15 queer AF page-turners that will take you back in time

In a reading slump? Trying to escape our current hellscape (I mean, reality)? Want to beef up your queer history chops? If you answered yes to any of the above—and especially if you answered yes to all three—it sounds like you need to get lost in a good book from a different era. Bonus points if it’s queer!

Historical fiction is a great genre for anyone who loves learning about the past but prefers to do so when it’s sprinkled with a little storytelling oomph to keep things interesting. Here are 15 queer as hell book recommendations that will take you back in time…

1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

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BuzzFeed called Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, “riveting, heart-wrenching” and “one of the most captivating reads of 2017.” The book follows an iconic Hollywood actress as she reflects on her wild career, secret love, and yes, all seven husbands, starting in the 1950s.

2. The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller found a whole new generation she could make cry after her New York Times bestselling and award-winning novel,The Song of Achilles, blew up on TikTok. The story takes readers on a poignant, gutting, and beautifully queer ride as it retells the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War.

3. Fellow Travelers

Thomas Mallon’s Fellow Travelers is a romance that combines politics, thrills, and a whole lot of gayness in the turbulent McCarthy era. The 2007 novel was recently brought to life on the small screen in a Showtime mini-series starring Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer.

4. Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Winner of the National Book Award, Malinda Lo’s powerful bestselling novel, Last Night at the Telegraph Club, follows a teen girl’s forbidden queer love in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the Red Scare.

5. How Much of These Hills Is Gold

How Much of These Hills is Gold was a Goodreads nominee for Best Debut Novel in 2020. C Pam Zhang’s thrilling tale, which centers two siblings on the run during the gold rush, explores racial identity and the nuances of gender through the eyes of young, orphaned Chinese-American immigrants.

6. A Single Man

Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man, which follows a heartbroken, queer English professor after the love of his life dies, was originally published in 1964. But the moving story captured a new wave of audiences in its 2009 film adaptation, which was directed by Tom Ford and starred Colin Firth and Julianne Moore.

7. Giovanni’s Room

Giovanni’s Room, one of the most timeless and celebrated books by the prolific James Baldwin, follows an American expatriate as he explores love, desire, and morality in Paris. The Atlantic named it one of the Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years.

8. The Widows of Malabar Hill

A Goodreads nominee for Best Mystery and Thriller of 2018, Sujata Massey’s The Widows of Malabar Hill spotlights Bombay’s only female lawyer as she investigates a suspicious will in 1920s India.

9. Maurice

E.M. Forster’s Maurice sat in a drawer for nearly six decades before it was published after his death, as the author had requested, in 1971. Forster knew that his book, which explores the unspoken rules of wealth, class, and sexuality in early 20th century England, wouldn’t be accepted for its queer themes when he wrote it.

10. The Prophets

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr. tells the story about two enslaved men who fell in love on a plantation in the Deep South. Jones’ debut earned praise far and wide from the New York Times, USA Today, and NPR, among other outlets, when it published in 2021.

11. Another Brooklyn

A finalist for the 2016 National Book Award, Jacqueline Woodson’s powerful novel, Another Brooklyn, follows August and her friends as they navigate thrilling New York City of the 1970s, and its dark underbelly.

12. The Sweetness of Water

Nathan Harris’ The Sweetness of Water is set in Georgia in the final days of the Civil War and follows Black brothers and two Confederate soldiers who’ve fallen in love. Harris’ debut was an Oprah‘s Book Club selection and one of President Obama’s favorite books of 2021.

13. Like a Love Story

Abdi Nazemian’s captivating Like a Love Story, a 2020 Stonewall Book Award nominee, follows three teens in New York City during the AIDS epidemic of the late 1980s.

14. Rainbow Milk

Paul Mendez’ poignant coming-of-age novel, Rainbow Milk, centers a nineteen-year-old who was raised Jehovah’s Witness as he grapples with his racial and sexual identities.

15. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Named one of Time’s Best YA Books of All Time, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz has tugged on heartstrings everywhere. Set near the U.S.-Mexico border in the 1980s, the novel follows two loner teens whose blossoming friendship would change their lives forever.