Most stories of early 19th-century England focus on Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters. But Sue Perkins presents a different perspective, based on the life of Anne Lister. A Yorkshire landowner, Lister meticulously documented her life in a detailed diary, which included explicit accounts of her relationships with women. Surprisingly, Regency England was relatively accepting of Lister's lifestyle, but public scrutiny of her private life arose when she attempted to develop a coal mine on her property.