13 must-read queer books like The New Life by Tom Crewe

Cover of The New Life by Tom  Crewe

The New Life

By: Tom Crewe

3.77

Format: 392 pages, Hardcover

Two Victorian marriages, two dangerous love affairs, one extraordinary partnership . . .London, 189…

"Science requires a rational audience."

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

"Science requires a rational audience."

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

"True development does not respect comfort."

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

"True development does not respect comfort."

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

If you liked the queer plot in The New Life by Tom Crewe , here is a list of 13 books like this:

Cover of The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright

1. The Wren, the Wren

By: Anne Enright

3.55

Format: 278 pages, Hardcover

An incandescent novel about the inheritance of trauma, wonder, and love across three generations of… read more

Similar categories in Anne Enright's The Wren, the Wren book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • literary fiction
  • adult
  • fiction
  • audiobook
"It's not that I think about him constantly, he is my way of thinking. His mind is my compass, his eyes my only mirror."

-Anne Enright, The Wren, the Wren

"We don’t walk down the same street as the person walking beside us. All we can do is tell the other person what we see. We can point at things and try to name them. If we do this well, our friend can…"

-Anne Enright, The Wren, the Wren

"We don't walk down the same street as the person walking beside us. All we can do is tell the other person what we see. We can point at things and try to name them. If we do this well, our friend can…"

-Anne Enright, The Wren, the Wren

Cover of Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

2. Kairos

By: Jenny Erpenbeck

3.46

Format: 379 pages, Hardcover

Die neunzehnjährige Katharina und Hans, ein verheirateter Mann Mitte fünfzig, begegnen sich Ende de… read more

Similar categories in Jenny Erpenbeck's Kairos book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • romance
  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
"She would like a shallow life, swift and shallow, till some day she can start again. Get through her time fast until then. And when will that be? Then."

-Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

Cover of Henry Henry by Allen Bratton

3. Henry Henry

By: Allen Bratton

3.65

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

Henry Henry is a queer reimagining of Shakespeare's Henriad, transposing the legend of Henry V's wa… read more

Similar categories in Allen Bratton's Henry Henry book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • romance
  • literary fiction
  • gay
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • adult
  • queer
"Make life, make life, make life. What sort of life? We can prune and water and weed ourselves, but we can't stop the rot once it gets in."

-Allen Bratton, Henry Henry

Cover of Close to Home by Michael  Magee

4. Close to Home

By: Michael Magee

4.06

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

While growing up in West Belfast, Sean does every­thing he's supposed to do. He works hard, he stud… read more

Similar categories in Michael Magee's Close to Home book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of The New Life by Tom  Crewe

5. The New Life

By: Tom Crewe

3.77

Format: 392 pages, Hardcover

Two Victorian marriages, two dangerous love affairs, one extraordinary partnership . . .London, 189… read more

Similar categories in Tom Crewe's The New Life book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • romance
  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • gay
  • lgbt
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • queer
"Science requires a rational audience."

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

"True development does not respect comfort."

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

"We British are used to being ruthless, of course, but only the men. The women aren't. We don't grab. We shouldn't . But we have to, to make some room for ourselves."

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

"...John wondered if she would ever be so unthinkingly imperious again; whether her childish powers of command would survive the dislocation from home, the knowledge of her smallness in the greater wo…"

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

Cover of In Memoriam by Alice Winn

6. In Memoriam

By: Alice Winn

4.53

Format: 382 pages, Hardcover

A haunting, virtuosic debut novel about two young men who fall in love during a time of war. It'… read more

Similar categories in Alice Winn's In Memoriam book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • romance
  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • queer
"It’s intimate."

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

"Call me Sidney,"

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

"Where’s the rest of it?"

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

"Do you believe in magic?"

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

Cover of Pity by Andrew McMillan

7. Pity

By: Andrew McMillan

3.71

Format: 192 pages, Kindle Edition

The town was once a hub of industry. A place where men toiled underground in darkness, picking and … read more

Similar categories in Andrew McMillan's Pity book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • gay
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • queer
Cover of Radical Love by Neil Blackmore

8. Radical Love

By: Neil Blackmore

4.05

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

Welcome to England, 1809. London is a violent, intolerant city, exhausted by years of war, beset by… read more

Similar categories in Neil Blackmore's Radical Love book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • romance
  • audiobook
  • gay
  • lgbt
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • queer
Cover of Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy

9. Soldier Sailor

By: Claire Kilroy

4.10

Format: 256 pages, ebook

Well, Sailor. Here we are once more, you and me in one another's arms. The Earth rotates beneath us… read more

Similar categories in Claire Kilroy's Soldier Sailor book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • audiobook
"I laughed and then we were doing that thing again, our thing: laughing into one another's eyes. All that time I had thought I was jollying you along when all that time you were jollying along me."

-Claire Kilroy, Soldier Sailor

"I tell my husband about my childhood and he tells me about his but it isn't the same. We can never know each other as we were then. But I know you. I will see the child you were in the man you will b…"

-Claire Kilroy, Soldier Sailor

"Hated cling film. Hated it more than I hated kinetic sand. Defeated by something that lacked a third dimension. While I'd been off tinkering on the cerebral plane, the smart money has been mastering …"

-Claire Kilroy, Soldier Sailor

"I knelt down to pick up the hatchling to . . . . what? Give it back to its mother? Here is your dying chick? Just before I made contact with it, she dive-bombed me. The mother actually dive-bombed me…"

-Claire Kilroy, Soldier Sailor

Cover of Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan

10. Ordinary Human Failings

By: Megan Nolan

3.78

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

When a 10-year-old child is suspected of a violent crime, her family must face the truth about thei… read more

Similar categories in Megan Nolan's Ordinary Human Failings book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
"She loved the feeling of doing something on her own, and doing it in a routine. It felt thrillingly adult and affirmed her most cherished hope, the hope that she might have an actual inner life of su…"

-Megan Nolan, Ordinary Human Failings

"He had the sort of bland, agreeable, rosy face which could disappear into whatever context he wished it to. He was blond but not provocatively so. The naturally dull Kent accent could be clipped and …"

-Megan Nolan, Ordinary Human Failings

Cover of Western Lane by Chetna Maroo

11. Western Lane

By: Chetna Maroo

3.51

Format: 160 pages, Hardcover

Shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize A taut, enthralling first novel about grief, sisterhood, a… read more

Similar categories in Chetna Maroo's Western Lane book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • literary fiction
  • adult
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of All Down Darkness Wide by Seán Hewitt

12. All Down Darkness Wide

By: Seán Hewitt

4.19

Format: 240 pages, Hardcover

A luminous and haunting memoir from the prize-winning poet - a story of love, heartbreak and coming… read more

Similar categories in Seán Hewitt's All Down Darkness Wide book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • romance
  • lgbt
  • gay
  • queer
"When they said, 'I'm just scared that you'll be unhappy', what I really felt they were saying was 'I am scared that if you continue being yourself, we will make you unhappy."

-Seán Hewitt, All Down Darkness Wide

"Ik vroeg me af of ik wel klaar was om met hem mee te gaan, of ik wel klaar was om die ene stap verder te zetten in het nieuwe leven dat ik weg van huis begon te ontdekken. Hier was ik een volwassene;…"

-Seán Hewitt, All Down Darkness Wide

"Omdat ik nu eenmaal was wie ik ben, had ik al vroeg de heimelijke tactieken van het conformisme begrepen: hoe je een slis verhult, een al te uitgesproken tred corrigeert, je stem een paar tonen lager…"

-Seán Hewitt, All Down Darkness Wide

"Omdat ik nu eenmaal was wie ik ben, had ik al vroeg de heimelijke tactieken van het conformisme begrepen: hoe je een slis verhult, een al te uitgesproken tred corrigeert, je stem een paar tonen lager…"

-Seán Hewitt, All Down Darkness Wide

Cover of Blackouts by Justin Torres

13. Blackouts

By: Justin Torres

3.77

Format: 306 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling author of We the Animals, Blackouts mines lost histories--personal and collect… read more

Similar categories in Justin Torres's Blackouts book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • gay
  • lgbt
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • queer
Cover of Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna

14. Evenings and Weekends

By: Oisín McKenna

3.96

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

For fans of Sally Rooney and Torrey Peters, a taut and profoundly moving debut that follows a cast … read more

Similar categories in Oisín McKenna's Evenings and Weekends book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • adult
  • queer
Cover of Enlightenment by Sarah Perry

15. Enlightenment

By: Sarah Perry

3.70

Format: 384 pages, Hardcover

A dazzling new work of literary fiction from the author of The Essex Serpent, a story of love and a… read more

Similar categories in Sarah Perry's Enlightenment book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • audiobook
"Thomas [Hart] lived where he'd been born, and where (so he often thought without rancor) he'd very likely die; and if he lived alone he was not lonely, that being a condition not of solitude but of l…"

-Sarah Perry, Enlightenment

"So I told her this: that it's true I've only rarely been happy, and perhaps more often been sad. But I have been content. I have lived. I have felt everything available to me: I've been faithless, de…"

-Sarah Perry, Enlightenment

"I wish I could say, James, that we forgave each other in the end. I wish I could say: she put her head on my shoulder and I welcomed it and we laughed and said all was well. But in fact we were quiet…"

-Sarah Perry, Enlightenment

"...in the ordinary way we love because we're loved, and give more or less what we're given. But to love without return is more strange and more wonderful, and not the humiliating thing I'd once taken…"

-Sarah Perry, Enlightenment

Cover of The Late Americans by Brandon  Taylor

16. The Late Americans

By: Brandon Taylor

3.38

Format: 303 pages, Hardcover

A deeply involving new novel of young men and women at a crossroads In the shared and private sp… read more

Similar categories in Brandon Taylor's The Late Americans book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • gay
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • adult
  • queer
Cover of The World and All That It Holds by Aleksandar Hemon

17. The World and All That It Holds

By: Aleksandar Hemon

3.85

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

The World and All That It Holds--in all its hilarious, heartbreaking, erotic, philosophical glory--… read more

Similar categories in Aleksandar Hemon's The World and All That It Holds book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • romance
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • queer
Cover of My Friends by Hisham Matar

18. My Friends

By: Hisham Matar

4.34

Format: 399 pages, Hardcover

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return , a luminous novel of friendship, family, and … read more

Similar categories in Hisham Matar's My Friends book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • historical
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
"A vast distance exists between a protester and his slogan; the entire history of politics exists in that gap."

-Hisham Matar, My Friends

"For a writer, exile is prison, a severing from the source, and so, courageous or not, he dies in front of our eyes."

-Hisham Matar, My Friends

"She was older and all the more beautiful, had the weary tiredness of one who, in surrendering to her life, was ennobled by it."

-Hisham Matar, My Friends

"I walked off feeling an emptiness well up inside me. It seemed, for all the emptiness that it was, a presence. It made me want to run away, dive deeper into myself, into that cold desolation, to the …"

-Hisham Matar, My Friends

Cover of The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

19. The Safekeep

By: Yael van der Wouden

4.08

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

An exhilarating, twisted tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the … read more

Similar categories in Yael van der Wouden's The Safekeep book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • romance
  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • queer
Cover of All the World Beside by Garrard Conley

20. All the World Beside

By: Garrard Conley

3.75

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

An electrifying, deeply moving novel about the love story between two men in Puritan New England … read more

Similar categories in Garrard Conley's All the World Beside book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • romance
  • gay
  • lgbt
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • queer
Cover of In Tongues by Thomas Grattan

21. In Tongues

By: Thomas Grattan

4.04

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

A young gay man upends the lives of a powerful art-world couple in this steamy novel of self-discov… read more

Similar categories in Thomas Grattan's In Tongues book and Tom Crewe's The New Life

  • literary fiction
  • gay
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • queer

20 Best fiction books like The New Life by Tom Crewe

Transform Your Habits

The Wren, the Wren

Anne Enright

3.55

Transform Your Habits

Kairos

Jenny Erpenbeck

3.46

Transform Your Habits

Henry Henry

Allen Bratton

3.65

Transform Your Habits

Close to Home

Michael Magee

4.06

View all the books

20 Best fiction books like In Tongues by Thomas Grattan

Transform Your Habits

Perfume & Pain

Anna Dorn

4.06

Transform Your Habits

Henry Henry

Allen Bratton

3.65

Transform Your Habits

All Fours

Miranda July

3.81

Transform Your Habits

Martyr!

Kaveh Akbar

4.24

View all the books

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