The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast

Our F/Favorite Tropes Part 19: Age Gap
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 333 with Heather Rose Jones
In this episode we talk about:

The historic and social context of age-differentiated pairings of various genders

Why the “age gap” trope tends to be restricted to f/f romance

Historic contexts for age-gap relationships

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp

Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog

RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/

Twitter: @LesbianMotif

Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server

The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Links to Heather Online

Website: http://alpennia.com

Email: Heather Rose Jones

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @heatherrosejones

Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

On the Shelf for January 2026
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 332 with Heather Rose Jones
Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction.

In this episode we talk about:

Summary of the Project in 2025

Recent and upcoming publications covered on the blog
Xie, Wenjuan. 2015. (Trans)Culturally Transgendered: Reading Transgender Narratives in (Late) Imperial China. Dissertation.

Sommer, Matthew H. “Was China Part of a Global Eighteenth-Century Homosexuality?” in Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, vol. 33, no. 1, 2007, pp. 117–33.

Carton, Adrian. 2006. “Desire and Same-Sex Intimacies in Asia” in Gay Life and Culture, A World History, ed. Robert Aldrich. Universe Publishing, New York. ISBN 978-0-7893-1511-3

Gowing, Laura. 2006. ”Lesbians and Their Like in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800” in Gay Life and Culture: A World History ed. Robert Aldrich. London: Thames and Hudson. 125-43

Rupp, Leila J. 2001. “Toward a Global History of Same-Sex Sexuality” in Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol. 10, No. 2: 287-302

Leupp, Gary P. 2007. “Capitalism and Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century Japan.” in Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 135–52.

Pflugfelder, Gregory M. 1992. “Strange Fates: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Torikaebaya Monogatari” in Monumenta Nipponica Vol. 47, No. 3 (Autumn, 1992), pp. 347-368.

Shah, Shalini. 1991. “Women and Sexuality in the Mahabharata” in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 52: 138-144.

Srivastava, Manjari & Manjari Shrivastava. 2007. “Lesbianism in Nineteenth Century Erotic Urdu Poetry “Rekhti”” in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 68, Part One: 965-988

Book Shopping
The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective by Sara Lodge

Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction
Dreadful Sorry, Clemintine (Clementine #2) by Genta Sebastian

Steel on Distance by N.J. Knox

A Djinn and Tonic (The Magical Underground #2) by Nan Sampson

Gold and Grace by Eline Evans

Like in Love with You by Emma R. Alban

The Debutante Dilemma by author

The Case of the Murdered Muckraker (Harriot Morrow Investigates #2) by Rob Osler

What I’ve been consuming
The Case of the Missing Maid by Rob Osler

Saint-Seducing Gold by Brittany N. William

A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory

Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti

Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite

Emma: The Nature of a Lady by Kate Christie

The Scandal at Pemberley by Mara Brooks

The Shocking Experiments of Miss Mary Bennet by Melinda Taub

The Lady’s Wager by Olivia Hampton

Call for submissions for the 2026 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details.

This month we interview M.K. Hardy and talk about:
Needfire by MK Hardy (US availability is limited)

MK Hardy is a nom de plume for Morag Hannah and Erin Hardee

Adapting the gothic template for sapphic stories

Why Scotland is the perfect setting for gothics

The benefits and complications of writing as a team

Forthcoming: The Haunting of Avis Lovelock

A transcript of this podcast is available here. (Interview transcripts added when available.)

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp

Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog

RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/

Twitter: @LesbianMotif

Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server

The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Links to Heather Online

Website: http://alpennia.com

Email: Heather Rose Jones

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @heatherrosejones

Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

Links to MK Hardy Online

Website: https://www.mkhardywrites.com/

Twitter: @mkhardywrites

Instagram: @mkhardywrites

Bluesky: @mkhardywrites.com

Jane Austen Birthday Celebration
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 331 with Heather Rose Jones
In this episode we talk about:

The social structures in Jane Austen’s novels in which same-sex relationships could develop

A tour through the sapphic potential in each of Austen’s works

A survey of Austen-inspired sapphic historical fiction, demonstrating some of that potential

Austen-based fiction mentioned in the episode

”Margaret” by Eleanor Musgrove in A Certain Persuasion (The LHMP audio version can be found here. After this podcast was recorded, the author has also made the story available as an ebook stand-alone.)

”Eleanor and Ada” by Julie Bozza in A Certain Persuasion (Not currently in print? The link is to the author’s website.)

Lucas by Elna Holst

Gay Pride and Prejudice by Kate Christie

The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh by Molly Greeley

”Father Doesn’t Dance” by Eleanor Musgrove in A Certain Persuasion (Not currently in print.)

Frederica and the Viscountess by Barbara Davies

Her Particular Friend by J.L. Merrow in A Certain Persuasion (Link is to a stand-alone reprint of the story.)

Kissing Emma by Gemma Harborne (out of print)

“One Half of the World” by Adam Fitzroy in A Certain Persuasion (Not currently in print?)

A Certain Persuasion: Modern LGBTQ+ fiction inspired by Jane Austen’s novels edited by Julie Bozza. Manifold Press, 2016. (Unfortunately Manifold Press has gone out of business. Used hard copies may be available at this link. Stories that have been made available in other venues have links in the individual listings.

Books new to this updated version of the episode

The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod

Interview with Lindz McLeod

The Miseducation of Caroline Bingley by Lindz McLeod

The Scandal at Pemberley by Mara Brooks

The Lady's Wager by Olivia Hampton

The Shocking Experiments of Miss Mary Bennet by Melinda Taub

The Unruly Heart of Miss Darcy by Erin Edwards

Kitty (The Bennet Sisters #1) by T.J. Ryan

Emma: A Secret Lesbian by Garnet Marriott (out of print)

Emma: Restraint and Presumption by Garnet Marriott (out of print)

Sanditon: The Lesbian Solution by Garnet Marriott (out of print)

Emma: The Nature of a Lady by Kate Christie

I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Connor

A transcript of this podcast is available here. (Interview transcripts added when available.)

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp

Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog

RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/

Twitter: @LesbianMotif

Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server

The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Links to Heather Online

Website: http://alpennia.com

Email: Heather Rose Jones

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @heatherrosejones

Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

On the Shelf for December 2025
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode # with Heather Rose Jones
Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction.

In this episode we talk about:

Accomplishments and upcoming milestones

A podcast that listeners may be interested in: Our Dyke Histories

Recent publications covered on the blog
Levin-Richardson, Sarah. 2013. “Fututa Sum Hic: Female Subjectivity and Agency in Pompeian Sexual Graffiti” in The Classical Journal, 1083. pp.319-45.

Walker, J. 2006. “Before the Name: Ovid’s Deformulated Lesbianism” in Comparative Literature 58.3, pp.205-222.

Castle, T. 1983-4. “Eros and Liberty at the English Masquerade, 1710-90” in Eighteenth-Century Studies, XVII, 2: 156-76.

Friedman-Rommell, Beth. 1995. “Breaking the Code: Towards a Reception Theory of Theatrical Cross-Dressing in Eighteenth-Century London” in Theatre Journal 47, no.4: 459-79.

Howard, Jean E. 1988. “Cross-Dressing, the Theatre and Gender Struggle in Early Modern England” in Shakespeare Quarterly 39: 418-40. (Also appears in: Howard, Jean E. 1993. “Cross-Dressing, the Theater, and Gender Struggle in Early Modern England” in Crossing the Stage: Controversies in Cross-Dressing, ed. Ferris, Leslie. Routledge, London.)

Andreadis, Harriette. 2006. “Re-Configuring Early Modern Friendship: Katherine Philips and Homoerotic Desire.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 523–42.

Kramer, Rene. 2015. That Mysterious, Remisse Knot: Katherine Philips’s Unincorporated Fraternity. Honors Thesis.

Stevenson, Mark & Wu Cuncun (eds. and trans.). 2013. Homoeroticism in Imperial China: A sourcebook. Routledge, New York. ISBN 978-0-415-55144-1

Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction
Souvienne by Aldwin Beckett

Without Apology (Jane Smith #3) by Charlotte Taft

Inverts in a Violet Room by Peter Forrester

Whispers of the Heart: Lady Eleanor's Secret by Rhia Kampus

Hiding the Flame by Angela M. Sims

On the Edge of Uncertainty by E.V. Bancroft

Brought to Heel by Ella Witts & Serah Messenger

Pearl Bound by Natalie Bergman

What I’ve been consuming
Network Effect by Martha Wells

System Collapse by Martha Wells

The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott

A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo

Raised for the Sword by Aimée

Call for submissions for the 2026 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details.

This month we interview Maya Dworsky-Rocha and talk about:
The historic context and terminology of anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews

Cultural clashes and conflicts around ideas of gender

The historic work of Daniel Boyarin and Jewish gender stereotypes

Maya’s use of non-binary characters to reflect these ideas

The symbolic uses of eating, temptation, and impurity in the story

”Authorizing” queer desire via projection

Maya’s writing partnership as Sylvia Barry

The Devil and the Jews by Joshua Trachtenberg

A transcript of this podcast is available here. (Interview transcripts added when available.)

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp

Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog

RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/

Twitter: @LesbianMotif

Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server

The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Links to Heather Online

Website: http://alpennia.com

Email: Heather Rose Jones

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @heatherrosejones

Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

Links to Maya Dworsky-Rocha Online

Website: https://www.sylviabarrybooks.com/

Bluesky: @mayadrocha.bsky.social

TikTok: @mayadrocha

Ma’am, This is a Fruit Stand by Maya Dworsky-Rocha
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 329 with Heather Rose Jones
This quarter’s fiction episode presents "Ma’am, This is a Fruit Stand" by Maya Dworsky-Rocha, narrated and music composition and performance by Heather Rose Jones.

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp

Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog

RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/

Twitter: @LesbianMotif

Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server

The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Links to Heather Online

Website: http://alpennia.com

Email: Heather Rose Jones

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @heatherrosejones

Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

Links to Maya Dworsky-Rocha Online

Website: https://www.sylviabarrybooks.com/maya-dworsky-rocha