Tensions grew to a melodramatic crescendo when news reached Shibden of the pair being burnt in effigy. Yet Ann Walker had an inconvenient number of local relatives, suspicious of exactly how Anne Lister could pay for all her grand improvements. And socially very ambitious, she employed architects to redesign both the Hall and the estate. Politically active, Anne Lister door-stepped her tenants at the 1835 Election to vote Tory. Jill Liddington’s classic edition of the diaries tells the story of how Anne Lister wooed and seduced neighbouring heiress Ann Walker, who moved in to live with Anne and her family in 1834. The diaries were included on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2011.

Her extraordinary diaries, running to 4-5 million words, were partly written in her own secret code and recorded her love affairs with startling candour. She was an impressive scholar, fearless traveller and successful businesswoman, even developing her own coalmines. Lesbian landowner Anne Lister inherited Shibden Hall in 1826.

Sally Wainwright, creator of Gentleman Jackįemale Fortune is the book which inspired Sally Wainwright to write Gentleman Jack, now a major drama series for the BBC and HBO. Female Fortune is essential reading for those who watched Gentleman Jack and want to know more about the extraordinary woman that was Anne Lister.‘A unique and thrilling insight into the brilliant mind of Anne Lister’ This 2022 edition includes a fascinating Afterword on the recent discovery of Ann Walker's own diary. Jill Liddington's classic edition of the diaries tells the story of how Anne Lister wooed and seduced neighbouring heiress Ann Walker, who moved in to live with Anne and her family in 1834. The diaries were included on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2011. 'A unique and thrilling insight into the brilliant mind of Anne Lister'

Female Fortune by Jill Liddington