovers is Eliza Raine, the daughter of a a British medic stationed in India and an Indian woman. She's shipped off to boarding school after the death of her father. Someday, she'll be an heiress, but right now she's just a young woman living on the margins, marked by skin color.

Some people will know Anne already as she's the inspiration for Gentleman Jack, the central figure of a British television series that ran from 2019 to 2022. The adult Anne(Jack) cross-dresses and takes a series of female partners. Anne and Eliza were lovers when they were in school together. Anne was a committed diarist, who kept a coded record of her life that Emma Donoghue has used as the basis for this novel.

While Donoghue used Lister's journals as the starting place for this novel, she tells the story through the eyes of Eliza Raine, which adds richness and leaves room for Donoghue the writer to construct the novel in her own way. Raine's story is less well-known and less-successful than Lister's. Eliza spent large parts of her adult life in and out of asylums—and Learned by Heart is presented as a work penned by Raine during one of the times when she was kept away from the world. Her feelings for/about Lister swing widely. Sometimes Lister is her "one true love" and Raine is spending her life waiting for Lister's return. At other times, Raine views Lister as both disappointing and infuriating, focused on her own pleasures and unconcerned with the pain she causes others.

As always, Donoghue does an excellent job getting inside her characters, bringing readers into their minds and hearts, as well as the world they inhabit. If you are interested in lesbian history, women's history, the impact of colonialism, historical fiction, or complicated romance this is a book to keep an eye out for.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Orphan Eliza Raine has never felt like she fits in at her school for young ladies. When a new girl comes to her school, she is shocked by her uniqueness but compelled as well.

A very unique style, I felt like I was in the time period it was written. I found the time period and the environment fascinating. The rules of the boarding school and their every day lives were my favorite part of the book. It took some time for the passion to begin but once it does, it’s very strong and takes ahold of the reader.

“Is this the face of a girl who’s been debauched? She’s never felt so clean.”

Learned by Heart comes out 8/29.

Historical Novels Review, August 2023:

Donoghue’s biographical novel of the real-life Anne Lister and Eliza Raine focuses on Raine’s story. We meet the fourteen-year-old girls when attending the Manor boarding school in 1805-06. Lister’s life and diaries were popularized in the Gentleman Jack television series. She is known as a prolific diarist of early 1800s Yorkshire life, as well as frank, detailed diary entries about her life as a lesbian. She wrote her intimate entries in code, which was later decoded, giving readers a view into her private life.

As a small child, Eliza Raine is sent to England from her home in Madras, India. Her father is an English doctor for the East India Company who had an affair with her Indian mother. As an illegitimate, “young woman of colour,” she isn’t accepted in society and certainly doesn’t fit into the world of the Manor School for young ladies in 1805. Her life changes when Anne, an independent-thinking, rule-breaking tomboy, moves into her lonely attic room. Eliza is enamored with the bold Anne, who is everything she is not, and they quickly become close friends, then lovers. Her first love is everything, and Eliza desperately holds on to it, expecting to spend a lifetime with Anne. But when Anne is expelled, she moves on to a new life and other lovers.

In alternating chapters dated 1815, Raine writes letters from Clifton House Asylum to Lister. Within these letters, Eliza’s pain and inability to let go of her loss will touch the reader’s heart. It becomes clear that her grief and obsession with Anne have resulted in her mental breakdown. Donoghue has created a living, breathing Eliza whose life was defined by rejection and loneliness, and who was unable to withstand the terrible loss of her only love. A sad, beautiful novel.

Janice Ottersberg

Grade: A

In retrospect, and especially after reading the Author's note after this novel, I realize that I was more than a little ignorant about the subject--or the love interest of the subject--of this book. I had heard of a show called Gentleman Jack, which was based on a 19th-century diarist, but I was unaware (or had forgotten) that her name was Anne Lister.

As a result, I went into the book blissfully unaware that real figures inspire it. However, I'm glad that was the case. Without any preconceptions, I could enjoy this story without trying to put any other narrative over it.

Anne Lister is not the protagonist here. Instead, this story is told through the eyes of her first lover, Eliza Raine, with whom it is believed Lister began a relationship while both girls were young teenagers. Their relationship arc is predictable, but Donoghue writes in a way that I never doubted Eliza's feelings for Lister. Eliza is portrayed as a slightly delicate girl who is always somewhat on the sidelines, thanks to being the illegitimate and biracial daughter of a "company man." Lister, on the other hand, is a figure almost bigger than life. No one, from Eliza to their classmates to their headmistresses, knows exactly what to do with her.

I loved the world Donoghue created. When I think of 19th-century English girls' schools, I think of Jane Eyre, which gives readers more of a nightmarish school experience. Here, the school is...fine. There certainly aren't any sadistic teachers, and the girls are getting what was considered an "appropriate" education, but it also isn't a haven. But what I loved about this world were the little details. The politics of teen girls is there, but we also see glimpses into their lives in their games and pastimes, which I found absolutely delightful.

Interspersed among this narrative are letters from Eliza written for Lister a decade later. At this point, we find Eliza institutionalized for some sort of mental illness (and not what was called "an unnatural affection" at the time). This added a really interesting tension to the story. What happened to Eliza? What triggered this? Is Lister to blame? These questions kept me turning the pages.

And here is where my ignorance about the real Lister worked against me. If I had known more about the real person, I would not have been so surprised at where the two women found themselves as adults. This didn't ruin the book for me, but I do think that the ending would have worked a bit better with the information I was missing.

While the ending may not have been perfect for me, this book definitely stayed with me, and I found myself thinking about Eliza and Lister when I didn't have my nose in this book. This is one I would recommend to someone looking for a different sort of novel set in Georgian England (and who knows a bit about Anne Lister!)

I received an electronic ARC of this book from Little, Brown, and Company through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Delighted to include this title in the August edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

Anne Lister, subject of the all too short-lived TV series Gentleman Jack, was a person far ahead of their time. Lister, as she preferred to be called, strode about her country estate in pants. She took many lovers of the lady persuasion. She traveled the world. Her coded diaries are still looked at today as a fascinating record of historical gender identity. But where did it all begin? There's always a first for everything humans do, and Lister's first love was a girl named Eliza Raine, who did not live so boldly or well as Lister.

Eliza Raine was an orphan of mixed parentage (British father - unidentified Indian mother.) She and her sister Jane were sent to England to be looked after by friends of their father. Placed in a girl's school in York, Eliza didn't do much put play piano, and blend in as well as she could. She had a room to herself and took pleasure in that solace. One day a blunderbuss of a girl arrives, asking to be called Lister and talking incessantly. She insults the school, the food, the school masters, the other girls, and in that lightning quick, thunderbolt to the heart way captures Eliza's imagination. Lister moves into Eliza's room, and the two become more than roommates, until Lister finds another girl. Eliza writes Lister letters, languishing until her broken heart gets the better of her.

I feel odd saying I don't want to spoil the novel, given that there are historical records and Lister's extensive diaries chronicling Eliza's story. But, I do think readers can make up their minds about reading the novel with or without knowing the story of Eliza Raine beforehand. The novel chronicles a tale older than that of Eliza and Lister - first love, broken hearts, longing, desire, being a misfit. And in the 218 years since Lister and Raine met much in the realm of social acceptance of homosexuality has changed. Yet, one thing remains true to this day - we all want to be loved and accepted for who we are.

Sometimes life allows us to lean in closely to another's private soul.

Emma Donoghue does exactly that in her beautifully written Learned by Heart. She breathes life into this relationship between Eliza Raine and Anne Lister in York in 1815. Learned by Heart is based on a true story gently told by Anne Lister in her personal diaries. You'll remember the vivacious Anne Lister in the HBO Series, Gentleman Jack.

The girls were just fourteen years old while attending King's Manor School in York. We'll meet a bevy of other young girls attending the school with its heavy rules and regulations. "Prim and Proper" would have made a great tattoo if such things even cross the threshold of such places.

Eliza Raine was a bi-racial heiress who was orphaned at a young age. She left India to come to reside in England. Because of her background, she was not always welcomed in certain circles. And mores the pity with Eliza trying to limit her spark of imagination. "These days I live on words." That is until the sky opens up and Anne Lister makes her appearance in the halls of Manor School.

Anne Lister is portrayed remarkably by the superb storyteller, Emma Donoghue. Donoghue creates moments in which Anne's incredible intelligence is showcased through bolts of easy manipulations. Anne turns the tide when even the adults are bamboozled through innocent conversations. Anne leads the way through the thickest forests.

Entertaining, insightful, and heart-rendering, Learned by Heart showcases a blooming relationship between these two that continued for a long duration. It's a reminder of the precious one who hears the same lyrics of the same song when the music goes silent for others. Bravo, Emma Donoghue.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Little, Brown and Company and to the talented Emma Donoghue for the opportunity.