Lesbian literature is a vast genre spanning more than 2,500 years. Although the ancient Greek poet Sappho is credited with producing the first forms of lesbian writing, the genre as we know it today began to take shape in the 19th century. plays from this period relied heavily on subtext and in most cases ended in angst or tragedy, while the early 20th century saw the arrival of specific references to lesbianism in literature. The Well of Solitude, published in 1928, is considered the first novel in the English language with an explicitly lesbian theme. Lesbian literature gained popularity during the 1950s and 1960s with the publication of pulp fiction novels and Women’s Barracks, Tereska Torres’s World War II cheap novel was the first of its kind. the foundational texts of lesbian literature were written at the end of the 20th century. today, the genre has expanded to include more diverse and intersectional representation.
Overwhelmed by the sheer number of fantastic titles to choose from? Hungry for more lesbian literature? use this list to find the best lesbian books of any genre.
You are reading: Best selling lesbian books
lesbian fiction books
the price of salt (1952) – patricia highsmith
The critically acclaimed Christmas carol is based on The Price of Salt, one of the first lesbian romance novels with a happy ending. In a story of falling in love at first sight, disgruntled department store worker Therese falls instantly in love with Carol, an elegant older woman who buys a doll for her daughter. Carol leaves her address to get the doll that Therese uses to send Carol a Christmas card. Carol, who is in the midst of a bitter divorce, answers. As Carol and Therese begin spending time together, their attraction intensifies.
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the color purple (1982) – alice walker
Winning the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, The Color Purple tells the story of Celie, a poor girl living in the rural South under bitter conditions. celie is abused by her father and then married to another abusive man, sir. Mister’s lover, a sultry jazz singer named Shug, comes to stay with Celie and Mister while she recovers from an illness. celie and shug develop an intimate relationship.
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fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop cafe (1987) – fannie flagg
While visiting her mother-in-law at an Alabama nursing home, bored housewife Evelyn Couch befriends Ninny Threadgoode, an elderly resident. Ninny tells Evelyn about her childhood in the 1920s when Ruth Jamison, a pious and educated young woman, came to live with the Threadgoodes to tame the rambunctious tomboy Idgie. Idgie and Ruth become inseparable and develop an unspoken attraction. To Idgie’s dismay, Ruth must leave Whistle Stop at the end of the summer to marry Frank Bennett. Years later, Idgie and Ruth meet again.
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stone butch blues (1993) – leslie feinberg
Jess struggles to live life as a lesbian tomboy in 1970s upstate New York. she finds refuge and community in gay bars and is taken under the wings of older butches. The cops raid the bar, harassing and arresting everyone inside, and the bar closes leaving Jess homeless. In a harrowing story of survival, Jess searches for another place to fit in and finds herself on the road.
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fingersmith (2002) – sarah waters
sarah waters is a prolific writer of lesbian historical fiction. fingersmith and tipping the velvet, her two most notable works, were adapted into a bbc miniseries. Fingersmith follows Sue, a pickpocketing orphan raised on the streets of Victorian London. One night, she is approached by a con artist and seeks her help in defrauding heiress Maud Lilly and sending her to an insane asylum. Sue agrees and poses as a maid to gain Maud’s trust. When they form an unexpected bond, Sue begins to regret her involvement in the con man’s scheme, but it may be too late.
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sing to you at home (2011) – jodi picoult
zoe and her husband max want to have a baby but can’t conceive. they try in vitro fertilization and give up after multiple failed attempts. the couple’s fertility problems strain their marriage and lead to divorce. Zoe later meets Vanessa Shaw. The two women fall in love, marry, and decide to have children using the frozen embryos from Zoe’s previous marriage. But first, they need permission from Max, now a born-again Christian uncomfortable with his ex-wife’s new relationship.
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Other Titles To Watch: The Well Of Loneliness, Patience And Sarah, Orlando, Zami: A New Spelling Of My Name, The Hours, Middlesex
Young Adult Lesbian Books
annie on my mind (1982) – nancy garden
annie on my mind was one of the first young adult books to portray a teenage lesbian love story. Annie and Liza are two seventeen-year-olds coming of age in New York City. Annie lives in an exclusive neighborhood and attends a private school, while Liza comes from a lower-class background. Despite their differences, Annie and Liza meet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a fateful rainy day and fall in love.
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oranges are not the only fruit (1985) – jeanette winterson
Although not a memoir, oranges are not the only fruit is semi-autobiographical and details Jeanette’s experience of coming of age in an evangelical home in England. Due to her deeply religious upbringing, Jeanette is an outcast at school. she starts a relationship with another girl, which makes her an outcast in the church and complicates her feelings about faith.
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keeping a secret (2003) – julie anne peters
peters is a well known writer whose books feature lgbt characters. Other notable titles include Luna, Between Mom and Jo, and Rage: A Love Story. In the novel, 17-year-old Holland is rocking his senior year of high school: he has a great boyfriend; she is the president of the student council and addresses an ivy league. But the arrival of new girl Cece makes Holland question everything.
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the house you pass on the way (2003) – jacqueline woodson
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staggerlee has never fit in: she’s biracial in a predominantly black town and her grandparents were murdered in an infamous racist bombing. As a result of the unwanted attention, Staggerlee keeps quiet and to herself. all that changes when the trout, her frank cousin, comes to visit. they spend a transformative summer together helping each other come to terms with their identities.
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the bad education of cameron post (2012) – emily m. danforth
In Montana in the 1990s, 12-year-old Cameron Post loses her parents in a car accident and is taken in by her religious aunt and grandmother. As she processes the death of her parents, Cameron begins to question her sexuality and falls in love with her best friend, Coley Taylor. Cameron’s conservative aunt finds out about it and resorts to drastic measures to “fix” Cameron. The novel was made into a 2018 film that won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
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Other Titles To Watch: Rubyfruit Jungle, Everything Leads To You, Juliet Takes A Breath, If You Could Be Mine You Know Me Well, Boyfriends With Girlfriends, Little & lion
Lesbian Fantasy Books
ash (2009) – malina lo
A dazzling take on Cinderella, Ash is the story of a teenage girl forced to live with her cruel stepmother after her father dies. Ash finds solace in fairy tales and wishes a fairy would take her away. One night, a fairy prince approaches her with the power to grant her wish, but the next morning he meets the king’s hunter kaisa and quickly falls in love with her. Now, Ash is faced with a difficult choice: go with the fairy prince or stay with Kaisa. a prequel, Huntress, is set in the same universe.
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of fires and stars (2016) – audrey coulthurst
denna has been betrothed to the prince of mynaria since childhood, but she has the ability to conjure fire and magic is forbidden on mynaria. As a future queen, Denna must learn to ride warhorses and her teacher is none other than the sister of her fiancée: Mare. Denna and Mare don’t get along, but when an assassin strikes, they must unite for the fate of the kingdom.
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Other titles to watch: Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins, Lost Labyrinth, Fire and Paper Girls, The Abyss Surrounds Us, The Dark Wife, The Warrior’s Path
lesbian vampire books
carmilla (1872) – joseph sheridan le fanu
carmilla is one of the first vampire stories, even before dracula. When a mysterious girl named Carmilla unexpectedly arrives in town, Austrian teenager Laura is happy to have a new friend. The two become close, but Carmilla’s sudden mood swings and her refusal to divulge anything about her past drives a wedge between them. meanwhile, girls from nearby towns are dying of an unusual ailment. The book inspired the popular lesbian web series Carmilla and a movie of the same name. the complete novel can be read online at project gutenberg.
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the stories of gilda (1991) – jewelle gomez
Told through a series of vignettes, Gilda’s stories describe the many lives of a black lesbian vampire over a 200-year period, from 1850 to 2050. The novel won two Lambda Literary Awards, one for Fiction and one for Literature. in science fiction.
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Other titles to watch: The Midnight Hunt, Women of the Bite: A Lesbian Vampire Anthology
lesbian comics
funny house: a tragicomic family (2007) – alison bechdel
Fun Home, adapted from a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, is a graphic memoir of Bechdel’s relationship with his emotionally distant father, who ran the town funeral home. When her father mysteriously dies, Bechdel discovers her hidden gay past at the same time she discovers her own sexuality. bechdel has received the macarthur “genius” award. Other works include a second graphic memoir, Are You My Mother and Lesbians to Watch Out For?, a lesbian comic strip that ran for 25 years.
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lumberjanes (2014) – shannon watters, grace ellis, brooklyn a. allen and noelle stevenson
In this comic book series, lumberjack explorers Mal, Ripley, Molly, April and Jo realize they’ve got more than they bargained for when they discover mythical creatures and supernatural phenomena at a summer camp. the gang decides to solve the mystery of these strange occurrences, earning explorer badges along the way. Noelle Stevenson is also behind Nimona, a sci-fi/fantasy graphic novel about a mad scientist’s shape-shifting sidekick.
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Other titles to watch: skim, batwoman: elegy, bingo love
Lesbian Romance Novels
when katie met cassidy (2018) – camille perri
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Successful attorney Katie Cassidy must reevaluate her ideal of a perfect life when her fiancé suddenly dumps her. Reeling from her breakup, Katie agrees to have drinks after work with a co-worker, the confident and elegant Cassidy. katie and cassidy push each other out of their comfort zones and a sexy game of cat and mouse ensues.
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gravity between us (2013) – kristen zimmer
Payton and Kendall have been best friends since childhood, but Kendall is a rising star poised to become Hollywood’s next “it” girl. To stay grounded, Kendall moves Payton to Hollywood with her. Payton has been keeping a secret: she has a crush on Kendall and is terrified that her feelings will not be reciprocated. Payton must work up the courage to confess her feelings even if it may ruin the friendship they both cherish.
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other titles to watch: mix, waiting in the wings
lesbian stories
her body and other parties (2018) – carmen maria machado
A lyrical debut that blends multiple genres of speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, fabulism), this collection uses magical realism to center women and their experiences in society. each story examines what is inflicted on women’s bodies, be it sexuality and sensuality or rape and violence.
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garbage: stories (2002) – dorothy allison
In this collection, Allison interrogates the troubled history of the South with evangelicalism, social class, racism, sexism, and homophobia in stark, realistic detail. these stories offer a visceral portrait of humanity’s darkest anguish and impulses that are hard to find but impossible to ignore. Allison is also the author of the novel Bastard of Carolina.
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Other titles to watch: I’m blue, I missed her, Valencia, I felt in my jaw
new lesbian books
the summer of jordi perez (and the best hamburger in los angeles) (2018) – amy spalding
Abby Ives, 17, has a plus-size fashion blog and dreams of making it in the fashion world. When she gets the chance to intern at her favorite boutique for the summer, Abby Ella feels like her dreams are finally coming true. To complicate matters, Abby begins to fall for Jordi Pérez, a fellow trainee with whom she competes for a paid position at the boutique.
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lost city (2018) – chelsey johnson
After a drunken relationship with a man, 24-year-old Andrea Morales finds out she’s pregnant. Although her tight-knit group of gay friends express her concern, Andrea decides to keep the baby. 10 years later, Andrea’s daughter, Lucia, wants to know more about her father.
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other titles to watch: the love & lies of rukhsana ali, pulp, ivy aberdeen’s letter to the world, for show only
Bisexual Books
empress of the world (2003) – sara ryan
nicola attends seigel institute, a college preparatory summer program, and quickly falls in with a group of new friends. Nic is inexplicably drawn to one of them, the handsome Battle Hall Davies, and his dynamic soon evolves from friends to something more.
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queens of the geeks (2017) – jen wilde
Three best friends and proud geeks attend the popular fan convention SupaCon. Charlie, a vlogger and actress who just had a public breakup with her costar Reese has her eyes set on the con’s surprise guest: Alyssa Huntington.
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Other titles to watch: Under the Udala Trees, Love in the Time of Global Warming, Unspecified, Corona, The Life and Death of Sophie Starks
See Also: How Much Have The Culture Wars Earned Dr. Seuss This Year? As It Turns Out, A Whole Awful Lot