8 Queer Love Stories You Must-Read
It’s Pride Month, and what’s better than a lil’ bit of love? Love has many facets and complexities, and we just love books that explore it in all its many forms.
Unfortunately, we’re not *quite* there when it comes to all kinds of love really being celebrated. Representation, accessibility and stories that feel relatable to readers are at the heart of the Nota Bene Prize. So that’s why we’re taking a minute to spotlight those Queer love stories we think should be on everyone’s bookshelves.
If you're looking for some TBR inspo, here's our Pride Month stack dedicated to our favourite bookish queer relationships…
Rosewater - Liv Little
Elsie is a sexy, funny, and fiercely independent woman in South London. But, at just 28, she’s also tired. Though she spends her days writing tender poetry in her journal, her nights are spent working long hours for minimum wage at a neighbourhood gay bar. The difficulty of being estranged from her family, struggle of being continually rejected from jobs, and fear of never making money doing what she loves, is too great. But Elsie is determined to keep the faith – for a little longer at least.
As she tries to breathe through the panic attacks, sleeping with her hot and spirited co-worker Bea isn't exactly straightforward and offers Elsie just another place to hide. As Elsie tries to reconnect with her best friend Juliet, her fragile world spirals out of control. Can Elsie steady herself and not fall through the cracks?
A blazing debut that catapults Little onto the literary scene, this is the sapphic love story we have been waiting for, with some incredible bi representation too! Little’s exploration of mental health, independence, rebuilding one’s confidence, resilience in hard times, family and found family were just a few themes that shone. An ode to love, sex, sexuality, desire, friendship, SE London and so much more, Rosewater is a debut you do not want to miss.
Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
It’s the mid-1980s; the place is the Italian Riviera. Elio – 17 years old, precocious, the son of an academic – finds himself falling for the older Oliver, a postdoctoral scholar completing his manuscript on Heraclitus at the beautiful home of Elio’s family. Oliver is worldly and handsome, a seductive contrast to Elio’s own naivety. Both are bright and questioning; the hook of desire is soon caught fast.
Heart-breaking and evocative, Call Me By Your Name chronicles a perfect lost summer and its long, slow shadow. Naked and tender, Aciman takes us on a sexual awakening under the Mediterranean sun that lingers long after the summer ends.
Love In Colour - Bolu Babalola
A high-born Nigerian goddess feels beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover and longs to be truly seen. A young businesswoman attempts to make a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life. A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether to uphold her family's politics, or to be true to her heart.
Whether captured in the passion of love at first sight, or realising that self-love takes precedent over the latter, the characters in these vibrant stories try to navigate this most complex human emotion and understand why it holds them hostage.
Bolu Babalola finds the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology and rewrites them with incredible new detail and vivacity in this debut collection. If you're tired of conventional love stories, this rich re-telling is for you.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong
This is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born. It tells of Vietnam, of the lasting impact of war, and of his family's struggle to forge a new future. And it serves as a doorway into parts of Little Dog's life his mother has never known - episodes of bewilderment, fear and passion - all the while moving closer to an unforgettable revelation.
Brilliant, heartbreaking and highly original, Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, and a testament to the redemptive power of storytelling. It explores themes of race, class and colonialism across decades of South East Asian history, building to a breathtaking final revelation.
Swimming in the Dark - Tomasz Jedrowski
Poland, 1980. Anxious, disillusioned Ludwik Glowacki, soon to graduate university, has been sent along with the rest of his class to an agricultural camp. Here he meets Janusz and, together, they spend a dreamlike summer swimming in secluded lakes, reading forbidden books, and falling in love.
But with summer over, the two are sent back to Warsaw, and to the harsh realities of life under the Party. Exiled from paradise, Ludwik and Janusz must decide how they will survive and, in their different choices, find themselves torn apart.
Forbidden love behind the Iron Curtain in Jedrowski’s sensual, moving novel is a lyrical exploration of the conflict between gay love and political conformity. Elegant and poignant, you’ll be left wanting more after the final page.
Young Mungo - Douglas Stuart
Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in the hyper-masculine and violently sectarian world of Glasgow's housing estates. They should be sworn enemies if they're to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the pigeon dovecote that James has built for his prize racing birds. As they find themselves falling in love, they dream of escaping the grey city, and Mungo works especially hard to hide his true self from all those around him, particularly from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold.
But the threat of discovery is constant and the punishment unspeakable. When Mungo's mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to get back to a place of safety – a place where he and James might still have a future.
Stuart crafts another emotionally powerful and compassionate portrayal of sexuality and community. Harrowing but full of hope, this book is a life-changing story that reverberates through your very being.
The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and their bond blossoms into something deeper, despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess.
But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfil his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.
A riveting tale of love, ambition and immortal fame, this award-winning debut retells the story of the Trojan War and its greatest hero from the point of view of his closest friend Patroclus. Captivating, addictive and full of truly poetic prose, we couldn’t put this down.
Bellies - Nicola Dinan
It begins as your typical boy meets boy. While out with friends at their local university drag night, Tom buys Ming a drink. Confident and witty, a charming young playwright, Ming is the perfect antidote to Tom's awkward energy, and their connection is instant. Tom finds himself deeply and desperately drawn into Ming's orbit, and on the cusp of graduation, he's already mapped out their future together.
But, shortly after they move to London to start their next chapter, Ming announces her intention to transition. From London to Kuala Lumpur, New York to Cologne, we follow Tom and Ming as their relationship shifts in the wake of Ming's transition.
Tom and Ming are forced to confront the vastly different shapes their lives have taken since graduating, and each must answer the essential question: is it worth losing a part of yourself to become who you are?
Full of warmth and humour, this is a story about connection, loneliness, identity, and the many different forms that family can take. This mesmerising debut is superbly addictive and and subverts the classic love story in all the best ways.
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