LGBT Historical Fiction

kujakupoet · Post by **kujakupoet** » Sun January 16th, 2011, 7:42 pm

I must be doing something wrong, because I tried to search the forums for gay historical fiction and got zero hits. Can somebody kindly point this new arrival to where historical fiction with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered characters are discussed?

Thank you very much.

~K~

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sun January 16th, 2011, 8:50 pm

There isn't an actual section for it because ...well I dont think it's ever been brought up before. However, if you want to bring up a certain book then that can be discussed.

If you would like perhaps you could suggest this in "site suggestions." The mods here are quite accommodating. As I said before I don't think the issue has ever been brought up before.

Hope this helps.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Sun January 16th, 2011, 8:53 pm

We have sections for historical romance, historical fantasy, and historical mysteries. It might be a good idea to add one for LGBT historical fiction. I've noticed this is an emerging genre, and there are some mainstream historical novels of interest to readers generally that feature LGBT characters. We recently discussed Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, which has lesbian themes, as a BOM, and one of my favorite historical novels, Maria McCann's As Meat Loves Salt, features a homosexual main character.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Sun January 16th, 2011, 9:08 pm

We can add a category down the line if there's enough interest. In the meantime, we can discuss it on this thread, or as Divia said, you can start a new thread if there's a particular book you had in mind.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Sun January 16th, 2011, 10:57 pm

I always think there are too many categories. Why can't those books be discussed in the same places where women's books, Hispanic books etc are discussed?

That being said, I absolutely adore Sarah Waters. If you haven't read Fingersmith, and have any interest in the dark side of life in 18th century London, and enjoy a good twisting turning story, its a must read.

(Edited: wait a minute - we already discussed it? When, where...?)

Oh, Sept 2009 - how on earth did I miss that one? Well, I guess I can reopen it, right?

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Sun January 16th, 2011, 11:45 pm

I always think there are too many categories. Why can't those books be discussed in the same places where women's books, Hispanic books etc are discussed?

That's a good point, Ash. We have threads under "General Discussion" for books about queens, commoners, pirates, etc., which is where this thread appears. While we do have main categories for historical fiction by type of story (mysteries, romance, YA), the content categories go by time period and location. If we started adding main categories for other types of content (warfare, feminist, royalty, Arthurian, GLBT), the site might become confusing to navigate. Many GLBT historical novels do fit in the romance category, and anyone could start a thread there for GLBT historical romance.

Ludmilla · Post by **Ludmilla** » Mon January 17th, 2011, 1:42 am

Looking at most of the books I've tagged GLBT...most have been SF, Fantasy or Speculative. I suppose you could include A.S. Byatt's "Possession" if you are only interested in HF (and definitely check some of Susan Howatch's HF... Sorry I'm drawing a blank on pirate HF). If you like historical fantasy at all I would recommend Jacqueline Carey, Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette who've created some very compelling GLBT characters. Gemma Files has written a historical western fantasy I was quite impressed with which has homosexual protagonists. Believe or not some romance publishers have lines dedicated to GLBT, though I haven't actually tried any of them.

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Mon January 17th, 2011, 11:44 am

Try novels on Edward II or other historical figures known or rumored to be gay/bisexual. "Traitor's Wife" by Susan Higginbotham is mostly about Eleanor de Clare (who is straight) but is written in third person so you get details about Edward II's relationships with Gaveston and Despenser too. Although I haven't read it, "The Confessions of Piers Gaveston" by Brandy Purdy is tagged on Amazon as "gay fiction" and "gay historical".

kujakupoet · Post by **kujakupoet** » Mon January 17th, 2011, 12:23 pm

I'm not actually interested in romance, I'm interested in the Age of Sail. I've read Alex Beecroft's False Colors, which is the best of the m/m nautical romances, but the other well-loved representatives of m/m nautical romance are not my cup of tea because they're long on romance and short on nautical.

I happen to be a tall ship sailor in real life, so the more authentic the better. My favorite author in the genre is Captain Frederick Marryat who was a naval officer in real life and who served during the Napoleonic Wars. You can't get much more authentic than that. But, we're also talking early 19th century, which means no LGBT characters, not even as villains.

Once in a while modern authors of nautical fiction have a gay characters, but usually as a minor character who is either a jerk or a villain. Being gay myself I would really like to read a book with a hero I can relate to. After all, don't we all put ourselves in the hero's shoes and imagine that we are there? It's tiresome when they're always bedding women or punching gay guys in the nose to prove how manly they are.

I did a forum search for 'gay' but didn't come up with any hits at all, not even of books discussed previously. Since people are saying that such books have been discussed, and I can't find them, I would appreciate URLs that will take me to the discussions. 18th century stuff with gay characters would be especially appreciated. If there are sailing ships involved, so much the better.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Mon January 17th, 2011, 2:59 pm

Here is the fingersmith url http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... ingersmith

I dont know of an LGBT books to be honest with ya. Not that that I wouldn't read them, because I do want to read fingersmith, but haven't yet.

There is a search function, so if you can think of titles, perhaps that would be the best way to search and not by LGBT.

As for sailing, I can't think of any. That doesnt mean they aren't on this board. But most of what the people read here is European middle ages - tudor. I know I'm one of the very few people who like and enjoy American HF and who enjoy HF set during the 1850-1900. I'm in the minority, but I wave my banner high.

We are still a very young message board. I think we have been around for 3 years? We are still growing as a community.