The Secret Diaries Of Miss Anne Lister: Vol. 1: The extraordinary story of the first modern lesbian whose diaries 'changed everything' Emma Donoghue (Virago Modern Classics)

Anne Lister's diaries span the years 1816–1824 and were first published in 1988 as a significant historical document. Editor Helena Whitbread spent years researching and transcribing Lister's extensive journals, much of which were written in an elaborate code Lister called her 'crypthand'. This encoding allowed her to record intimate and explicit details of her life. Lister was a nineteenth-century landowner, industrialist, traveller, and lesbian who lived independently and on her own terms, defying conventional expectations of womanhood for her era. Until this publication, her lesbianism had been suppressed or only hinted at in historical accounts. These diaries provided the first full telling of her story. Lister's life inspired the television series Gentleman Jack and Emma Donoghue's novel Learned By Heart. A second volume, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister: No Priest But Love, is also available.