Learned By Heart
A Novel
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3.6 • 17 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A heartbreakingly gorgeous novel based on the true story of two girls who fall secretly, deeply and dangerously in love at boarding school in nineteenth century York, from the bestselling author of Room and The Wonder
Finalist for the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize
National Bestseller
Drawing on years of investigation and Anne Lister’s five-million-word secret journal, Learned by Heart is the long-buried love story of Eliza Raine, an orphan heiress banished from India to England at age six, and Anne Lister, a brilliant, troublesome tomboy, who meet at the Manor School for Young Ladies in York in 1805 when they are both fourteen.
Emotionally intense, psychologically compelling and deeply researched, Learned by Heart is an extraordinary work of fiction by one of the world’s greatest storytellers. Full of passion and heartbreak, the tangled lives of Anne Lister and Eliza Raine form a love story for the ages.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In this heartbreaking historical romance set in the early 19th century, best-selling author Emma Donoghue offers a new view of a familiar story. Fourteen-year-old Eliza Raine, daughter of a deceased British surgeon and an Indian mother she barely remembers, feels totally alone at an all-girls school in northern England. But when she meets a brash new student named Anne Lister—a real-life figure who features in history as one of the earliest out lesbians in British culture—she discovers a kindred spirit who will change everything. Throughout her life, Lister kept an extensive diary, which provides the basic outline for the story, but Donoghue creates something stirring and memorable by shifting the focus to Eliza. With its beautifully lyrical prose and bruising love story, Learned by Heart is a multilayered novel by an author at the top of her game.
Customer Reviews
Learned by Heart
I loved it. Very relatable.