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If you loved
Books like Olivia
A delicate, hothouse portrait of adolescent yearning and the devastating intensity of first infatuation. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Olivia.
- hothouse
- melancholic
- repressed
- claustrophobic
- 01
Pages for You
Sylvia Brownrigg
An intoxicating, deeply literary exploration of the all-consuming nature of a first queer love.
- 02
Built to last
Aurora Rey
A warm, opposites-attract romance built on the foundations of a rustic farmhouse renovation.
- 03
Nightwood
Djuna Barnes
A fever dream of nocturnal wanderings and agonizing erotic obsession, told in lush, labyrinthine prose.
- 04
The desert of the heart
Jane Rule
A sun-drenched, mid-century awakening where the stark heat of the Nevada desert thaws a lifetime of rigid repression.
- 05
Rubyfruit Jungle
Rita Mae Brown · 1987
A fiercely funny, unapologetic romp through mid-century America that celebrates living loudly and loving women without an ounce of shame.
- 06
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Jeanette Winterson · 1991
A fiercely witty, myth-infused rebellion against the suffocating confines of religious fundamentalism and compulsory heterosexuality.
- 07
Our own private universe
Robin Talley
A tender, sun-warmed summer romance about stepping out of your own head and into the messy, beautiful reality of first love.
- 08
Don't Want You Like a Best Friend
Emma R. Alban
A delightful, swoon-worthy romp through Victorian ballrooms where a matchmaking scheme accidentally sparks a breathless queer romance.
- 09
Keeping You a Secret
Julie Anne Peters
A tender, high-stakes exploration of the terrifying thrill of first queer love and the courage it takes to live out loud.
- 10
Patience & Sarah
Isabel Miller · 2005
A tender, pioneering historical romance that blooms with quiet defiance and the radical joy of two women choosing each other.
- 11
Zami
Audre Lorde · 1984
A lush, mythic exploration of self-discovery, tracing the fierce and tender lineages of women who shape a life.
- 12
The Children's Hour
Lillian Hellman · 1937
A claustrophobic, devastating masterclass in how a single, malicious lie can dismantle an entire world.
