This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category is sapphic historical fiction!
Since October is LGBTQ+ History Month, it’s the perfect time to dive into stories that explore history through a queer lens. Whether it’s a book set in the roaring ’20s, in the Wild West, or in the neolithic period, these stories tell the tale of sapphic life and love throughout time, often against the odds.
15 sapphic historical fiction novels
Below, you’ll find 15 recommended sapphic historical fiction novels:
Time’s Undoing by Cheryl A. Head
Birmingham, 1929: Robert Lee Harrington, a master carpenter, has just moved to Alabama to pursue a job opportunity, bringing along his pregnant wife and young daughter. Birmingham is in its heyday, known as the “Magic City” for its booming steel industry, and while Robert and his family find much to enjoy in the city’s busy markets and vibrant nightlife, it’s also a stronghold for the Klan. And with his beautiful, light-skinned wife and snazzy car, Robert begins to worry that he might be drawing the wrong kind of attention.
2019: Meghan McKenzie, the youngest reporter at the Detroit Free Press, has grown up hearing family lore about her great-grandfather’s murder—but no one knows the full story of what really happened back then, and his body was never found. Determined to find answers to her family’s long-buried tragedy and spurred by the urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement, Meghan travels to Birmingham. But as her investigation begins to uncover dark secrets that spider across both the city and time, her life may be in danger.
Inspired by true events, Time’s Undoing is both a passionate tale of one woman’s quest for the truth behind the racially motivated trauma that has haunted her family for generations and, as newfound friends and supporters in Birmingham rally around Meghan’s search, the uplifting story of a community coming together to fight for change.
Available at:
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.
America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father – despite his hard-won citizenship – Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.
Available at:
Shaken to the Core by Jae
Kate Winthrop, the only child of a wealthy shipping magnate, has the course of her life charted for her by her parents. She’s expected to marry well and produce a successor to the Winthrop empire. But Kate has a very different path in mind. Her true passion lies with photography—and with women.
Alone in the city after losing her brother, Sicilian immigrant Giuliana Russo starts working for the Winthrops as a maid. Despite their different social status, Kate and Giuliana become friends, much to the dismay of Kate’s parents.
As the connection between the two women grows, a devastating earthquake hits San Francisco and ignites fires that sweep through the city for three days and nights.
Will the disaster shatter their tentative feelings for each other, or will they find the courage to save each other’s lives—and their hearts?
Join Kate and Giuliana on a journey of danger and discovery in the action-packed historical romance Shaken to the Core, set against the backdrop of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Available at:
Stone Memory by Aimée
Clifton, present time. Kate O’Carroll has just moved to take up a new position at Bristol University. She’s found a lovely house that comes complete with its own library – a big bonus for an avid reader. Her new life seems to be starting auspiciously when she slips on the pavement and ends up at the local A&E. Adrienne Sargent, the surgeon on call, immediately feels a connection to her patient, but of course, there’s no reason they should meet again outside the hospital.
Clifton, 1900. Dorcas Fairstead, a parson’s daughter, is starting a teaching career at one of the pioneering colleges for women. Not much older than her students, she is finding her feet, making friends and writing a journal for the first time in her life. At a conference, she and her friends meet Elizabeth Sutcliff, a young doctor working at one of the first women’s hospitals in London.
There must be something in the air, for although none of these women is actively looking for love, life has other ideas. As past and present intersect, are they ready to follow their desires?
Available at:
Between Boat & Shore by Rhiannon Grant
Life in Otter Village is governed by the changing seasons and the will of the Goddess. Trebbi is held in high regard by her community. Guided by the goddess, the village plants, harvests, and trades with its neighbours. But when strangers arrive by boat in the midst of a storm – on the same day the village leader is found murdered – it brings a time of change for Trebbi, Dru, and the other villagers. Trebbi and Dru must work out who killed Peku while the village listens to the Goddess to guide them to a new leader, and Trebbi must listen to her heart about the visitor Aleuks.
Available at:
A Lady to Treasure by Marianne Ratcliffe
Louisa Silverton is the daughter of a wealthy American businessman, brought up to believe a healthy profit is the only route to happiness. With the family company over-leveraged and in need of a capital injection, she travels to England to find a rich husband.
The Honourable Miss Sarah Davenport has no time for romance. The family estate of Kenilborough is mired in debt and only she can save it. Unconventional and outspoken, Sarah is dismayed that somebody as intelligent and attractive as Louisa is willing to sacrifice herself for financial gain. As Louisa pursues her campaign, Sarah realises her objections to the project run deeper than mere principles. At the same time, Louisa finds herself captivated by Sarah’s independent spirit. Yet to indulge their unexpected passion would surely mean the ruin of both their families. Bound by duty, will they ever be free to follow their hearts?
Available at:
Murder And Gold by Ann Aptaker
New York City, 1954.
Two women are found murdered. One is Lorraine Quinn, Cantor Gold’s most recent one-night-stand. The other is political power broker and aspiring New York socialite Eve Garraway, a regular client of Cantor’s stolen art trade.
Police nemesis, Lieutenant Norm Huber, wants to pin the murders on Cantor, send her to prison, and put her in the electric chair. He’ll get evidence on her any way he can. Into this cauldron of danger and death come two other women, each with ties to Cantor’s past. One hates her until passion intervenes; the other harbors darkly hidden feelings.
Set during the earliest stirrings of the Homosexual Rights Movement, Cantor begins to question her own tenuous identity, and the trade-offs she must make to get what she wants.
Cantor Gold, dapper butch art thief and smuggler for whom survival is everything, must now grapple with two fronts: surviving the shifting sands of the criminal underworld, and navigating the changing tides of society.
Available at:
Remember Me by Del Robertson
Sarah Lindley followed her brother into the untamed Wild West in search of adventure. She found it – in the form of a woman unlike any she’d ever met before.
Buckshot Bailey Bowen thought she had settled down as a ranch hand. That was until a chance encounter with a feisty, Irish redhead turned her world upside down.
Sarah and Bailey meet again in San Antonio in an old, crumbling mission. As the infamous thirteen-day siege rages about them, they fall hopelessly in love. Surrounded by enemy forces, their future looks uncertain. Will they – and their love – survive against such insurmountable odds?
The cry “Remember The Alamo” has long echoed throughout history. Now, the women that were at the Battle of The Alamo ask you to Remember Me.
Available at:
For All Time by Lyn Denison
It’s the 1960s. Life was different then. But Tyneholme, the magnificent, historic home of one of Brisbane’s pioneering families, the well-known Chaseleys, endures. Dickie Chaseley, grandson of the first Chaseley to arrive in Australia, is a respected businessman, and his vivacious wife, Vivienne, is a much loved patron of a large number of charities.
Circumstances have drastically changed young Laura Dawson’s comfortable and sheltered life and she gratefully accepts what she sees as a lifeline, a job working with Viv Chaseley. Laura moves into Tyneholme and into the unbelievably amazing world of the Chaseleys. Working with Viv gives Laura the confidence she knows she lacks, and it brings new meaning to her previously uninspiring life.
She meets Dickie and Viv’s elder son, Richard, and his lovely wife, Sara, and their younger son, the dark and slightly dangerous, Nicholas. Then the Chaseleys’ only daughter arrives home from the UK. Viv had said she was sure her daughter and Laura would become great friends, but nothing could have prepared Laura for her meeting with the poised, worldly, so very attractive Rosemary Chaseley.
Available at:
The Teachers’ Room by Lydia Stryk
A novice fifth-grade teacher embarks on a clandestine love affair with another teacher, which sets her on the tumultuous path of self-discovery.
It is 1963, one of the most turbulent years in American history. The escalating tensions and conflicts in society at large are playing out in classrooms, principals’ offices, and school boards across the country, along with the first stirrings of social transformation, though the past still holds its suffocating grip. And behind the closed door of the teachers’ room in one small Midwest town, two teachers set eyes on each other and find it hard to look away.
Karen Murphy, fresh from college, has taken on her first teaching job. Despite her best efforts, she can’t seem to stick to the subjects in her fifth-grade school books, helped along by the antics of a girl who upends all her lesson plans. She has a lot to learn, and her women colleagues are there to offer their advice, especially the enigmatic fourth-grade teacher, Esther Jonas. As Karen quickly discovers, the devoted spinster teacher with no life beyond the classroom is a myth—the school is teeming with passion and secrets, her own perilous desire for Esther Jonas included.
Available at:
In the Shadow of the Past (Shadow Series Book 1) by J.E. Leak
She fell for the wrong woman … now it’s going to cost her.
In the shadowy world of 1940s New York City, a sultry spy falls for the one woman she shouldn’t. When reporter Jenny Ryan’s father is murdered, her burning need for justice drives her to take on a ruthless tycoon. But her plan goes awry when she falls for the criminal’s alluring mistress, OSS agent Kathryn Hammond.
Kathryn is more than just a popular nightclub singer with a glamorous façade. She’s an undercover spy, trapped stateside in a dead-end assignment while the war rages on in Europe. Frustrated and resentful, her feelings get her into real trouble when Jenny steals her heart. As their forbidden desire blooms, they find themselves caught in a web of danger and intrigue.
Will their passion endanger their lives and unravel everything they’ve worked for, or will their love be the very thing that saves them?
Available at:
Promises in Pompeii by Violet Morley
Spanning twenty years, this story explores life, love, and loss in Ancient Rome.
Helvia doesn’t want for anything, but being wealthy can come at a cost. Navigating through her papa’s disinterest and trying to dodge her bully of a brother, Helvia is already learning how lonely life can be—until Octavia comes bursting on the scene, ready to help provide support, laughter, and companionship that Helvia desperately needs.
Octavia’s family doesn’t have wealth, but they certainly aren’t short on love. She is taught early to stick up for what is right and work hard for those she cares about.
As Helvia and Octavia grow, so does their friendship. Moving from childhood to adulthood while navigating the expectations of women in Ancient Rome, their connection navigates unexpected bumps and turns. Life has a way of shaking up even the most solid foundations.
With promises of their future shattered and secrets held tight to the chest, Helvia and Octavia have to ask themselves how their connection can equal a happy ending.
Available at:
Secrets Well Kept by Lynn Ames
It’s March, 1943. World War II rages across the globe, and twenty-five-year-old Nora Lindstrom is about to take a huge leap of faith. One of the few women in the male-dominated field of physics, she travels to an undisclosed destination to undertake a vital, top-secret project that the government insists could help the Allies win the war.
At eighteen, Mary Trask is ready to put high school and the boy who wants to marry her in her rearview mirror. But what alternative could the future hold for the dyslexic daughter of a train conductor? When a cousin in Tennessee provides Mary with a cryptic job opportunity, she jumps at the chance to rewrite her life.
Nora and Mary are drawn together under impossible circumstances. As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, they find solace in their love for each other. But in a place where secrecy is paramount, their relationship is forever changed by the consequences of secrets well kept.
Available at:
A Bittersweet Garden by Caren J. Werlinger
Nora McNeill has always dreamed of exploring her Irish roots. When she finally gets the opportunity to spend a summer in the village where her grandparents grew up, the experience promises to live up to her very high expectations. Except for the ghost that is haunting her rented cottage and is soon invading her dreams.
Briana Devlin has arranged her life the way she likes it: a good dog, good mates, and work with horses. There’s no room in her life for a relationship. Especially with an annoyingly clumsy—and attractive—American who is only going to be around for a few months.
The weeks fly by, and Nora’s ghost becomes more demanding, seeking her help in solving the mystery surrounding her death. Briana watches as Nora becomes more wrapped up in the past, seeming to fade away before her eyes. Past and present are on a collision course, leaving Nora and Briana caught in a ghostly intrigue that could cost them not only their chance of a future together, but their very lives.
Available at:
Sister Matthew and Sister Rose: Novices in Love by Carol Anne Douglas
Maureen Collins, recently named Sister Matthew in the novitiate at St. Euphrosnye’s convent in Western Maryland in 1962, doubts the existence of God. She entered the convent for several reasons: she thinks being surrounded by believers might help her believe; she knows she’s attracted to women and wants to avoid pressure to date men and marry; and she feels guilty about something that happened when she was in high school.
She quickly falls in love with Rose Clancy, now Sister Rose, another novice who also is attracted to women. Rose is more religious, but she reciprocates Sister Matthew’s feelings. She grew up with an alcoholic mother and found a refuge among the nuns who taught her.
As the two move through postulancy and the novitiate, they encounter many challenges from the strict rules to memories of their respective pasts. The memory of an old murder intrudes in the present.
Available at:
Virgin Flight by E.V. Bancroft
Can love triumph in the battle between duty and desire?
Beryl Jenkinson is a young dreamer determined to break free. Though bound to her family’s garage, her heart dreams of taking flight with Attagirls, the brave women piloting planes across the nation to play a vital role in the war effort.
Odette de Lavigne embodies the allure of a World War Two pin-up girl: glamorous, seductive, and a masterful pilot. But beneath her carefree demeanour lies a poignant secret.
Their destinies collide when Odette literally crashes into Beryl’s life, sparking a blaze of passion and an enduring infatuation. Fate reunites them at the ATA, but can love conquer the clash between duty and enchanting desire?
Available at:
Leave a comment
What book will you be reading for the sapphic historical fiction category? Are there other books that are a good fit for this category? Let us know in the comments!
4 Responses
i read heavy sugar by roslyn sinclair for this category but this year i read “clear and muddy loss of love” by please don’t laugh and i’m pretty sure it was one of the best sapphic historical romance i’ve ever read. highly recommend it!
I read Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban for my submitted card – YA Victorian romance/parent trap situation; fun read. Working on a 2nd card and I put the truly excellent graphic novel Brooms by Jasmine Walls & Teo Duvall – Mississippi 1930s alt-history (with magic!)
I like Olivia Waite’s historical trilogy, beginning with “A Ladies’ Guide to Celestial Mechanics.” Great research feeds a detailed, vivid world with believable characters, engaging conflicts, and some spice.
Definitely a great book!