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
Her touch is so light and exuberantly inventive, her insight at once so forensic and intimate, her people so ordinary even in their oddities — The Guardian
A master of plot — Time
A writer of great vitality and generosity — The New Yorker
Emma Donoghue is a genius of compassion. With her, the ethical imagination is always paramount. In our fractured world she brings a great sense of repair to us all. Her stories bind us back together — Colum McCann, internationally bestselling author of Let the Great World Spin
Emma Donoghue’s writing is superb alchemy — Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife
Donoghue excels in creating not just a world but a worldview that is far removed from our own — Financial Times
Donoghue is a superb stylist – her prose is stirring and tender — The Sunday Times
She can do everything: be funny, be moving, be unflinching yet sensitive, write beautifully nuanced sentences and utterly gripping stories. She can write powerful historical fiction and be absolutely contemporary. And she’s unable to write a line you don't believe — Joseph O’Connor, author of Star of the Sea
