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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Safi Bugel

Five of the best books about queer relationships

Keely Hawes, left, and Rachael Stirling wearing top hats and suits while sitting on a velvet sofa
Keely Hawes, left, and Rachael Stirling as Kitty Butler and Nan Astley in the 2002 BBC adaptation of Tipping the Velvet. Photograph: BBC/Allstar

Cinema listings seem to be stacked with films about queer relationships at the moment. From the eerie yet tender romance in All of Us Strangers to the electric sapphic fling in the forthcoming Love Lies Bleeding, these new offerings feel refreshingly nuanced, placing LGBTQ+ characters centre stage without pandering to reductive narratives or heteronormative taste.

If you want to find such stories in your reading, too, why not try some of the following books? Whether you’re looking for accounts of seedy sexual awakenings or reflections on tormented love affairs, here are five of the best.

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