Graphic novel inspired by Anne Lister’s first ‘wife’ signed by Virago

Virago has acquired a graphic novel inspired by Anne Lister’s first “wife”, by award-winning author-illustrator Carol Adlam.

Publisher Sarah Savitt acquired world all-language rights to Eliza from James Spackman at The bks Agency. Publication is currently scheduled for summer 2028.

Eliza Raine was a British Indian woman and the first “wife” of Anne Lister, also known as Gentleman Jack. “Headstrong, intelligent, and strikingly beautiful, Eliza lived on the very edge of what was permitted for an unprotected woman, until her path led her to the door of an infamous York lunatic asylum from which she never emerged,” the publisher says. “Eliza is based on Eliza’s own letters, which are the only first-hand source that exists of life as a mixed-race woman in the Regency and Georgian period.”

Savitt said: “Carol Adlam’s illustrations are both intelligently inspired by history and utterly original – and simply gorgeous. I am thrilled that she has joined Virago, which also publishes Helena Whitbread’s transcriptions of Anne Lister’s diaries. But this will also be a graphic novel that appeals to readers beyond the Anne Lister fan base. It’s a captivating story of love, queerness, empire, race and bravery.”

Adlam is an artist, writer and researcher. Her graphic books include The Russian Detective (Jonathan Cape, 2024), shortlisted in the 2026 V&A Illustration Awards (Fiction); Thinking Room (2018; World Illustration Award Winner); (with Helen Cross), Ministry of Women (2016; WIA Shortlisted); (with Helen Cross) The New Wipers Times (2014; WIA Shortlisted). She is associate professor of illustration at Nottingham Trent University and teaches creative writing at the University of Cambridge.

Adlam said: “I can’t think of a better home for Eliza than Virago, a guiding star in my own life for decades now. Virago’s commitment to uncovering and promoting women’s voices means they are a perfect match with my work on Eliza Raine. I’m thrilled to be able to tell Eliza’s tragic story and through the graphic medium to reveal the vivid world she inhabited, of thrills, promise and intrigue.”