The Word is out

A trove of LGBTQ literature awaits you at the Boston Public Library

Credit: Boston Public Library.

Boston Public Library (BPL) has a lengthy history of providing access to a wealth of information for and about the LGBTQ community, offering an avenue of discovery about queer perspectives and experiences.

In 2015, the BPL increased its number of LGBTQ materials by 30 percent with the purchase of newly published titles, the expansion of its e-book collections, and the introduction of previously published titles to the e-book format.

Also in the last year, two books featuring same-sex romances ranked in the BPL’s top 50 list of circulating adult titles. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (2014), featuring a lesbian love affair set in post-WWI London, was the 34 th most-checked-out book of the year. Close behind was The Song of Achilles by Boston-based author Madeline Miller (2011), which tells the story of a love affair between Achilles and Patroclus during the Trojan War.

In honor of Boston Pride, the Reader’s Services Department at the BPL has compiled a chronological list of 14 exceptional books. Half are groundbreaking titles that paved the way for LGBTQ literature to come, while the rest are contemporary titles covering a diverse range of settings, characters, time periods, and backgrounds. All of these titles are available through the BPL’s online catalogue (bpl.org).

The Well of Loneliness

by Radclyffe Hall (1928)

FICTION HALL R

Stephen Gordon was a little girl who always felt out of place in the Victorian upper class. When Stephen falls passionately in love with a woman, she struggles to find acceptance within the confines of society. The Well of Loneliness is considered to be a thinly veiled autobiography of Hall and is the only novel Hall wrote with a lesbian character. Although its only sexual reference consists of the words “and that night, they were not divided,” The Well of Loneliness faced obscenity charges in Great Britain and the United States at the time of its publication, which almost ruined Hall’s literary career.

The City and the Pillar and Seven Early Stories

by Gore Vidal (1948)

FICTION VIDAL G

Handsome, all-American athlete Jim is shy around girls but values his relationship with his best friend Bob. As Jim grows up and discovers his attraction to other men, he bases his life choices on the hope that the result will always bring him back to Bob. The City and the Pillar was widely recognized at the time for its portrayal of a masculine gay character and as the first post-World War II novel with an openly gay protagonist who is not killed off at the end.

Giovanni’s Room

by James Baldwin (1956)

FICTION BALDWIN J

Giovanni’s Room is a haunting story of passion, death, and the complexities of desire versus convention. In 1950s Paris a young American expatriate, David, struggles with feelings for the men in his life. While David’s fiance is away on a trip he begins an affair with an Italian man named Giovanni. Reportedly, when Baldwin submitted the manuscript to his publisher, he was told to “burn” it because its romantic relationship between two men would alienate his readers. Baldwin defied this advice and eventually found a publisher, albeit with some difficulty. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of Giovanni’s Room.

Naked Lunch

by William S. Burroughs (1959)

FICTION BURROUGHS W

This 1959 novel by beat writer William S. Burroughs follows addict William Lee as he travels around the country, world, and, eventually, the dreamlike Interzone. In 1962 Naked Lunch was banned in Boston for claims of obscenity under United States sodomy laws. The ban was overturned in 1966 after a trial featuring favorable testimony from Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer.

Rubyfruit Jungle

by Rita Mae Brown (1973)

FICTION BROWN R

Molly Bolt is a feisty young girl who has several relationships with women as she grows up in the South in the 1950s. Molly is open about her sexuality and does not feel guilt or remorse about loving women, even as the discovery of her relationships leads to the loss of her college scholarship and familial rejection. Rubyfruit Jungle was notable at the time of its publication for having a main character explore her sexuality in a solely positive light, without guilt or worries of abnormality.

Annie on My Mind

by Nancy Garden (1982) T

EEN FICTION GARDEN N

Published in 1982, this groundbreaking novel tells the story of Liza and Annie, teenage friends who fall in love. When family and school threaten their relationship, they promise to be true to each other. Annie on My Mind was met with protest when it was published, including burnings of the book at the Kansas City school district headquarters, due to its homosexual theme. Annie on My Mind ranks 48 th on American Library Association’s list, “100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.”

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker (1982)

FICTION WALKER A

The Color Purple tells the story of two sisters, one a missionary to Africa and the other a child wife in the South, who stay connected despite distance and hardship. The protagonist and narrator Celie’s resilience in the face of protracted sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and her eventual queer self-actualization assures it an enduring place among the LGBTQ literary canon. A frequent target of censors, the novel is ranked 17th on American Library Association’s list, “100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of the 2000s.”

The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell

by William Klaber (2013)

FICTION KLABER W

The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell is a fictionalized account of the real life of Lucy Lobdell, a woman who disguised herself as a man in the mid-19th century. Lucy lived the life that she wanted, including marrying another woman, but faced public scorn for her sexual identity and independence.

Jam on the Vine

by LaShonda Katrice Barnett (2015)

FICTION BARNETT L

Set in 1897 in Texas, Jam on the Vine follows Ivoe Williams, an African American woman journalist, over the course of her education and life in the Jim Crow era. With her lover Ona, Ivoe starts the country’s first female-run African American newspaper Jam! On the Vine, running stories misreported and ignored by major publications.

The Gods of Tango

by Carolina De Robertis (2015)

FICTION DEROBERT C

In Buenos Aires, 17-year-old Leda must find her way after the murder of her husband. She masters the violin and performs in public with a troupe of tango musicians by disguising herself as a man named Dante. Over time, Leda’s and Dante’s identities become entangled and her sexual desires begin to surface, placing not just her career but her very life at risk.

Under the Udala Trees

by Chinelo Okparanta (2015)

FICTION OKPARANT C

During a civil war in Nigeria, young Ijeoma meets another displaced girl from a different ethnic community, and they fall in love. When their love is discovered they struggle with having to hide this part of themselves.

After the Parade

by Lori Ostlund (2015)

FICTION OSTLUND L

Aaron England escapes the small Midwestern town he grew up in under the wing of Walter, his older partner with whom he had a 20- year relationship. After leaving Walter on a voyage of self-discovery, Aaron realizes that true freedom will only come with confronting his small-town past.

Adult Onset

by Ann-Marie MacDonald (2015)

FICTION MACDONAL A

Mary Rose is struggling to make progress on her third novel between the demands of raising two young children and caring for her aging parents, while her partner Hilary focuses on her career. When Hilary is out of town for a week, Mary Rose’s world teeters on the brink in this story of family responsibility, domesticity, and anxiety.

Black Deutschland

by Darryl Pinckney (2016)

FICTION PINCKNEY D

Jed is young, gay, Black, and out of rehab. He flees the racism and homophobia of 1980s Chicago for Berlin. Over the course of decades, Jed travels between Europe and America and struggles to find an identity between two very different worlds.

What Belongs to You

by Garth Greenwell (2016)

FICTION GREENWEL G

Set in Bulgaria, where same-sex attraction is considered taboo, this novel follows an unnamed American expat as he enters a tangled, asymmetrical relationship with a hustler named Mitko.