9 Fantastic Books Set in the 1980s

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Laura Sackton is a queer e book nerd and freelance author, identified on the web for loving winter, despising summer season, and going overboard with extravagant baking tasks. In addition to her work at Book Riot, she opinions for BookWeb page and AudioFile, and writes a weekly publication, Books & Bakes, celebrating queer lit and attractive treats. You can catch her on Instagram shouting about the queer books she loves and sharing photographs of the walks she takes in the hills of Western Mass (whereas listening to audiobooks, in fact).

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I used to be born in the late 1980s, so whereas I don’t keep in mind a lot of them, I do really feel a sure connection to the decade. I get pleasure from books set in the 1980s once I come throughout them, and I particularly respect books set in the 1980s that concentrate on lesser-known (and/or written about) locations and occasions. It’s really easy, when discussing historic fiction, to solely deal with the occasions that both straight impacted you or straight formed your understanding of the world. Of course, that is totally different for everybody. When I consider the 1980s, my thoughts instantly goes to Regan, the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., and queer activism. Someone else’s may go some place else completely.

With this listing of books set in the 1980s, I’ve tried to go in as many alternative instructions as doable. You’ll discover a unbelievable novel about coming of age as a Black queer man in New York City throughout the AIDS disaster. You’ll additionally discover books about the Uruguayan dictatorship, the Sri Lankan Civil War, a small Indigenous group in northern Canada, post-martial-law Taipei, and a Vietnamese refugee residing in Texas—to call only a few. All of those books are set in the 1980s, however they deal with totally different lives and totally different catastrophes. They’re about folks dealing with totally different sorts of challenges and discovering hope and connection in totally different locations. They actually don’t signify the entire of a decade, however they do replicate simply how a lot was occurring throughout the world.

Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis

This novel opens in 1977 and ends in the mid-2000s, however the bulk of it takes place in the 1980s. It’s a couple of group of queer Uruguayan ladies who hire an outdated shack in a distant village on the coast, a house that turns into a refuge for them throughout the years of the army dictatorship. As they wrestle to dwell and love in a world that despises them, they discover power, humor, companionship, and braveness in the household they construct with one another.

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

This wacky, witchy learn is filled with 1980s nostalgia, from large hair to music. It’s set in Danvers, MA, in 1989 and follows the exploits of the Danvers High subject hockey staff as they try and spell-cast their option to a successful season. It’s tinged with magic and sometimes hilarious, nevertheless it’s additionally a shifting story about girlhood, friendship, and rising up.

Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead

It’s the summer season of 1985, and teenager Benji Cooper is as soon as once more heading to Sag Harbor—an enclave in the Hamptons populated by elite Black households. He’s glad to go away his largely all-white Manhattan prep faculty behind and to spend his days roaming round together with his associates whereas their dad and mom are again in the metropolis. But the world of Sag Harbor is usually simply as complicated as the world he’s left behind. Sharp, humorous, and stuffed with Whitehead’s biting statement and deep understanding of human nature, it is a traditional 1980s coming-of-age novel.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

Gay conflict photographer Maali Almeida wakes up lifeless in 1990 Colombo. He doesn’t understand how he died, however he’s decided to seek out out—and to ensure the damning photographs he took fall into the proper arms. He units out to seek out his boyfriend and his finest pal earlier than he has to maneuver on from the in-between house he’s inhabiting. Somehow, this good e book manages to be completely brutal and in addition wildly humorous and campy. It’s about the horrors of the Sri Lankan Civil War, and it’s about the issues that folks survive for—love, friendship, an ideal meal, a great joke.

Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson

This is one in every of my favourite novels ever. If you haven’t learn something by Eden Robinson, you’re in for a deal with. It’s set in Kitamaat, a small, distant Haisla city on the Canadian coast north of Vancouver. When her brother goes lacking on a fishing journey, teenager Lisamarie’s world is thrown into disarray. Robinson packs a lot into this novel—it’s about grief, household, rising up in a small city, the pure world, dependancy, Haisla tradition and heritage, goals, faith, reminiscence. Robinson’s attractive, nonlinear storytelling captures the essence of each the characters and the place they name dwelling.

Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin, translated by Bonnie Huie

First revealed in 1994, this lesbian coming-of-age novel has since grow to be a queer traditional. It follows a gaggle of queer college college students attempting to grasp themselves and the world round them—as they fall in and out of affection, argue with one another, and create artwork. Most of the story unfolds by the eyes of Lazi, who’s in love with a a lot older lady. Though that is typically a tough learn, it’s a poignant exploration of gender, sexuality, loneliness, queer need, and group dynamics.

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-García new book cover

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

In Mexico City in 1988, a trio of misfit finest associates, helmed by fifteen-year-old Meche, uncover they will do magic and solid spells—with the assist of their favourite music by way of data. This realization adjustments their lives and finally ends up haunting them in methods they might by no means have anticipated. The story is partly set in 2009 when Meche returns to Mexico City for the first time in years to confront her previous, besides, this e book is steeped in 1980s tradition and music.

Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà Lại

This YA novel follows a pair of siblings separated at the finish of the Vietnam War. Hằng had hoped to journey along with her little brother Linh to America, however he was taken from her at the airport. Now residing in Texas, she’s determined to reunite with him. When she lastly does, he doesn’t keep in mind something about her, their household, or their homeland. This is a heartbreaking however hopeful story a couple of brother and sister looking for their manner again to one another in the midst of ongoing trauma.

Book cover of My Government Means to Kill Me

My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson

Written in the type of a fictional memoir, this e book follows Trey Singleton, a younger Black queer man who leaves his household in Indianapolis and arrives in New York City in the center of the AIDS epidemic. Struggling to make a life for himself, he finds group, that means, and goal when he will get concerned with ACT UP. Newson writes superbly about the messy intersections of private and political awakening.

Looking for extra books set in the 1980s? If you’re feeling nostalgic for the decade, try these books that Rioter Jaime Herndon turns to when she’s feeling the similar manner. Steph Auteri has some nice recs for books that convey the 1980s nostalgia as effectively.

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