Quick answer: For a faith-positive love story, read Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown (Christian, YA) or Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman (Jewish, cosy). For a heroine who leaves, The Woman from the Waves by Roslyn Sinclair. For faith and desire held in tension, The Last One by Fatima Daas.
Sapphic books about religion usually go one of three ways: the heroine keeps her faith and finds room for love; faith and family pull against her; or she leaves. Each card below says which, so you can choose the story you need.
Disclosure: this blog and Lesbian Romance Reads (LRR) are run by the same team. Every book below links to its full LRR review, which is where the representation, heat and content notes were checked.
How these labels work. A book is listed only when its LRR review confirms the representation from the text, the author, the publisher or reader reviews. Each card says whether the represented character is central (a lead or the love interest) or the identity is a theme or secondary thread. If a review hedges, the card hedges too. Last checked October 31, 2026.
Find your kind of faith story
- Faith kept: Georgia Peaches, Knit One Girl Two, Loser of the Year, The Last One.
- Faith and family in conflict: Only Ever One Choice, Roses in the Mouth of a Lion, Wild Things, Bingo Love.
- Leaving or outside faith: Disobedience, The Woman from the Waves, Bloom Town: Genesis, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead.
The books
Faith kept
Jaye Robin Brown · LRR rating 3.5/5
Representation: Christian. Jo, a preacher's daughter, gets to be gay without a crisis of faith.
Know first: Low-heat YA. Standalone, happy ending.
Content notes: Religious bigotry, ableism (side character), bullying
Read the LRR review →
Faith kept / institution
Carrie Byrd · LRR rating 4.3/5
Representation: Jewish and Catholic. An out Jewish theatre teacher survives a year at a strict Catholic girls' school with a morality clause.
Know first: Sharp, steamy, award-winning enemies-to-lovers.
Content notes: Religious trauma, homophobia, outing, death of a parent
Read the LRR review →
Faith and family in conflict
Ilham Asra · LRR rating 3.8/5
Representation: Muslim. Mikaila comes out to a conservative religious family in South Africa.
Know first: Second-chance romance. HEA that readers call bittersweet.
Content notes: Family estrangement, loss, survivor's guilt
Read the LRR review →
Faith as everyday life
Shira Glassman · LRR rating 3.6/5
Representation: Jewish. A yarn dyer and a painter, both Jewish, in a kind, conflict-light story.
Know first: Closed-door comfort novella. Most readers wish it were longer.
Read the LRR review →
Faith kept, unresolved
Fatima Daas · LRR rating 3.6/5
Representation: Muslim. A French Algerian lesbian refuses to give up either her faith or her desire.
Know first: Short autofiction, not a romance. Open ending.
Content notes: Religious trauma, internalized homophobia, family rejection, Islamophobia
Read the LRR review →
Leaving vs staying
Naomi Alderman · LRR rating 3.4/5
Representation: Orthodox Jewish. Ronit left; Esti stayed and married. They meet again after a rabbi's death.
Know first: Award-winning literary fiction with no romance-style ending.
Content notes: Death of a parent, religious pressure, closeted sexuality
Read the LRR review →
Faith as culture and inheritance
Temim Fruchter · LRR rating 3.4/5
Representation: Jewish. Four generations of women and the folklore that haunts them.
Know first: Dreamlike literary family saga, slow pacing, no central romance.
Content notes: Death of a parent, generational trauma
Read the LRR review →
Faith and community in conflict
Bushra Rehman · LRR rating 3.8/5
Representation: Muslim. Razia grows up queer under strict rules in 1980s Queens.
Know first: Literary coming-of-age. Late, understated love story; abrupt ending.
Content notes: Strict religious rules, community shaming
Read the LRR review →
Faith and coming out
Karin Kallmaker · LRR rating 3.7/5
Representation: Catholic. A Catholic historian falls for her boyfriend's lesbian sister during a Senate race.
Know first: 1996 forbidden-love romance. Open door.
Read the LRR review →
Faith and family
Tee Franklin · LRR rating 3.7/5
Representation: Christian. Hazel, from a churchgoing family, meets Mari at church bingo in 1963; they find each other again in their sixties.
Know first: Graphic novel, second chance. Bittersweet.
Read the LRR review →
Leaving faith
Roslyn Sinclair · LRR rating 4.2/5
Representation: Ex-religious. An ex-nun and the sea creature who planned to eat her; the review says it takes religious trauma seriously.
Know first: 564-page slow, atmospheric romantasy. HEA.
Content notes: Religious trauma
Read the LRR review →
Leaving faith
Ally North · LRR rating 4.4/5
Representation: Ex-religious arc. A preacher's daughter captured by a female outlaw works through religious trauma.
Know first: Explicit frontier romance. Ends on a cliffhanger.
Content notes: Heavy: religious bigotry, abuse, rape, sexual violence
Read the LRR review →
Faith as setting and pressure
Chloe Michelle Howarth · LRR rating 4.0/5
Representation: Catholic. Secret first love in a small Catholic village in 1990s Ireland.
Know first: Literary first-love novel. Open ending.
Read the LRR review →
Reading guidance
Religious trauma, family rejection and homophobia appear in most of these books. If you want faith treated kindly, take Georgia Peaches or Knit One, Girl Two. Several are literary fiction without a romance-style ending, which the cards note. For deeper lists, LRR has Jewish sapphic books and Muslim sapphic books guides.
FAQs
Are there Christian sapphic books?
Yes. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit is faith-positive YA about a preacher's daughter, and Bingo Love follows a girl from a churchgoing family.
Are there sapphic books where the heroine keeps her faith?
Georgia Peaches, Knit One Girl Two, Loser of the Year and The Last One all have heroines who keep their faith.
What are ex-religious sapphic books?
Stories about women who leave a religion or work through religious trauma, such as The Woman from the Waves (an ex-nun) and Disobedience (Orthodox Jewish London).
Are there Muslim sapphic romances?
Only Ever One Choice by Ilham Asra is a Muslim second-chance romance. LRR's Muslim sapphic books guide has fourteen verified picks.
Related guides
The hub: every identity guide on this blog and on LRR, in one place.
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