Skip to content Skip to navigation

Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 337 - On the Shelf for March 2026

Saturday, March 7, 2026 - 14:58

Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 337 - On the Shelf for March 2026 - Transcript

(Originally aired 2025/03/07)

Welcome to On the Shelf for March 2026.

I don’t know about where you are, but we’ve hit shorts and t-shirt weather in my town. The daffodils are blooming and the only white flakes falling from the sky are the petals from my plum tree. There’s a task to every season and right now that task is trying to keep ahead of the pruning and weeding while the ground is still damp. I hope you never get tired of hearing about my garden, because there’s always something beautiful to talk about.

Speaking of beautiful things, do you like Anne Lister and Gentleman Jack? Do you like ballet? It turns out the Northern Ballet Company in the UK is premiering a ballet based on the show Gentleman Jack. In fact the debut performance is the day this episode comes out. It’s showing at various venues in England through September. See the links in the show notes and many thanks to Lauri Wilson who pointed me to it.

Although it’ll be a couple months before the next fiction episode, I have every confidence that this year I really will get ahead of the game and have the stories all recorded and ready to go far in advance. Really. I swear. This time for sure.

Beyond that, I’m still plugging away at the book version of the Project and, as always, reading as many articles as I can fit into my head.

Publications on the Blog

Since last month, I blogged about two more journal articles on the topic of 17th century pornography. Manuela Mourão’s “The representation of female desire in early modern pornographic texts, 1660-1745” was only of marginal interest. But Sarah Toulalan’s. “Extraordinary Satisfactions: Lesbian Visibility in Seventeenth-Century Pornography in England” had some really interesting points about how the representation of lesbian sexuality found in pornographic texts is quite different from that described in legal and medical literature. And though we might question how close it comes to the experiences of actual women, it points out that attitudes and understandings were not monolithic.

On a slightly less serious side, I’ve just started posting an 8-part series about 18th century pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read, centering around the mostly-fictional portrayals of them in Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates. Johnson himself is also most probably fictional—being a pen name quite possibly for novelist Daniel Defoe. My series lays out what the more factual sources say about Bonny and Read then delves into why we can be quite certain that the General History is largely invention, and what the sources for that invention might be. I’ll be doing a companion podcast with a much shorter summary of the material and a special guest.

Book Shopping!

Book shopping has been slim this month. I picked up Anne Fausto Sterling’s Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality, of which only one chapter is relevant to historic topics. There were a couple other titles I jotted down for library research but couldn’t quite justify buying at the available price. Now that I’m retired, I have to be a bit more careful about shelling out a hundred bucks for a book I haven’t actually seen yet.

Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction

Fortunately, fiction is much more affordable, so let’s look at some of the recent lesbian and sapphic historical releases. As is my current practice, this is a curated list of books that have been reviewed for characteristics that suggest AI production. My filtering method isn’t perfect. I may have both false positives and false negatives, but I will not knowingly promote a book created using AI.

We start off with a January book that only just got on my radar. Rattlesridge by Mina Rose from IsoMeridian is a Western that says it’s “inspired by the energy of Chappell Roan’s “The Giver.””

What happens when your captor makes your heart race...for all the wrong reasons?

Betsy should be terrified, not getting weak in the knees over the leader of one of the most wanted gangs in the West. But Cricket isn’t just trouble - she’s temptation, and the bride-to-be of Rattlesridge’s much-loved sheriff is starting to think crime might just be her type.

There are a couple of February books just showing up.

The Ink Between Us by Chiara Bellini from Liminal Manifold is a time-slip story in which the protagonist knows just a bit too much for comfort about when she lands.

Dr. Sophia Moretti has spent her life observing the past from behind white archival gloves. Denied tenure and drifting through a lonely modern life, she has nothing to lose when she touches an antique printing press in a Roman archive—and the centuries dissolve beneath her fingertips.

She wakes up in 1748. The air smells of woodsmoke and roasting chestnuts. The noise of the Via della Lungaretta is deafening. And standing at the helm of the press is Giulia Proietti—a widow, a master printer, and the most terrifyingly beautiful woman Sophia has ever seen.

Sophia isn't just a tourist in this century. She finds a home among the ink-stained women of the Proietti shop, forging a life of labor, laughter, and a slow-burn love that defies the laws of physics. But Sophia has a curse: she knows the footnotes. She knows that on March 14, 1751, the Proietti Print Shop is erased from history. The fire brigade report will list "total conflagration" and they will recover four bodies.

As the date draws closer and a rival printer whips the neighborhood into a witch-hunting frenzy, Sophia realizes she wasn't sent back to observe. She was sent back to intervene. To save the woman she loves, Sophia must break every rule of history—forging papers, fighting mobs, and rewriting the ending before the ink dries.

The history books say they die. Sophia Moretti has three years to prove them wrong.

We return to the Wild West in Love and Gunpowder by Valeska Delsol.

In the dying days of the American wild west, Cassidy Blackwell has learned to survive by living fast and hard, never trusting too easily, and killing before being killed. Raised by an infamous outlaw who molded her into a weapon, Cass carved out a name for herself riding with the Blackwell Gang—an unlikely bunch of thieves and misfits who found solace in each other. They have bled together, fought together, and dreamed of one day buying their way to freedom.

But everything changes when Cass crosses paths with Eleanor Montgomery—a rich heiress caught in a gilded cage, hiding a raging fire beneath the silk and corsetry of high society. Their connection is instant, dangerous, and impossible. Still, they can’t seem to stay away from each other… even when their bond threatens everything.

The March books start off with a couple of titles pulled from mythic ancient Greece.

Daughter of the Hunt by K. Arsenault Rivera from Forever takes up the tale of a tragic character from the Illiad and gives her a second chance.

Iphigenia Pelops lives only to serve her family. As the eldest child, it is her responsibility and privilege—as well as the only safeguard against the family curse. So when Artemis, Queen of the Court of the Wild, demands a sacrifice from the Pelops in exchange for her blessing in a dangerous power struggle, Iphigenia is the natural choice.

However, Artemis is horrified when she learns that Iphigenia’s family offered Iphigenia without her consent. As recompense, she takes Iphigenia as her disciple and teaches her the ways of the hunt—and soon, the ways of the body, as feelings blossom between them.

Only Iphigenia cannot forget her precious siblings, doomed to misfortune by the Pelops curse—and freeing them will require a terrible cost.

Entirely coincidentally, the second title picks up themes from the Odyssey: Sweetbitter Song by Rosie Hewlett from Sourcebooks Landmark.

One summer night, within the palace of Sparta, a young slave girl stumbles across a grey-eyed princess. Despite living worlds apart, Melantho and Penelope are instantly drawn to one another, and a powerful friendship blossoms. But the Spartan royals do not approve of this bond, and soon Melantho and Penelope find themselves viciously torn apart, their trust irreparably shattered.

 Years later, their paths cross once again upon the rocky shores of Ithaca, where Melantho is sent to serve Princess Penelope and her new husband, Prince Odysseus. Embittered by life as a slave, Melantho is determined to keep her distance. But, once again, the two women find themselves drawn to one other, pulled by the echo of their friendship, and something far stronger they are too afraid to name.

 When war blazes across Greece, Odysseus and the men of Ithaca are driven to foreign lands. In their absence, Melantho finds a new world opening up before her – one where women rule, where family can be found, and where a forbidden love is finally given the space to bloom.

The Alchemist's Secret by Clare Marchant from Boldwood Books is another cross-time story, with storylines from both the present day and the 17th century.

Now: When Paige returns to her ancestral family home, Woodham Hall, she’s nursing an unbearable heartbreak. The man she’d thought she loved has told her the most terrible lie, one she feels she’ll never recover from. The only thing that seems to be able to hold her interest is the story of a poisoning that once supposedly happened in the house – depicted in brutal detail in a painting by an unknown artist.

1672: Jeanne’s life at Woodham Hall is happy. Admittedly her brother-in-law – the lord of the manor – is unfaithful to her sister, causing terrible discord in the house. But Jeanne adores her sister, and her niece, Helene, and even though her growing feelings for another member of the household are illicit, they are bringing her great joy. That is, until Sir Robert chooses to move his mistress in.

Jeanne and her sister are to be banished to a French abbey to live out their days but all the sisters can think is how to get back to Helene, and the woman who Jeanne might just love. From the glittering court of the Sun King to the dark depths of French society and those who perform alchemy, they will do whatever they must. Even if it means murder.

Like many of the pirate-themed books that get listed here, Salt and Surrender (The Aramanthine Sea #1) by E.S. Brandon from Moonlit Forge Press is more fantasy than history, envisioning a gender-blind navy.

In 1720, the Caribbean belongs to women and monsters.

Captain Eleanor “Nell” Blackwood of the Royal Navy lives for duty, clean lines on a map, and a ship that runs like clockwork. Her vessel is her pride, her uniform a shield for the heart she keeps locked away. But when a brutal clash leaves her ship broken and her crew scattered, she wakes bound on the deck of a French privateer, staring up into the cold smile of its captain.

Marguerite “Marin” Devereaux has earned every whispered legend about La Sirène Noire. Clever, merciless, and beautiful in a way that feels like a warning, she should ransom the English captain or throw her overboard. Instead, she keeps Nell close where she can watch her, in a cabin with only one bed and nowhere to run.

Tempers flare. Hands stray where they shouldn’t. But when the Turned trap them on a fog-shrouded island, Nell and Marin must trust the one woman they most want to hate, and can’t stop wanting.

Storms are gathering. The Admiralty is hunting. On a sea that demands blood for every choice, one question remains:

What will they surrender first—their duty, or their hearts?

A Change of Pace by J.A. Stevens from Generous Press gives us a female rake in a Regency setting.

Some games you play to win, others you play to surrender.

Miss Georgina "George" Pace is no angel. She has seduced many beautiful women in her day, leaving a trail of satisfied lovers (and their bewildered spouses) in her wake. Only her closest friends remember what she's trying to forget as she drowns her sorrows in pleasure and passion. When a corrupt gaming house targets dear Mr. Coombes, George's world of wit and charm turns deadly serious. Driven by a guilty past, she will stop at nothing in a quest for justice—which leads her straight to the Countess, Lady Elizabeth Mortimer. The Countess is sharp as a tack with an elegance that George finds utterly irresistible, even if those gray eyes obscure shadowy allegiences. Will George wager everything, including her guarded heart?

And once again we’re back to the Wild West in A Comfortable Misery by Kassandra Hart.

Territory of Montana, 1885.

For Miss Kathryn Blackford, death is only the beginning. Desperate to escape her miserable life as a coal-miner in Cinder, a dismal town nestled in the Rocky Mountains, she stages her own death so that she can start life anew—unbound, unrestricted, and free to do as she pleases.

Just as she is about to leave Cinder forever, Miss Blackford unexpectedly crosses paths with the stubborn and spoiled Miss Elizabeth Lancaster, daughter of the proprietor of Cinder’s coalmine. For that reason alone, Miss Blackford is determined to hate her.

It would have been easy for that hate to endure, too, were it not for the inconvenient events that brought the two so close together, setting them on a tumultuous journey marked each day with calamity, deceit, and troublesome attraction.

I tend to be picky about which vampire stories I categorize as historical, but The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White from Del Rey draws elements from the original Dracula.

Anneke has a complicated relationship with her father, Abraham Van Helsing—doctor, scientist, and madman devoted to the study of vampires—until the night she comes home to find him murdered, with a surreally beautiful woman looming over his body. A woman who leaves no trace behind, other than the dreams and nightmares that now plague Anneke every night.

Spurred by her desire for vengeance and armed with the latest forensic and investigatory techniques, Anneke puts together a team of detectives to catch this mysterious serial killer. Because her father isn’t the only inexplicable dead body. There’s a trail of victims across Europe, and Anneke is certain they’re all connected.

But during the years spent relentlessly hunting the killer, Anneke keeps crucial evidence to herself: infuriatingly coy letters, addressed only to her, occasionally soaked in blood, and always signed Diavola.

The closer Anneke gets to her devil, though, the less sense the world makes. Maybe her father wasn’t a madman after all. Diavola might be something much worse than a serial killer…and much harder to destroy. Yet as Anneke unearths more of Diavola’s tragic past, she suspects there’s still a heart somewhere in that undead body.

A heart that beats for Anneke alone.

And in another coincidence we have a second title mashing up characters from literature in Wayward Souls (Harker & Moriarty #2) by Susan J. Morris from Bindery Books.

Six days before Samhain—the night when the veil between worlds is thinnest—Samantha Harker, daughter of Dracula’s killer, and Dr. Helena Moriarty, daughter of the famed criminal mastermind, are thrown into their next case: the mysterious disappearance of two Society field agents in Ireland. Only this time, the Royal Society is sending Jakob Van Helsing to keep an eye on them.

Sam and Hel may have solved the Paris case, but that doesn’t mean the Society trusts them. Sam has the power to slip into the minds of monsters, and Van Helsing has sworn to kill her at the first sign of corruption. And if Hel can’t prove her father’s existence, she’ll soon go down for his crimes.

Their investigation takes them from the crumbling ruins of Ireland’s untamed wilds to the occult societies of the rich and powerful. The connection between Sam and Hel is electric, but as they fall deeper into each other’s orbit, their secrets only multiply. For Hel, it’s the sins she committed when she was her father’s pawn. For Sam, it’s a plague of death omens, mysterious black feathers, and a siren song no one else can hear. And then comes a chilling revelation that is poised to shatter everything: The agents who disappeared were each haunted by a ghost. And so, it seems, is Sam.

I’ve been seeing a lot of magical school stories lately. A lot. Ones with historic settings often have a gothic flavor, like Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran from Doubleday Books.

In 1928, Emily Locke's final year at the isolated Briarley School for Girls is derailed when Violet, the school's brightest star (and a cunning beauty for whom Emily would do anything), falls to her death on her eighteenth birthday. Emily and her buttoned-up rival Evelyn are, for once, in agreement: Violet’s death was no accident. There's an obvious culprit, the French schoolmistress with whom Violet was getting a little too close—they only need to prove it.

Desperate for answers, Emily and her classmates turn to spiritualism, hoping for a glimpse of wisdom from the great beyond. To their shock, Violet’s spirit appears, choosing pious Evelyn as her unlikely medium. And Violet has a warning for them: the danger has just begun.

Something deadly is infecting Briarley. It starts with rotten food and curdled milk, but quickly grows more threatening. As the body count rises and the students race to save themselves, Emily must confront the fatal forces poisoning the school. Emily's fight for survival forces her to reevaluate everything she knows: about Violet, Evelyn, Briarley, and, ultimately, herself.

Stacy Lynn Miller keeps them coming in the Hattie James series set around World War II, this time with The Nightshade (Hattie James #4) from Severn River Publishing.

Her voice enchants crowds. Her secrets will expose conspiracies. One mistake could cost her everything.

December 1941: As bombs fall on Pearl Harbor, singer Hattie James faces a personal nightmare when her sister Olivia vanishes. The kidnappers demand an impossible price—her father's classified list of undercover American and Nazi spies.

Wartime paranoia and family loyalty take Hattie to Washington D.C. with Maya and Commander Leo Bell to hunt an elusive, high-ranking mole in the War Department who is after those lists. Leo, a military intelligence officer with access to classified operations, becomes their crucial inside man, navigating the treacherous corridors of power. Meanwhile in Rio de Janeiro, Hattie’s father Karl slowly recovers from near-fatal wounds under her mother's watchful care as Nazi agents close in on his location.

As war declarations echo across radio waves, these fragile alliances become Hattie's only hope of untangling a conspiracy that threatens both nations. As Hattie inches closer to the truth, she discovers that exposing the traitor might save her sister—or destroy them both.

What Am I Reading?

For my own reading…um…I’m clearly in a slump these days. Only two books this month and neither really worked for me. I’ve been working through a bunch of Diana Wynne Jones’s YA fantasies, inspired by the podcast Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, which is doing deep dives into her entire catalog. I remember enjoying a number of Diana Wynne Jones books back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but they aren’t hitting as well for me now. This month’s listen was Witch Week and I just found the central characters thoroughly unpleasant. I’m probably just at the wrong point in my life for these books and I need to pull back for now.

The second book was, alas, a DNF. The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner is a perfectly reasonable fantasy quest adventure with some lovely sapphic yearning, but it just isn’t a flavor of fiction that grabs me. I find in general that books that feel like they’re grown in the potting soil of D&D style questing are unlikely to work for me.

Or maybe I’m just going through a period when I hate everything. Somebody point me to some stories that are more my style, I’m getting desperate here.

Show Notes

In this episode we talk about:

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

Links to Heather Online

Major category: 
LHMP
Tags: 
LHMP
podcast
historical