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LGBTQ fiction
The books are listed alphabetically by author surname. To go
direct to the author you want, please select the first letter of
their surname from the list below.
A - B - C -
D - E - F -
G - H - I -
J - K - L -
M - N - O - P -
Q - R - S - T - U - V - W -
X - Y - Z
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LGBTQ fiction - for adults
Adderson, Caroline - A History of Forgetting
Malcolm - an ageing hairdresser is rapidly falling out of love
with his Alzheimer's-victim partner. Alison his colleague is
blithely innocent. Both are in their own way blind, until a murder
unites them on an emotional journey.
Alderman, Naomi - Disobedience
An insightful take on the search for love, tolerance and faith
in a tightly-knit Jewish community in London, Disobedience
follows the story of Ronit, who is returning to the capital on the
occasion of the funeral of her estranged father.
Alderson, Maggie - Mad About the Boy
A year after Antonia and her husband Hugh move to Australia Hugo
confesses that he has a boyfriend. Nothing can lift Antonia out of
her depression until the arrival of Hugo's lavender-haired uncle,
who sends her to the gym. There she meets the mysterious James.
Arnott, Jake - The Long Firm
Terry's chance meeting with 1960s gangster Harry Starks in a
London nightclub changes his life.
Bainbridge, Beryl - Harriet Said
Two schoolgirls spend their holidays in a rundown Northern
resort. The younger one develops a morbid interest in an unhappily
married, middle-aged man. She and her friend Harriet begin a plot
to humiliate him. But their fantasy merges into reality, with
shocking and unexpected results.
Baldwin, James - Another Country
Another Country tells the story of the suicide of
jazz-musician Rufus Scott and the friends who search for an
understanding of his life and death, discovering uncomfortable
truths about themselves along the way.
Barker, Pat - The Eye in the Door
It is 1918, and Prior is in London working as an intelligence
officer. His concern is the enemy within, though a clear definition
of who exactly the enemy is proves harder to come by than he might
have imagined.
Black, Ronica - In Too Deep
Homicide detective Erin McKenzie lands the case of her career
when she is chosen to investigate murder suspect Elizabeth Adams.
Adams is not only an accomplished seductress but also a lesbian.
Erin, straight and married, needs a crash course in more than just
undercover detecting when she meets Elizabeth.
Brown, Laurinda - Walk Like a Man
Laurinda Brown's characters explore every aspect of black
lesbian life - whether it's first times, illicit trysts, cheating
hearts or long-time love.
Burroughs, William S. - Naked lunch
Provocative, influential, morbidly fascinating, Naked
Lunch is an apocalyptic ride through the darker recesses of
the human psyche.
Carson, Michael - Sucking Sherbet Lemons
Sucking Sherbet Lemons recounts the coming out
experience of a gay man at a time when homosexual acts were
illegal.
Carson, Michael - Benson at Sixty
The long-awaited sequel to Sucking Sherbet Lemons. With
memories and a stern partner, Ted, Benson makes it home to
Merseyside. After a life spent in the shallows, he has come to the
point when he must face reality and proceed, guided by Ted and his
mates in QA (Queer Alcoholics), into life's deep-end.
Cunningham, Michael - The Hours
The Hours is the story of Richard, a famous poet whose
life has been shadowed by his talented and troubled mother. His
friend Clarissa, who strives to achieve a balanced life, also
figures prominently in this story set during the Second World
War.
Curlovich, John Michael - Triptych of Terror
Just in time for Halloween, here are three spooky tales penned
especially for the gay market.
Duffy, Stella - Singling Out the Couples
A princess, perfect in every way except one, arrives in London
from a land of milk and honey, and sets up home in a Notting Hill
tower block. Her self-appointed mission - to break up couples in
love. For what she lacks is a heart. With gleeful dedication, she
sets about seducing a husband-to-be, prizing apart two devoted gay
men, and ensnaring a contentedly married woman. But things start to
go wrong.
Duffy, Stella - Beneath the Blonde
Siobhan Forrester, lead singer of Beneath the Blonde, has
everything a girl could want: stunning body, great voice, brilliant
career, loving boyfriend. But now she has a stalker too, so she
hires Saz Martin for protection.
Duffy, Stella - Calendar Girl
Maggie has fallen for a mysterious woman who can't commit
herself. Meanwhile, Saz is on the trail of a woman who commutes in
a whirlwind of drug smuggling, gambling and prostitution. A murder
brings Saz and Maggie and their mysteries together.
Duffy, Stella - Mouths of Babes
Getting over the shock of the late nights and early mornings,
Saz Martin and her partner Molly are settling into life with their
new daughter Matilda. But when a well-known stranger turns up on
their doorstep, Saz is forced to face her past, confronting people
and events she had long ago hoped to forget.
Estévez, Abilio - Distant Palaces
Abilio Estevez conjures up the melancholy beauty of contemporary
Havana in this story about a trio of misfits. Victorio quits his
job after he is evicted and becomes a vagrant. Salam, a young
prostitute, befriends him and they move into a ruined theatre with
eccentric musician Don Fuco.
Eugenides, Jeffrey - Middlesex
To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to
uncover a guilty family secret, and the astonishing genetic history
that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous
narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex
is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.
Farrell, M.J. - Devoted Ladies
Jessica and Jane are devoted friends - or are they? Jessica
loves her friend with the cruelty of total possessiveness. Jane is
rich and silly and drinks too many brandies. The battle for Jane's
devotion begins when an Irish gentleman arrives.
Gale, Patrick - The Facts of Life
Spanning three generations, this novel is imbued with comedy and
tragedy. Set in London and the Fens it focuses on family life and
the effect of AIDS. It is written by a gay writer with mainstream
appeal who also writes regularly for Marie Claire.
Gale, Patrick - Aerodynamics of Pork
Two love stories entwine in the space of one heady summer week
in this poignantly witty novel from the author of The Facts of
Life.
Gale, Patrick - Little Bits of Baby
A young man escapes modern life to live in a monastery, possibly
because his childhood playmate and a mutual friend decide to marry.
Eight years later he returns to the London of the 1980s and finds
that much has changed.
Genet, Jean - Funeral Rites
Translated by Bernard Frechtman. Genet's sensual and brutal
portrait of World War II unfolds between the poles of his grief for
his lover Jean, killed in the Resistance during the liberation of
Paris, and his perverse attraction to the collaborator Riton.
Elegiac, macabre, chimerical, Funeral Rites is a dark meditation on
the mirror images of love and hate, sex and death.
Hall, Radclyffe - The Well of Loneliness
Based on her own life, The Well of Loneliness tells the
story of Sir Philip and Lady Gordon and their daughter.
It becomes apparent that she is not like other girls, and falls in
love with another woman. The book was banned under the Obscene
Publications Act.
Hansen, Joseph - The Man Everyone was Afraid of
From the author of Country of Old Men, Hansen brings
back Dave Brandstetter investigating the murder of police chief Ben
Orton. The police have arrested gay activist Cliff Kerlee, he'd
already threatened Orton's life at a heated demo.
Harris, Charlaine - True Blood Omnibus
Sookie is an unassuming cocktail waitress in an (outwardly)
unremarkable town. Attractive as she is, her hidden 'talents' send
men running - her mind reading skills are just a bit threatening.
When the unreadable Bill appears, he seems to be the man of her
dreams. Except he's not technically human.
Hoag, Tami - Dust to Dust
The death of internal affairs investigator Andy Fallon is a
potential political bomb for the Minneapolis Police Department.
Andy Fallon was gay, and he was investigating a possible cop
connection in the brutal murder of another gay officer. But Andy's
death looks like suicide - or an unfortunate and embarrassing
accident: death by auto-erotic misadventure - and the pressure is
on from the top brass to close the case as soon as possible. But
Andy Fallon's ex-lover doesn't believe Andy died by his own hand -
accidentally or otherwise. He believes Andy's death is tied to his
work, and he presses lead detective Sam Kovac to find another
answer - one that won't be popular with anyone.
Isherwood, Christopher - A Meeting by the River
Isherwood’s final novel, bringing together his thoughts on gay
identity and Eastern mysticism. Two English brothers meet, after a
long separation, in India. Oliver, the idealistic younger brother,
prepares to take his final vows as a Hindu monk. Patrick, a
successful publisher with a wife and children in London and a male
lover in California, has publicly admired his brother’s convictions
while privately criticizing his choices.
Isherwood, Christopher - A Single Man
Set in Southern California during 1962, it depicts one day in
the life of George, a middle-aged, gay Englishman who is a
professor at a Los Angeles university. Claimed by many as
Isherwood's masterpiece.
Isherwood, Christopher - Down There on a Visit
This novel is a bemused, sometimes acid portrait of people
caught in private sexual hells of their own making. Its four
episodes are connected by four narrators. All are called
"Christopher Isherwood, " but each is a different character
inhabiting a new setting: Berlin in 1928, the Greek Isles in 1933,
London in 1938, and California in 1940. Down There on a
Visit is a major work that shows Isherwood at the height of
his literary powers.
Isherwood, Christopher - Goodbye to Berlin
Christopher Isherwood is the narrator of Goodbye to
Berlin. His story evokes the gathering storm in Berlin before
and just after the rise to power of the Nazis, as seen through the
eyes of a series of individuals.
Isherwood, Christopher - Mr. Norris Changes Trains: a
Novel
After a chance encounter on a train the English teacher William
Bradshaw starts a close friendship with the mildly sinister Arthur
Norris. Norris is a man of contradictions; lavish but heavily in
debt, excessively polite but sexually deviant. First published in
1933 Mr Norris Changes Trains piquantly evokes the
atmosphere of Berlin during the rise of the Nazis.
Jansson, Tove - Fair Play: a Novel
Translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal; introduced by Ali
Smith. Fair Play portrays a love between two older women,
a writer and artist, as they work side-by-side in their Helsinki
studios, travel together and share summers on a remote island.
Kay, Jackie - Trumpet
Joss Moody has died and the jazz world is in mourning. But in
death, Joss can no longer guard the secret he kept all his life,
and Colman, his son, must confront the truth: the man he believed
to be his father was, in fact, a woman.
Keenan, Joe - Blue Heaven
Set in New York, this novel revolves around four characters, all
either unemployed or barely employed. The calamities begin when
Gilbert, who is gay, and Moira, an arch bitch, devise a brilliant
plan to swindle their families - by getting married.
Kemp, Jonathan - London Triptych
Three men, three lives and three eras sinuously entwine in a
dark, startling and unsettling narrative of sex, exploitation and
dependence set against London's strangely constant gay
underworld.
Leavitt, David - The Page Turner
Paul Porter's dreams of becoming a concert pianist are
encouraged when he acts as page-turner at a recital given by the
brilliant, temperamental Richard Kennington. Months later, Paul and
Richard meet again, and begin an intense affair.
Leavitt, David - The New Penguin Book of Gay Short
Stories
The diversity - and unity - of gay love and experience in the
20th century is celebrated in this acclaimed anthology, which
includes 21 stories from the first edition, together with 15
additional tales. Edited by David Leavitt and Mark Mitchell;
introduction by David Leavitt.
Lieber, Julia - The Blue Scorpion
Who was Natalie Wolf? Hired by Natalie's husband, Abel, to find
his missing wife, Loy Lombard learns quickly the pitfalls of
finding a missing person whose identity keeps changing. But when
Natalie's body is discovered on Abel's farm this is just the
beginning.
Maupin, Armisted - Tales of the City
San Francisco, 1976. A naïve young secretary, fresh out of
Cleveland, tumbles headlong into a brave new world of Laundromat
Lotharios, pot-growing landladies, cut throat debutantes, and
Jockey Shorts dance contests. The saga that ensues is manic,
romantic, tawdry, touching, and outrageous - unmistakably the
handiwork of Armistead Maupin.
McCullers, Carson - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Set in a small town in the American South, it is the story of a
group of people who have little in common except that they are all
hopelessly lonely. A young girl, a drunken socialist and a black
doctor are drawn to a gentle, sympathetic deaf mute, whose presence
changes their lives. This powerful exploration of alienation is
both moving and perceptive.
McDermid, V.L - Report for Murder
Report for Murder was the first British lesbian
mystery, in which Lindsay Gordon, left-wing lesbian tabloid
journalist, investigates the murder of a public school pupil at a
gala fundraising concert.
McDermid, Val - Union Jack
When Lindsay Gordon returns to the UK to do research into the
role of women in the trades union movement she has little clue that
she will become a murder suspect after a 'friend' falls from her
10th floor window.
Orton, Joe - Head to Toe
When Gombald Proval strays on to the head of a giant, it's the
start of a journey through a nightmare world. He is caught in a
gender-bending love affair, thrown in jail, and enlisted in a war
between the Left Buttock and Right Buttock dwellers. Will Gombald
escape these myriad perils? Drawings by Patrick Procktor and
Interphot
Outland, Orlando - A Serious Person
Songwriter Adam Bede is facing the odds. His star client deserts
him for a new writing sensation, Sam Sparks, who turns out to have
designs on Adam's boyfriend Lyle. Suddenly Adam's whole world is
upside down. It seems salvation lies in winning a new reality TV
contest. A bad idea, or what?
Picano, Felice - Book of Lies
Ross Ohrenstedt is overseeing the collection of the works of
Damon Von Slyke, a prominent gay man of letters. His discovery of a
lost work by an 'unknown' author and his struggle to identify the
man, paints a vibrant portrait of gay history.
Picano, Felice - Like People in History
Like People in History is a gay American epic novel of panoramic
sweep, lively characterisation and compelling storyline. Second
cousins Roger Sansarc and Alistair Dodge both love Matt, a handsome
model, poet and decorated Vietman vet.
Proulx, Annie - Brokeback Mountain
This story is set in the beautiful, wild landscape of Wyoming
where cowboys live much as they have done for generations: hard,
lonely lives in unforgiving country.
Proust, Marcel - In Search of Lost Time
At the centre of this classic work is the narrator Marcel. He
wants to be a writer, but finds that he cannot sit down and write
because he is unable to recapture the Time-Memory of his life.
Scott, Manda - Hen's Teeth
Set in Glasgow, Hen's Teeth has an intricate plot
revolving around genetic engineering and veterinary science. Dr
Kellen Stewart and her friend Lee set out to discover the truth,
but how safe is their quest?
Self, Will - Dorian
It is 1981 and the "Royal Broodmare", as Henry Wotton calls her,
is about to be married. Wotton, an uneasy homosexual and an
egregious drug-addict, and his friend Baz have found a remarkable
young man Dorian Gray, the epitome of male beauty. Sixteen
years later and the Princess is dead. As the stock market soars and
their T-cell counts plummet, what has happened to Henry and Baz?
And how does Dorian remain so youthful?
Selvadurai, Shyam - Funny Boy
Arjie is an oddity in his large family, he prefers dressing as a
girl to playing cricket with his brother. This book follows the
life of the family through Arjie's eyes, as he accepts his
homosexuality and comes to terms with the racism of society.
Shaw, Fiona - Tell it to the Bees
Lydia Weekes is distraught at the break-up of her marriage. When
her young son Charlie makes friends with the town's doctor, Jean
Markham, her life is turned upside down. As Lydia and the doctor
become closer, the rumours start to fly and threaten to shatter
Charlie's world.
Sheridan, Alan - Time and Place
Mark Sheridan recounts his years with a travelling theatre
company, and his turbulent love affair with Esmond, a young actor.
Interwoven are flashbacks to his chaotic earlier life and a pre-war
world long vanished.
Spanbauer, Tom - In the City of Shy Hunters
William Parker moves from a small town in the mid-West to
Manhattan, desperate to escape the provincialism he has endured.
Once in New York, however, he is surrounded by people who
understand and accept his quirks, and he soon falls in love.
Toibin, Colm - The Story of the Night
Richard Garay lives alone with his mother, hiding his sexuality
from her and from those around him. Stifled by a job he despises,
he finds himself willing to take considerable risks. Set in
Argentina in a time of great change, The Story of the
Night is a powerful and moving novel about a man who, as the
Falklands War is fought and lost, finds his own way to emerge into
the world.
Tondelli, Pier Vittorio - Separate Rooms
Leo is an Italian writer in his thirties. Thomas, his former
lover, is dead. This is a story of ideal love, broken by absence
and separation. When Thomas was alive, he and Leo had separate
rooms in order to preserve the urgency of their passion. Now, Leo
faces solitude and the hostility of a prejudiced world. Translated
by Simon Pleasance.
Trollope, Joanna - A Village Affair
A lesbian affair scandalizes the inhabitants of a contemporary
rural English village in this novel by the author of The
Choir. It tells not only of the complications of a lesbian
attachment, but also of the peculiarity of convention and the
modern attitudes of a rural community.
Vidal, Gore - The City and the Pillar
A literary cause célèbre when first published more than 50
years ago, Gore Vidal’s now-classic The City and the
Pillar stands as a landmark novel of the gay experience. Jim,
a handsome, all-American athlete, has always been shy around girls.
But when he and his best friend, Bob, partake in “awful kid stuff,”
the experience forms Jim’s ideal of spiritual completion. Defying
his parents’ expectations, Jim strikes out on his own, hoping to
find Bob and rekindle their amorous friendship. Along the way he
struggles with what he feels is his unique bond with Bob and with
his persistent attraction to other men. Upon finally encountering
Bob years later, the force of his hopes for a life together leads
to a devastating climax. The first novel of its kind to appear on
the American literary landscape, The City and the Pillar
remains a forthright and uncompromising portrayal of sexual
relationships between men.
Walters, Sarah - Affinity
Margaret Prior is a prison visitor in the 1870s. Set in and
around Milbank, one of London's most notorious gaols for women, the
story is both a both a ghost story and an intriguing literary
mystery tale.
Walters, Sarah - Fingersmith
Set in 1860s London, this is the story of Susan, a pickpocket
who is persuaded to pose as a lady's maid and infiltrate the house
of a young heiress. This novel explores the nature of identity and
what people do with disguise.
Walters, Sarah - The Night Watch
Set in 1940s London, this story follows four characters - Kay,
Helen, Viv and Duncan - as they deal with their everyday lives, set
against the backdrop of the Second World War.
Walters, Sarah - Tipping the Velvet
This is a wonderfully lush, sensuous and bawdy novel set in the
music halls of the late 19th century. Nan gets to meet her heroine,
Kitty, a male impersonator. The two begin a double act, and their
affection for each other deepens.
Waugh, Evelyn - Brideshead Revisited
Written at the end of the Second World War, this novel mourns
the passing of the aristocratic world which Waugh knew in his youth
and recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by the austerities of
war. In so doing, it provides a study of the conflict between the
demands of religion and of the flesh.
White, Edmund - A Boy's Own Story
Originally published in 1982 as the first of Edmund White's
trilogy of autobiographical novels, A Boy's Own Story
became an instant classic for its pioneering portrayal of
homosexuality. The book's unnamed narrator, growing up during the
1950s, is beset by aloof parents, a cruel sister, and relentless
mocking from his peers, compelling him to seek out works of art and
literature as solace-and to uncover new relationships in the
struggle to embrace his own sexuality. Lyrical and poignant, with
powerful evocations of shame and yearning, this is an American
literary treasure.
White, Edmund - Chaos
In this collection which features Chaos, a novella, and
short stories, Edmund White explores different aspects of ageing,
romance and sex with an unsparing look at gay midlife.
White, Edmund - The Married Man
Austin catches the eye of Julien, a young French architect with
a gleam in his eye. Life suddenly becomes a round of suppers and
glittering salons. But the sadness in Julien's past will lead them
around the world in a quest for health and happiness.
White, Patrick - The Twyborn Affair
Eddie is bisexual and beautiful, the son of a judge and a
drunken mother. With this androgynous hero and through his search
for identity, self-affirmation and love, this novel takes us on a
journey into the human condition.
Williams, T.J - 5 minutes and 42 seconds
Fashad, a drug dealer and secret bisexual, is confronted by a
host of enemies - including Smokey, one of his aides and a would-be
rapper seduced by Fashad as a teenager; Fashad's wife Cameshia, who
is convinced her husband is unfaithful; and his resentful
stepdaughter - all of whom are willing to do anything to bring him
down.
Winterson, Jeanette - Art and Lies: A piece for
three voices and a bawd
The book is set in an imagined future where the State has almost
total control and where individual values count for nothing. The
action takes place in a single day as the three travel towards the
coast by train. Narratives that are separate gradually come
together until by the end of the book, all three destinies have
combined.
Winterson, Jeanette - Gut Symmetries
One starry night on a boat in the mid-Atlantic, Alice, a
brilliant English theoretical physicist, begins an affair with
Jove, her remorselessly seductive American counterpart. But Jove is
married. When Alice confronts his wife, Stella, she swiftly falls
in love with her, with consequences that are by turns horrifying,
comic, and arousing. Vaulting from Liverpool to New York, from
alchemy to string theory, and from the spirit to the flesh, Gut
Symmetries is a thrillingly original novel by England's most
flamboyantly gifted young writer.
Winterson, Jeanette - Oranges are Not the Only
Fruit
This is the story of Jeanette, adopted and brought up by her
mother as one of God's elect. Zealous and passionate, she seems
seems destined for life as a missionary, but then she falls for one
of her converts. At 16, Jeanette decides to leave the church, her
home and her family, for the young woman she loves. Innovative,
punchy and tender, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a few
days ride into the bizarre outposts of religious excess and human
obsession.
Winterson, Jeanette - The Passion
Henri had a passion for Napoleon and Napoleon had a passion for
chicken. From Boulogne to Moscow Henri butchered for his Emperor
and never killed a single man. Meanwhile, in Venice, the city of
chance and disguises, Villanelle was born with the webbed feet of
her boatman father - but in the casinos she gambled her heart and
lost. As the soldier-chef's love for Napoleon turns to hate he
finds the Venetian beauty, and together they flee to the canals of
darkness.
Winterson, Jeanette - The Powerbook
Alix, a 21st-century e-writer, will write to order anything you
like, provided that you are prepared to enter the story as yourself
and take the risk of leaving it as someone else. However, there is
a price, which Alix too must pay.
Woolf, Virginia - Orlando
Orlando has always been an outsider. His longing for passion,
adventure and fulfilment takes him out of his own time. Chasing a
dream through the centuries, he bounds from Elizabethan England and
imperial Turkey to the modern world. Will he find happiness with
the exotic Russian Princess Sasha? Or is the dashing explorer
Shelmerdine the ideal man? And what form will Orlando take on the
journey - a nobleman, traveller, writer? Man or woman?
X, Sulayman - Adventures of a Bird-Shit Foreigner
Isa is the product of a GI from Kansas City and a prostitute
mother, and Thai society can be cruel to those not of pure
breeding. Tossed out by his family, the struggling gay teenager
learns to live on the street with a local gang before ultimately
finding refuge with a local clergyman and his family.
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