Approximately once a month, twitter throws up a certain argument along the lines of there is no f/f, or where is all the f/f, or where is all the hyped f/f. And while I think there is a genuine case to be made for f/f books getting less attention, that doesn’t mean there is none (and also to say there is barely any/none blatantly ignores the authors who are producing f/f and the publishers who are backing it (did you know there are several publishing houses who only publish f/f), which is not cool). Basically, it’s there if you look.
But this will become too much of a rant unless I shut up now.
What I’m aiming to do with this series is provide you with a bunch of rec lists so that, next time someone says there’s no f/f, you can point them in this direction. Because yes. There is f/f.
Quickly, and finally, before I start I want to point you towards Mahana @ Sapphic Library who not only posts a lot of sapphic rec lists, but also has a twitter dedicated to it all.
So, on with the historical f/f recs! (There is some overlap in some cases with fantasy and mystery, just fyi.)
P. S. in the interests of full disclosure: I haven’t read all of these. This is less a rec list in the sense that these are ones I’ve read and enjoyed, more these are 20 f/f historical books as proof they do exist.
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The True Queen by Zen Cho
Mrs Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan
Proper English by K. J. Charles
The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin
The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein
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Penhallow Amid Passing Things by Iona Datt Sharma
Lies and Reverie by Camilla Quinn
That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole
Alice Payne Arrives by Kate Heartfield
Forgive Me if I’ve Told You This Before by Karelia Stetz-Waters
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Miranda In Milan by Katharine Duckett
A Little Light Mischief by Cat Sebastian
Screaming Down Splitsville by Kayla Bashe
Pulp by Robin Talley
Paris, 7 A.M. by Liza Wieland
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The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite
Gay Pride and Prejudice by Kate Christie
The World Unseen by Shamim Sarif
Grrrls on the Side by Carrie Pack
Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nichols
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What sapphic historical fiction would you recommend?
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13 Comments
Skye Kilaen 🏳️🌈 (@skyekilaen)
Thanks for posting this, there are books here I’d never even heard of. (How do y’all keep doing that?! Love it!)
I’d also recommend:
A Lady’s Desire by Lily Maxton (Regency)
The Way Home by Lily Hammond (WWII New Zealand)
Harkworth Hall & Leviathan by L.S. Johnson (gothic paranormal)
Occasions of Sin by Elena Graf (pre-WWII Germany, doesn’t quite follow romance beats but it seriously romance-adjacent at least)
readsrainbow
always good to hear! ooh i’ve actually not heart of any of these, i’ll have to check them out
– charlotte
Helen Kord
Heads up, California Skies is a book written by a non binary writer with a non binary love interest, so having that book on a ff list is an EXTREMELY bad look
readsrainbow
hi, sorry about this, it was a genuine error as i wasn’t paying enough attention when making this post. i’ve edited it accordingly.
thereadingdork
Thank you so much for posting this! Whenever i ask for recs for sapphic historical fiction I mostly just get Sarah Waters, and while I love her books I’m so glad I discovered more here
readsrainbow
ngl i haven’t read any sarah waters yet so you can guarantee she won’t be on my rec lists until then 😂 glad to help you find more tho!
– charlotte
Mahana @ Sapphic Library
can’t believe you shouted me out on this post and i’ve only read one of these books lol
readsrainbow
that’s more bc u don’t like historical fiction than anything tho lbr if it was contemporary u would have read them all
Arin @ Tomes of Our Lives
I have had Forgive Me If I’ve Told You This Before forever and didn’t know it was historical fiction, but now I am even more excited to read it!
readsrainbow
historical may be pushing it a little – as far as i remember it’s set in the 70s
– charlotte
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