Jun 83 min read

Undiscovered: 50 Sapphic books you probably don't know about!

It’s no secret that it’s Pride month right now. Yes, that glorious month of colours and gayness, where companies stick a rainbow on their social media profiles and profess themselves allies. Goodreads supplies us with a page of ‘beloved LGBTQ+ stories’, the majority of which have hundreds if not thousands of ratings.

And this is all well and good – I’m sure they are all wonderful books. But this ostracises newer authors. Or less well-known authors. Like me and so many others. We’re doing our best to get a foothold in this fast-expanding genre, but the more established authors get the lion’s share of readers. It’s a sad fact of life, and one that I am attempting to change.

You’ll have seen plenty of lists flying about over the last few days in the book sphere. Lists of well-loved Sapphic fiction novels, often ones that everyone knows, the same (let’s say) twenty books appearing time and time again. Now I’d like to draw attention to some lesser-known books. By authors you may not have seen or heard of before. Some of these books are older, some more recent, some are indie, some are small press, but all of them have less than fifty ratings on Goodreads.

So if you’d like to help redress the balance between big titles and those less well-known – here is your chance. Let’s shine a light on some vastly underappreciated books. Fifty of them, to be exact, alphabetical by author name, listed below.

Happy reading!

NB: I am not financially or professionally affiliated with any of these authors; their inclusion is based on my own research.

When The Lonely Walk by Abi Payton

Becoming Her by Abigail Taylor

Color Me In by Alicia Newton

The Maid's Secret: A Gothic Monster Romance by Anita Zara

Gold Mountain by Anne Azel

Only Human by Audrey Wilson

Two Lives, One Heart by Barbara Lynn Murphy

The Dandelion Festival by Carie Green

The Disappearance of Lindy James by Catherine Maiorisi

Weather and Beasts and Growing Things by Charlotte Suttee