5 Hopeful LGBTQ Historical Titles to Brighten Your Day

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, by Mackenzi Lee
Henry “Monty” Montague is a bisexual British lord, a passionate rogue who shucks off his gentlemanly persona every chance he gets. When he embarks on a tour of Europe with his best friend and secret crush, he’s determined to make the most of it, as he knows the fun will come to an end when he returns home to take over his family’s estate. Determined to make the yearlong romp one to remember, Monty shamelessly flirts with Percy across the continent. After a reckless decision turns their trip dangerous, Monty must decide if his feelings for Percy are worth the risk.

Wildthorn, by Jane Eagland
Louisa Cosgrove isn’t suited to nineteenth-century England. The daughter of a prominent doctor, she longs to become a doctor herself. But longing for things outside one’s station is dangerous for a Victorian girl, especially one as headstrong as Louisa. While she knows her family is unsupportive of her desires, she has no idea how unsupportive—until they lock her in an asylum for the mentally insane. Determined to find out which family member put her there, Louisa enlists help from the one person she can trust, another inmate named Eliza. But as her feelings for Eliza grow, so does the treachery in the asylum, and they’ll have to stick together if they hope to escape.

Silhouette of a Sparrow, by Molly Beth Griffin
Sixteen-year-old Garnet lives with a father too haunted by his past to see her and a mother too preoccupied with her own social standing to care. So when she gets the chance to spend the summer of 1926 with relatives, she jumps at it. Though she plans to spend the season creating silhouettes of birds, something that masks her true preoccupation with her study of the species, her plans are soon thrown into disarray when she meets Isabella. Isabella shows her there can be a life outside of marriage, and as the girls discover their feelings for each other, Garnet begins to realize she’s right.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Aristotle and Dante are nothing alike, except in their names. Ari’s brother is in prison and he’s angry at the world; Dante is a know-it-all with an easy life. When the two meet at a swimming pool, they initially believe they have nothing in common. As a friendship develops between the two, however, they discover they share much more than they initially thought. And as their friendship deepens, Ari begins to realize Dante’s feelings for him extend beyond friendship. Told from Ari’s point of view as he navigates the complexity of his feelings, this is an absolutely beautiful, poetic, and hopeful book.

Lies We Tell Ourselves, by Robin Talley
It’s 1959 Virginia. All Sarah Dunbar wants is to go to school peacefully, but as one of the first—and only—black teens at a predominantly white high school, society isn’t willing to let her. Linda Hairston is the daughter of a vocal advocate for segregation, and feels the same way her father does about schools—that they should be kept “separate but equal.” When the two girls are forced to work together on a school project, they’re also forced to confront their preconceived notions about each other, as well as the fact they may be falling for each other. Talley’s debut is told in alternating POVs and offers a fascinating glimpse into the time period.