Good morning team,

What's up! I've been a bit glum these last few weeks, but last weekend I had two big walks with friends and it properly cheered me up for the whole week. This isn't related to today's newsletter, particularly, but maybe if you are feeling a bit glum a walk or outdoor time with a friend might help. I hope so anyway. 💗

Now, of course we've covered Anne Lister (businesswoman, diarist and lesbian) in Fem Fri before, but I've only just found out that the woman who decoded her diaries, Helena Whitbread, was also quite amazing. She left school at 13 and didn't go back to education until she was 35, following which she made her incredible literary discovery.

Helena instead discovered the diaries of Anne Lister, and the “crypthand” code that filled a large amount of the journals. At that time she was completely unaware of the journals’ explosive contents […] The diaries and their contents had been hidden for over a hundred years.

https://www.annelister.co.uk/about-helena-whitbread/

Anne's diary entries are on this site if you fancy having a crack at decoding them yourself:

https://www.annelister.co.uk/diary-archives/

If you don't want to do that, perhaps consider that you might… actually… be Anne Lister:

Do you feel confined by the expectations of the era you are born into? Are your desires repressed both literally and metaphorically under several layers of thick fabric? Do you often stare out across a cold, gray, windswept beach and wish for more? Individual circumstances may vary, but odds are good that you may in fact be stuck within the plot of a serious lesbian period drama.

https://www.vulture.com/2020/11/how-to-tell-if-youre-in-a-serious-lesbian-period-romance.html

Have a lovely weekend, everyone,

A xx.