Learned by Heart

From the bestselling author of Room and The Wonder, this novel is based on the true story of two girls who fall secretly, deeply, and dangerously in love at boarding school in 19th century York.

“A wrenching love story.” —Chris Bohjalian, The Washington Post

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.