Every Pride Month, I try to stack my reading list with as many LGBTQ+ books as possible. It’s not like I don’t read plenty of queer books the rest of the year, too, but I always love an excuse to do some themed reading. There are countless LGBTQ+ historical fiction books I could recommend—and have before—from trans and Sapphic historical fiction to queer historical romance, but there are so many great new books coming out this year alone that right now, I want to focus on new releases to add to your Pride reading list.
These 10 2026 LGBTQ+ historical fiction books feature characters both real and made up, stories imagined and reimagined, from The Great Gatsby to Hamlet, and debut authors as well as award-winners and bestsellers. They’ll haunt you, delight you, and leave you wanting more.
Out Now
There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood by Rasheed Newson
From the author of My Government Means To Kill Me comes a thrilling new historical mystery about the dark history of Hollywood. A backlot fixer once tasked with keeping a studio’s biggest star in the closet is finally ready to come out with the truth. It’s been years since Aaron ensured that no one would ever know about Xavier C. Barlow’s romantic inclinations, years since Xavier became a star, but now the promising actor has died at the height of his career—and the circumstances are very suspicious. Aaron is pretty sure he knows the powerful players behind Xavier’s death, but exposing the dark underbelly of the movie industry could also prove his undoing.
Cages by Chantel Acevedo
A zookeeper in 1960s Cuba risks everything for a love affair in a country where same sex relationships are branded as “counterrevolutionary.” Told from the eyes of those around him to fit together the puzzle pieces of his life, from Cuba to exile in London and Miami, the complicated life of Felix and his family begins to come together. How do we hurt the ones we love? And how do we make sense of the people who shape us, even long after they’re gone?
Past Tense
Sign up for our weekly newsletter about historical fiction!
Fire Sword and Sea by Vanessa Riley
Vanessa Riley’s newest novel is perfect for fans of Pirates of the Caribbean and Our Flag Means Death, and is based on real-life seventeenth-century pirate Jacquotte Delehaye, the mixed-race daughter of a wealthy Tortuga tavern owner who dreams of a life at sea. In Haiti, she disguises herself as a man and goes by Jacques. She soon finds she’s not the only one living under a different identity at sea, as she grows close with other women in disguise and falls in love with a beautiful courtesan. But as more and more pirates turn toward the slave trade to amass riches, Jaquotte turns away from her former life to fight for everyone to find the same liberation she has.
The Great Disillusionment of Nick and Jay by Ryan Douglass
In this reimagining of The Great Gatsby, a teenager trying to make a new start at a prestigious boys’ school in Harlem finds out that the supposedly integrated school has all the same problems he was hoping to leave behind in Oklahoma. Nick’s writing begins to expose dangerous secrets behind the school, and his growing feelings for the founder’s charismatic son, Jay, only complicate matters further. Together, they’ll have to decide whether to stay in this fight even if it means they might be running from the consequences forever.
Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You by Julián Delgado Lopera
In the wake of his wife’s death, Ignacio drowns in memories of the past, leaving his daughter to fend for herself. He spends his days watching telenovelas, smoking cigarettes, wearing blonde wigs, and remembering the man he once loved. But out from Ignacio’s tortured past steps Mamadora Eléctric,a who takes up the role of a maternal figure for Valentina, even while worrying that Ignacio’s dark thoughts have unleashed a curse on them all. It’s a story of coming of age and coming undone from the author of Fiebre Tropical.
Bookmark for Later
Little Wild by Laura Evans
Release date: June 23, 2026
In 1937 Suffolk, a young woman returns home for one last visit before she leaves to attend Oxford for university. Only her closest friend, Joanie, knows this isn’t actually the plan. Instead, the two intend to elope to London and live as lovers, escaping the claustrophobic society they’ve known. But when their plans are discovered, Margaret’s estranged father whisks her away to the woods. There, a strange power begins awakening in Margaret. She wakes covered in dirt and scratches. Is this the same curse that took her mother from her, or is it possible this could be the thing that finally allows Margaret to find some approximation of the love she’s always wanted?
In These Gilded, Ghostly Hearts by Gwendolyn Kiste
Release date: September 15, 2026
What’s this? Another Great Gatsby retelling? Honestly, those could be a whole post in and of themselves—and maybe they will be…But for now, enjoy Stoker Award winner Gwendolyn Kriste’s dark take on the classic, where Daisy Buchanan’s daughter Mel encounters the ghost of her mother in the 1950s and must dig into the family’s past to discover whether her mother’s death was just a terrible tragedy or actual murder.
Tricyclist by Joon Oluchi Lee
Release date: September 29, 2026
In early 2000s San Francisco (yep, the 2000s were more than 25 years ago so we’re counting it as historical fiction now), a professional ballerina flounders in both his professional and personal life as his boyfriend struggles leave him a perpetual third wheel. But maybe that’s the way he likes it, or at least that’s what he’s beginning to suspect, with the help of two suitors and a cadre of supportive lesbians surrounding him. Described as equal parts poetic and pornographic, this is a book about life and art in all its wonderful, imperfect strangeness.
The Weight of Angels by John Boyne
Release date: September 29, 2026
A calling card featuring just five words—”For Oscar Wilde, posing sodomite.”—became Wilde’s downfall in 1895 when he sued for libel, faced criminal prosecution, and, ultimately, imprisonment. But what if he’d simply…ignored the callout? Boyne imagines the second part of life that Oscar Wilde might have lived if only things had happened slightly differently. What if Wilde was able to live out the celebrated existence he was expected to have?
Rottenheart by Kat Dunn
Release date: October 13, 2026
Following the success of Hungerstone, Kat Dunn is back with a dark, sapphic Hamlet-inspired tale. Left to wander between their estates in Hampstead, Odette and Cecilia are allowed to grow and learn and love together. But when Odette’s mother Lydia dies and her aunt comes to stay, soon usurping her late mother’s place, Odette begins to sense a dark presence surrounding her once happy home. Her mother may be gone, but her spirit remains—and she’s dead set on revenge.
Find more great recommendations for filling your shelf with LGBTQ reads this month (and all year round):
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.