Lesbian literature has come a long way since the days when the poetry of Sappho and underground novels like Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness were among the few widely available options. Yet, as anyone on the hunt for the best sapphic audiobooks knows, it still can be a challenge to find stories centered on lesbian characters and experiences. To ease your search, we’ve compiled our favorites with a series of lists detailing some of the best stories penned by members of the queer community, from LGBTQIA+ listens to bisexual and trans stories. You can also celebrate the diversity of queer storytelling with this collection of our favorite fiction, memoirs, and histories centered on LGBTQIA+ experiences.
Below you'll find our picks for the best lesbian listens across fiction and nonfiction and in a range of genres and age categories, with one common, exhilarating factor: All of these selections are stories focused on lesbian characters, written by queer authors. Lez go!
Nicole Dennis-Benn's critically acclaimed novel captures the courage and costs of choosing yourself first. Patsy is overjoyed when she’s finally granted a visa to America. It means that she can finally leave her small Jamaican town and join her old friend, and first love, Cicely. But it also means leaving behind her daughter, Tru. When Patsy arrives in Brooklyn, it's not exactly the dreamland Cicely's letters described. To survive as an undocumented immigrant, she is forced to work as a bathroom attendant and a nanny. Meanwhile, Tru reconnects with her father in Jamaica and struggles with identity questions of her own. Sharon Gordon narrates this culture-rich novel and, to quote AudioFile, keeps the performance soaring despite the hardships of the characters.
“Taylor Jenkins Reid’s talent is awe-inducing: both her ability to tell deeply human stories, and the research and detail that she pours into her novels, effortlessly orienting the listener in time and place. In Atmosphere, we are in Houston in the 1980s, embarking on NASA’s space exploration program with its first wave of women scientists and pilots. Joan, an astronomer, is eager to become one of the first women in space, but she’s also enjoying the ride of discovering her own capabilities and growing her relationships with her fellow candidates. We jump between Joan’s early time in the program and December 29, 1984, when Joan is on the ground in Houston serving as capcom on a space mission, and something goes horribly wrong. The alternating timelines drive the suspense, as does the blossoming relationship between Joan and fellow candidate Vanessa, who is on the shuttle in 1984. Performed by Julia Whelan and Kristen DiMercurio, this book won’t let you go once you’ve entered its orbit.“ —Katie O., Audible Editor. Check out author (and audiobook enthusiast) Taylor Jenkins Reid’s top five listens, here.
Set in rural Montana in the early 1990s, this coming-of-age novel focuses on Cameron Post, a teen who is suddenly orphaned and forced to live with her ultraconservative Aunt Ruth. As she navigates the baffling worlds of grief and high school, Cameron falls for her new best friend. But the excitement of first love comes crashing down when the girls’ relationship is discovered. Cameron is sent to God’s Promise, a conversion camp where she learns the extent of adult hypocrisy. Narrated by Beth Laufer, The Miseducation of Cameron Post was a finalist for the YALSA Morris Award and inspired an award-winning indie film starring Chloe Grace Moretz.
A remarkably honest and witty memoir, Jeannette Winterson’s Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is a story of self-discovery and the courage to act on that very discovery. While listening to this author-narrated tale, it’s easy to understand exactly why Winterson is so revered as a major literary figure. While her work spans memoir, fiction, and even hot takes on Shakespearean plays (looking at you, The Gap of Time), all of her writing is united by its raw and truthful ways of telling on the human condition.
This small-town queer romance is equal parts steamy and soul-baring. In preparation for her estranged stepsister's wedding, Delilah reluctantly leaves New York City, where she has built a career as a photographer and beds a new woman every night, for a trip back to her rural hometown. She isn't prepared for what happens when she runs into a former classmate who never left Bright Falls and is now a single mom. Playing on traditional rom-com tropes of finding love where you least expect it, Delilah Green Doesn't Care is a must-listen for hopeless romantics who can't resist a heartwarming arc and a happy ending.
Jesse Vilinksy narrates Kristen Arnett's weird and memorable debut novel about a 20-something lesbian dealing with shock, grief, and heartbreak. Jessa-Lynn Morto is holding her family together the best she can after her father’s death by suicide. She’s running his taxidermy shop and trying to take care of her mother, who keeps rearranging the animals in lewd tableaus. She also worries about her brother and his kids, who run as wild as she did when she was their age. But most of all, she mourns the sudden disappearance of the only woman she’s ever truly loved—who happened to marry her brother before taking off. It's only when Jessa stops trying to control everything that she finds what she truly needs.
Going to every single remaining lesbian bar in America ... After The Lesbian Bar Project released its moving documentary on the dwindling state of dyke bars in America, it’s something we’ve all talked about doing. half-heartedly and often while at a dyke bar ourselves. But that’s the thing about art: it’s all about who actually goes and does it. And how they tell the tale, of course. Author Krista Burton attempts to understand the root of the decline, what it means, and what, if anything, we can do about it—while having a lot of fun along the way. A nostalgic listen, Moby Dyke is the next best thing to taking the cross-country road trip yourself.
T Kira Madden narrates her memoir in essays about growing up and navigating a life of contradictions. The biracial daughter and only child of a Chinese-Hawaiian mother and a white father who left his wife and other family to be with them, but never quite fully, she was raised in Boca Raton, Florida, by parents who grappled with drug and alcohol addictions. On the surface, Madden led a life of privilege, complete with private schools and equestrian trophies—but beneath it was wild instability. As she comes of age, she must deal with issues of race and class while also figuring out her own identity as a queer woman. Through these tensions, Madden explores the meaning of family, love, and finding your tribe.
Joanna has been out for years, and is largely supported by her preacher father. But when her dad remarries and they have to relocate from Atlanta to small-town Georgia, he asks Joanna to not be quite so out and proud in their new town. Joanna reluctantly agrees, only to immediately regret it when she meets Mary Carlson, the golden girl of her new high school. But a promise is a promise, and Jo tries to suppress her feelings and her own identity, all in the name of fitting in while grappling with being a young, queer person of faith. This gripping novel sensitively portrays the difficulties of balancing religion and sexuality.
Marking the debut of queer author Celia Laskey, Under the Rainbow was longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. Set in Big Burr, Kansas, this poignant novel unpacks what it means to be queer in a society that rejects you through the interconnected stories of several characters, including a grieving widow, an angry teenager, and an avid hunter who suddenly feels like a target. Phoebe Strole, Abigail Revasch, and Brittany Pressley are among the talented narrators, with each voice bringing the individual and intertwining vignettes to life. Told with warmth and cutting wit, Under the Rainbow is ultimately a hopeful articulation of our complicated humanity and the ways we can learn to live with each other and ourselves.
A beautiful coming-of-age story based in 1990s San Francisco, this book is seeping in all the things I long to read about as a queer woman. It’s about found family. It’s about what it takes to keep a strong, sapphic connection alive and the things (and people) that test them. It’s about leaving the familiar in search of what is true. And it’s about how the right thing is not always easy, but that doesn’t make it any less right.
Originally published in 1982, Annie On My Mind is considered a classic in lesbian literature and widely beloved for a reason: it's one of the first YA novels where the lesbian characters get a happy, uplifting ending. The story begins with Liza, who meets a girl named Annie while visiting the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The two become fast friends, and it’s not long before they start falling for each other. But when their relationship is exposed, Liza and Annie must decide if love is worth risking everything for. Nancy Garden's groundbreaking novel remains deeply touching and inspiring, and is perfectly voiced by Rebecca Lowman.
As a Brooklyn-based lesbian, this memoir-meets-historical-deep-dive-into-the-lesbian-archives hit the spot. Mapping her own relationships along the way, Amelia Possanza digs deep into the personal stories of the lesbians who came before her. As she tells her own story, interwoven among those of lesbians past, the author inadvertantly adds herself to the archives, making us stop for a pivotal realization: we are all living history! Right here, right now.
Performed by Hall of Fame narrator Robin Miles, this is the powerful story of a young Nigerian woman, Ijeoma, who comes of age with her homeland in the late 1960s and is sent away as civil war breaks out. While displaced, she meets another young woman who becomes her friend, and then they fall in love. Not only does her love’s gender make their relationship impossible, but she’s also from a different ethnic community. Ijeoma must hide the part of herself that loves this woman if they’re to survive, but at what cost? Inspired by Nigerian folk tales and realities, Under the Udala Tree is a deeply affecting novel about culture, love, gender, and war. Winner of the Lambda Literary Award, it was also nominated for an NAACP Imagine Award.
Looking for a lesbian listen that's dark, in the most hilarious way, and super quirky? Dawn Winter's Sedating Elaine is sure to satisfy. A wildly funny and surreal novel about love, sex, grief, and trauma, it revolves around Frances, a headstrong yet vulnerable woman, and her desperate plan to tranquilize her new, intensely amorous girlfriend, Elaine. Think of this comedic and therapeutic roller-coaster of a listen as an over-the-top and unapologetically lesbian take on Bridget Jones's Diary.
The iconic pop duo (and twin sisters) Tegan and Sara Quin coauthored their debut memoir about their lives in high school in Calgary, when they were first exploring their queer identities and began to shape the music that would go on to make them famous. In alternating chapters, Tegan and Sara each reveal their experiences as teenagers in the 1990s, from parental divorce to academic pressures to big questions about life and love. Narrated by the authors, this audiobook includes exclusive interviews as well as recordings from cassette tapes that Tegan and Sara found while researching their memoir. Not just a fascinating listen for any Tegan and Sara fan, High School is simply a great memoir of queer youth.
From award-winning author Kip Wilson, The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin is a captivating, queer-focused historical novel. The story centers on 18-year-old Hilde, an orphan struggling to make her way in 1930s Berlin, eventually finding her place with a chosen family at a vibrant cabaret. As Hilde begins to discover her sexuality amidst the turmoil of a war-torn country, Wilson effortlessly captures the essence of Sapphic romance and queer friendship.
Hilarious, heartwarming, and sexy as hell, this coming-of-age story turned sci-fi adventure is required listening for any queer person, but especially a queer person living in New York City who understands the particular type of longing only a subway crush can have on the psyche. Follow along as new-to-the-city August waits tables, moves in with too many roommates, and just might fall in love with her train crush (who might not be exactly what they seem). Author Casey McQuiston is known for their incredible romance writing, most notably their bestselling YA novel Red, White, and Royal Blue, which details the son of America’s first woman president falling for the prince of England. Yes, we love how McQuiston’s mind works too.
Stand-up comedian Cameron Esposito gets funny and frank in this memoir about her youth, growing up Catholic, and coming out—at a Catholic college, no less. In her own voice and with her trademark wit, she recalls being an awkward kid with a dubious sense of style, coming of age, figuring out what it means to be queer, joining the circus, making a life and a living in comedy, and falling in love. Save Yourself is a super honest and painfully real account of growing up queer, and Esposito narrates each word with humor, heart, and reassurance.
From the acclaimed author of The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith, this novel is now widely considered a classic, even though it was first published as a lesbian pulp fiction under a pseudonym. It’s the story of Therese, a sales clerk making a small living in New York City at a fancy department store, and Carol, a housewife with wealth and status who is secretly divorcing her husband. When the two meet, they’re immediately attracted to each other, but their romance has dire consequences. Part of what makes The Price of Salt such a milestone is that it’s the first lesbian novel without a tragic ending from its time period. It’s also the basis of the movie Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. And it's narrated by the talented Cassandra Campbell.
I have to admit I was late to the game to read this one, and only discovered this incredible biography after Miranda July mentioned it on her Substack page, but I’m so glad I found it when I did. Going deep into Stein’s life, Francesca Wade unthreads the heavily mythologized Stein and makes her real, no longer a statue in the town square. She is a flesh and blood woman standing in the room with us, and after listening, I was honored to feel that I knew her.
