Lesbian Historical Fiction

Explore captivating lesbian historical fiction with our curated list of the best books. Discover passionate love stories and rich historical settings in these must-read novels.

Tumbleweed Fever Cover
Book

Tumbleweed Fever

by L. J. Maas

In Oklahoma, Devlin Brown is trying to redeem herself working on a ranch. When a local widow needs help on her ranch, she enlists Devlin to help her.
Prairie Fire Cover
Book

Prairie Fire

by L. J. Maas

In this sequel to "Tumbleweed Fever, " the story of Devlin Brown, an ex-outlaw, and Saran Tolliver, the woman of her heart, continues. Sarah and Dev must convince ranchers to destroy their fences to prevent a calamitous prophecy from coming true.
Innocent Hearts Cover
Book

Innocent Hearts

by Radclyffe

A young woman from Boston faces the hardships and hard choices of life on thefrontier in 1860s Montana territory.
Promising Hearts Cover
Book

Promising Hearts

by Radclyffe

Can two outcasts find refuge in one another's hearts? Dr. Vance Phelps lost everything in the War Between the States - her career and her faith in herself. Mae is a frontier madam, used to standing alone. She guards the well-being of the lost young women who come under her care - she just never expected one of them to be a doctor.
Josie and Rebecca Cover
Book

Josie and Rebecca

by Vada Foster

No summary available.
Distant Thunder Cover
Book

Distant Thunder

by Peggy J. Herring

The story of two women forced by circumstance into the outlaw life. For Cordy, robbing banks and trains is the only way she knows how to survive. For Meg, a life of crime is the only resort to feed her family. Then Cordy awakens strange feelings within Meg, feelings she isn't equipped to deal with.
Yellowthroat Cover
Book

Yellowthroat

by Penny Hayes

Lesbian western adventure novel about a stage-coach bandit and the woman she kidnaps.
And Those Who Trespass Against Us Cover
Book

And Those Who Trespass Against Us

by H. M. MacPherson

"Sister Katherine Flynn is an Irish nun sent to work in the remote Australian countryside of New South Wales. She is a prideful woman who joined her order to escape the shame of being left at the alter, though she didn't really want to be married anyway. Katherine finds great relief in escaping the cold Victorian Ireland of 1872. Catriona Pelham is a member of the reasonably affluent farming gentry. Her relationship with the hardworking townspeople and its farmers is one of genuine and mutual respect. The town's wealthy, however, have ostracized her due to her unorthodox ways and refusal to conform to society's expectations of a woman of the 1870's. As their bond develops, the journey begins for these two strong-willed women. For Katherine it is a journey of self-discovery and of what life holds outside the cloistered walls of the convent. For Catriona it is bittersweet, as feelngs she has kept hidden for years resurface in her growing interest in Katherine.."--Back cover.
Tiopa Ki Lakota Cover
Book

Tiopa Ki Lakota

by D. Jordan Redhawk

The daughter of a Lakota warrior fulfills a prophecy and becomes a warrior herself. She has a vision of a blond-haired woman who will aid her in the future. Years later, on a hunt, the woman appears, and together they form a bond to help their nations.
Galveston 1900 Cover
Book

Galveston 1900

by Linda Crist

On September 7-8, 1900, the island of Galveston, Texas was destroyed by a hurricane, or "tropical cyclone," as it was called in those days. This story is a fictional account of Mattie and Rachel, two women who lived there, and their lives in the months leading up to and during the time of the "great storm."Forced to flee from her family at a young age, Rachel Travis finds a home and livelihood on the island of Galveston. Independent, friendly, and yet often lonely, only one other person knows the dark secret that haunts her. That is until she meets Madeline Crockett.Madeline "Mattie" Crockett is trapped in a loveless marriage, convinced that her fate is sealed. She never dares to dream of true happiness, until Rachel Travis comes walking into her life.As emotions come to light, the storm of Mattie's marriage converges with the very real hurricane. Can they survive, and build the life they both dream of?
Tipping the Velvet Cover
Book

Tipping the Velvet

by Sarah Waters

“Erotic and absorbing…Written with startling power.”—The New York Times Book Review Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins.
Fingersmith Cover
Book

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

“Oliver Twist with a twist…Waters spins an absorbing tale that withholds as much as it discloses. A pulsating story.”—The New York Times Book Review The Handmaiden, a film adaptation of Fingersmith, directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Tae-Ri, is now available. Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home. One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum. With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.
Affinity Cover
Book

Affinity

by Sarah Waters

“Gothic tale, psychological study, puzzle narrative…This is gripping, astute fiction that feeds the mind and senses.”—The Seattle Times An upper-class woman recovering from a suicide attempt, Margaret Prior has begun visiting the women’s ward of Millbank prison, Victorian London’s grimmest jail, as part of her rehabilitative charity work. Amongst Millbank’s murderers and common thieves, Margaret finds herself increasingly fascinated by on apparently innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a séance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman deeply disturbed. Although initially skeptical of Selina’s gifts, Margaret is soon drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina’s freedom, and her own. As in her noteworthy deput, Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters brilliantly evokes the sights and smells of a moody and beguiling nineteenth-century London, and proves herself yet again a storyteller, in the words of the New York Times Book Review, of "startling power."
The Ladies Cover
Book

The Ladies

by Doris Grumbach

"Grumbach is acutely sensitive to the quiet hum of everyday living and the small acquired habits that bond lovers over long periods. It is especially touching to watch the women age as the pages turn, affecting a kind of time-lapse realism that doesn't diminish the Ladies' passion or love for each other." --Diane Salvatore, Ms.
The Long Trail Cover
Book

The Long Trail

by Penny Hayes

School teacher Blanche Bartholomew and dance hall girl Teresa Stark, living in Texas in 1869, discover a forbidden love and flee together, attempting to cross the Texas prairie in a covered wagon.
Pembroke Park Cover
Book

Pembroke Park

by Michelle Martin

A highly entertaining lesbian Regency novel.
And Love Came Calling Cover
Book

And Love Came Calling

by Beverly Shearer

The magic of the Old West comes alive in this timeless tale of love between women. When Kenny Smith. (Kendra Smith), the handsome stagecoach driver, saunters down the dusty main street of Jackson, with spurs jangling, all the dance hall girls swoon.
The War Between the Hearts Cover
Book

The War Between the Hearts

by Nann Dunne

Intent on serving the Union Army as a spy, Sarah-Bren Coulter disguises herself as a man and becomes a courier-scout for the Confederate Army. Soon the savagery of war shakes her to the core. She stifles her emotions so she can bear the guilt of sending men, and sometimes boys, into paths of destruction. When Sarah is wounded and in danger of dying, her life is saved by a woman who stirs desire in Sarah for the first time. But Faith Pruitt is Sarah's enemy and betrays her into a hell worse than Sarah has ever known. Sometimes hearts are killed instead of bodies. Can Faith save Sarah's heart and awaken her to love? Do they even want to try? Or are the women destined to be at war with each other forever?
Words Heard in Silence Cover
Book

Words Heard in Silence

by T. Novan

No summary available.
The Night Watch Cover
Book

The Night Watch

by Sarah Waters

The story of three women in post-World War II London, their love affairs and the mysterious young man who will have a powerful impact on their lives. From the author of "Fingersmith".