By Becca Binnie, Amy Blay, Rhys Wright and Shan Heyworth
With a new year comes plenty of new books to look forward to, so here are some of the upcoming books spotlighting the LGBTQIA+ community that we’re most excited about.
Pity by Andrew McMillan
8 February 2024, Canongate Books
A poet who’s won The Guardian First Book Award and the Polari Prize, Andrew McMillan’s debut novel should be one to look forward to.
Pity follows a South Yorkshire mining family as the mining industry goes into decline, upending the lives of brothers Alex and Brian. Meanwhile, Alex’s son Simon, grows up in the new post-industrial world and makes a life for himself through call centre drudgery, sex work and drag performances.
It’s a novel that promises to delve deep into the culture and history of South Yorkshire, with an emphasis on queer experiences. Set to be published on 8 February, you won’t have to wait long before adding Pity to your to be read pile.
This Day Changes Everything by Edward Underhill
13 February 2024, St Martin's Press
Abby Akerman’s high school marching band is set to perform in New York City’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Which is also the setting of her favourite romance novel and therefore the perfect place to confess to Kat, her best friend, with an annotated copy. When she meets Leo Brewer, who is on the verge of being outed as transgender on national TV, she loses Kat’s gift and the two of them are thrown on a journey to find a replacement. As they explore the streets of Chinatown, the halls of Grand Central Station and the top of the Empire State Building, they realise this trip may change everything for them both.
Described as Dash & Lily meets Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, this new rom-com by Edward Underhill will be sure to bring a smile to your face!
A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley
29 February 2024, Mudlark
One of the most fascinating non-fiction offerings for 2024 is the social history of a truly revolutionary bookshop.
Silver Moon opened its doors in 1984 and for seventeen years, acted as a pioneering feminist bookshop, a women’s safe space and a community hub for circulating women’s writing and feminist ideas.
Cholmeley, one of Silver Moon’s co-founders, has written the inside story of Silver Moon. Conceived as a queer-inclusive space during the height of Thatcherism, the bookshop faced hate crimes and state persecution under Section 28. Despite all the adversity it faced, the bookshop was able to thrive as a space for queer women and became Europe’s largest feminist bookshop.
Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia
29 February 2024, HarperCollins
Tara Rituveni is the only transgender student at the prestigious all-girls Ainslie Academy, where the secret society of the Sibyls enjoy special privileges, including a generous scholarship – which Tara needs to remain at Ainslie. Every year, only two girls are chosen to join the Sibyls, who exemplify traditional values of girlhood. Tara prefers to lay low but her campaign to join the group makes her the centre of attention and debate.
Just Happy to Be Here presents a complex look at a teenage girl’s struggle with her identity and transphobia from institutions and individuals. Tara, who has long been inspired by other great speakers, must find her own voice in this coming-of-age story. This is a timely YA read that tackles the current difficult situation for young trans people with humour, messiness, nuance, South Asian representation and sapphic romance, published in the USA on 2 January and set to be published in the UK, 29 on February.
The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul
5 March, HarperCollins
From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes a poignant and deeply intimate memoir of growing up Black, poor and queer in a broken home.
Now a producer of one of the world’s largest television franchises, RuPaul starts from the beginning navigating complex relationships with his parents, constructing an identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York, falling in love, and battling sobriety. Enigmatic to the public, RuPaul’s profound introspection on found family, performance and identity is brutally honest and his road to success is fascinating. An engaging self-portrait from the legendary icon changing the way the world thinks about drag, RuPaul’s inspirational memoir is one to watch!
Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain by Jason Okundaye
7 March 2024, Faber
Another non-fiction work highlighting past experiences of Black gay men, Revolutionary Acts brings together stories of those involved in Britain’s queer history, from enduring the AIDS epidemic to throwing underground parties. Okundaye traces a history long left on the margins, through the testimonies of seven Black gay men in South London, including activist Marc Thompson, with whom Okundaye established the “Black and Gay, Back in the Day” archive on Instagram.
Okundaye is a journalist who has written for several publications from the Guardian to the London Review of Books. Revolutionary Acts is his debut book. It is an intimate yet seminal work that will no doubt be an important resource that provides a deeper and more diverse insight into LGBTQIA+ history as well as an emotional and entertaining read that will acquaint readers with a community of Black queer elders and their rich memories.
Some Strange Music Draws Me In by Griffin Hansbury
25 April 2024, Daunt Books
Summer 1984, in Swaffham, Massachusetts. Mel (short for Melanie), thirteen and still finding her way, meets Sylvia, a tough-as-nails transgender woman who catalyses Mel’s own transgender awakening. As their friendship blossoms, Mel comes to realise there is more to life than the small town of Swaffham and her cruel mother’s clutches. Decades later, Max – formerly Mel – finds himself back in Swaffham on leave from his job and must now face his past.
In this powerful queer coming-of-age story with first-person narratives from both Mel and Max, Griffin Hansbury tackles complex emotions, interrogates gender and class and explores how queerness can be a ticket to liberation.
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