The Lilac People

DEBUT Short-story writer and Lambda Literary Fellow Todd’s first novel begins in 1945 in rural Germany; the Allies have just freed the country from the Nazis. Protagonists Bertie and Sofie are a trans couple who have been living under assumed identities to evade persecution. They discover a young trans man, Karl, on their property, and decide they must protect him. The story then jumps back to 1932, when Bertie, a trans man, was working for the Institute of Sexual Science, and there was a thriving LGBTQIA+ community in Berlin. This all changes when Hitler comes to power. In 1945, Karl tells Bertie and Sofie stories of the torture and humiliation he endured when at Dachau. When they discover that the Allied forces are looking for queer citizens to arrest, they decide to escape to the U.S. to live in peace. Todd explains the backgrounds of the characters and puts their struggles in the context of their time, writing particularly movingly of their immigration to the States.