Home › Historical Sapphic Romance › Victorian
Sarah Waters classics and happy-ending romances, clearly labeled so you know which you are getting.
9 books · 8 with full LRR reviews · 3 genre romances · 4 literary novels · 1 Paris crossover
The best Victorian lesbian books are Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters for literary fiction, and Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban for a sapphic Victorian romance with a happy ending. For gaslight and fangs, A Long Time Dead is a Victorian vampire romance.
Victorian lesbian novels range from cozy romances to twisting literary crime. Each card says which kind it is, where it is set and how it ends, so a Waters fan and a romance reader both find the right book.
Eight of the nine have full LRR reviews.
Victorian Lesbian Books at a Glance
Victorian Britain runs from 1837 to 1901. Some of these are genre romances with a promised happy ending. Others are literary novels that go wherever they like. The table tells you which.
| Book | Type | Setting | Ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend | Romance | 1857 London season | Hopeful HEA |
| Hen Fever | Romance novella | A village poultry show at Christmas | Not confirmed |
| A Long Time Dead | Vampire gothic romance | Victorian London | HEA with epilogue |
| Tipping the Velvet | Literary historical fiction | Music halls and London | Bittersweet |
| Fingersmith | Literary crime | 1862 England | Yes, eventually |
| An Island Princess Starts a Scandal | Romance, Belle Époque crossover | 1889 Paris | Resolves happily |
The Best Victorian Lesbian Books
Three romances, two Sarah Waters classics and one Paris crossover.
Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend
Emma R. Alban · Mischief & Matchmaking #1
Two debutantes scheme to marry off their widowed parents to each other so they never have to be apart. Then they realize the real love story is theirs.
Charming and low angst. The best place to start if you want a Victorian romance rather than a literary novel.
Find it on AmazonListen on Libro.fmListen with AudibleBuy at Bookshop.org
The store links on this page are affiliate links: we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Hen Fever
Olivia Waite · novella · 2022
Lydia Wraxhall is fiercely competitive about the local poultry show. Harriet Boyne wants a quiet holiday after a wartime loss. They end up working together.
A short, cozy holiday read with grief underneath it. From the author of The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics.
Find it on AmazonListen on Libro.fmListen with AudibleBuy at Bookshop.org
A Long Time Dead
Samara Breger · 2023
A Victorian vampire gothic with the best prose in the sapphic corner of the genre and a found family worth staying for.
The pick if you want the fog and gaslight with a guaranteed happy ending. The middle wanders a little.
Find it on AmazonListen on Libro.fmListen with AudibleBuy at Bookshop.org
Tipping the Velvet
Sarah Waters · 1998
Nan, an oyster girl from Whitstable, falls for a male impersonator at the music hall and follows her to London, where her life changes again and again.
A landmark of the genre and essential reading. It is a literary novel, not a genre romance, so it takes its own route.
Find it on AmazonListen on Libro.fmListen with AudibleBuy at Bookshop.org
Fingersmith
Sarah Waters · 2002
Sue, a young thief, is placed as maid to an heiress named Maud as part of a con. Nothing about the con goes the way anyone planned.
The most ingeniously plotted sapphic novel in English. Avoid spoilers if you can.
Find it on AmazonListen on Libro.fmListen with AudibleBuy at Bookshop.org
An Island Princess Starts a Scandal
Adriana Herrera · Las Leonas #2
Manuela, a Dominican painter, has one last summer at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris before an unwanted marriage. Then she meets Cora, a ruthless duchess.
Same era, different country: a Belle Époque crossover, not British Victorian society. Glamorous and politically aware.
Find it on AmazonListen on Libro.fmListen with AudibleBuy at Bookshop.org
More Victorian Sapphic Fiction
Affinity
Sarah Waters
A lady visits a women’s prison and becomes fixated on a spiritualist inmate. The bleakest Sarah Waters.
Ending: Bleak. Not a happy ending.
Find it on AmazonListen on Libro.fmListen with AudibleBuy at Bookshop.org
A Lady Made of Silence
Ottilie Hartmere
A politician’s controlled wife and the companion hired to spy on her.
Ending: Not on its own. Book 1 of 5.
Find it on AmazonListen on Libro.fmListen with AudibleBuy at Bookshop.org
The Book of the Dead Husband
Ottilie Hartmere
An archivist, an accused widow and a library full of altered records.
Ending: Not confirmed.
Find it on AmazonListen on Libro.fmListen with AudibleBuy at Bookshop.org
Romance or a Broader Historical Novel?
If you want a promised happy ending, start with Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend, Hen Fever or A Long Time Dead. If you want a big, twisting literary novel, go to Sarah Waters. Neither is better, they are just different promises.
Regency is earlier
The Regency ended in 1820, seventeen years before Victoria took the throne. For empire waists and Napoleon, see Regency lesbian romance books.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best Victorian lesbian books?
Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters for literary fiction, and Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban for romance.
What are good Victorian lesbian romance novels with a happy ending?
Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend, A Long Time Dead and An Island Princess Starts a Scandal.
Is Victorian the same as Regency?
No. Victorian Britain is 1837 to 1901. The Regency is 1811 to 1820.
Are all Victorian lesbian novels sad?
No. Affinity is bleak and Tipping the Velvet is bittersweet, but the romances here end happily.
Why include a book set in Paris?
An Island Princess Starts a Scandal is set in 1889, the same years, but in Belle Époque France. We label it as a crossover.
Related Genres and Guides
Go earlier with Regency lesbian romance, or see the full historical sapphic romance guide. For gothic chills, try lesbian horror books, and for literary history, lesbian historical fiction.
How We Chose These Books
This selection uses our own full reviews wherever LRR has reviewed a book, plus author and publisher descriptions where a specific trope needs direct support. Every card says why the book fits this exact trope. Cards marked “LRR full review” link to a review where we went through Goodreads, StoryGraph, trade reviews and reader discussion before scoring it. Cards marked “Publisher description” or “Author description” are researched picks that we have not reviewed yet, and we say so rather than pretend otherwise. Ending notes come from our review or from an explicit promise in the book’s own description. Theme notes are not complete content warnings.
Know a book that belongs here, or spotted a wrong label? Tell us in the comments.