Pre-release: Expected April 29, 2025
0 of 1 copy available
A moving and deeply humane story about a trans man who must relinquish the freedoms of prewar Berlin to survive first the Nazis then the Allies while protecting the ones he loves, for readers of All the Light We Cannot See and In Memoriam
In 1932 Berlin, a trans man named Bertie and his friends spend carefree nights at the Eldorado Club, the epicenter of Berlin’s thriving queer community. An employee of the renowned Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld at the Institute of Sexual Science, Bertie works to improve queer rights in Germany and beyond. But everything changes when Hitler rises to power. The Institute is raided, the Eldorado is shuttered, and queer people are rounded up. Bertie barely escapes with his girlfriend, Sofie, to a nearby farm. There they take on the identities of an elderly couple and live for more than a decade in isolation.
In the final days of the war, with their freedom in sight, Bertie and Sofie find a young trans man collapsed on their property, still dressed in Holocaust prison clothes. They vow to protect him—not from the Nazis, but from the Allied forces who are arresting queer prisoners while liberating the rest of the country. Ironically, as the Allies’ vise grip closes on Bertie and his family, their only salvation is to flee to the United States.
Brimming with hope, resilience, and the enduring power of community, The Lilac People tells an extraordinary story inspired by real events and recovers an unknown moment of World War II and trans history.
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Reviews
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March 1, 2025
Todd, a Lambda Literary Fellow, debuts with a novel set during WWII, in which Bertie, a trans man, and his girlfriend, Sofie, assume the identities of an elderly couple, surviving at an isolated farm. At the end of the war, they in turn try to save a trans man from the Allies, who are rearresting queer prisoners while liberating the rest of Germany. Prepub Alert.
Copyright 2024 Library Journal
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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March 15, 2025
A trans man and his chosen family struggle for survival during World War II (and after). Bertie, a trans man, spends his days working at Berlin's Institute for Sexual Science and his evenings enjoying the relative social freedom that prevails in the waning days of the Weimar Republic. When Hitler ascends to power, the trans community, along with others in Berlin's vibrant gay community, are threatened by a loss of rights and burgeoning waves of street violence. Bertie and his girlfriend, Sofie, flee the city to eke out a subsistence living for the duration of World War II on a rural farm near Ulm. Originally owned by the grandparents of Bertie's close friend Gert, the farm eventually falls to Bertie and Sofie after the welcoming, sheltering older couple dies. Shortly after Allied forces occupy the area, Karl, a frail trans man who's escaped from Dachau, seeks shelter with Bertie and Sofie and reports the terrifying news that Allied forces are continuing--postwar--to penalize members of the "third sex" community with imprisonment under Third Reich codes of public conduct. Rather than enjoying relief from the horrors and privations of war, the close-knit trio must find ways to shield the men's trans identities while making their way to safety in a more tolerant environment. Todd's detailed narrative conveys the terrors and uncertainties of life during wartime: the inability to trust even close neighbors or loved ones' true identity; the fear of attack; the wrenching horror of trying to make sense of who lived and died. The ambitions and joys of Berlin's queer community are equally well drawn. The book is populated with historical figures, notably Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, pioneering sexologist and founder of the Institute for Sexual Science. Todd vividly illustrates the power of love and community in the face of oppression.COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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