Novels about falling in love with your straight friend > Likes and Comments

I'm looking for books about falling in love with your straight friend.

Please notice that I didn't say "straight." You can find books where the friend is straight at first and suddenly "turns out" to be gay or bi or gay-for-you... but that's not what I want.

I'm going through a bit of a rough time -- guess what it's about! -- and I tend to turn to fiction for solace... but sadly, there's very few books out there about unrequited love for a man who literally cannot return the emotion.

Ideally these would be more literary -- along the lines of Call Me by Your Name or At Swim, Two Boys, but both of those are about requited affection... which again, misses the mark!

(Those books are amazing, though, and if you haven't, you should read them. Right now.)

Matthew wrote: "I'm looking for books about falling in love with your straight friend.

Please notice that I didn't say "straight." You can find books where the friend is straight at first and suddenly "turns out"..."

Matthew, I think the literary novel A Separate Peace is all about that, though it's subtle because it was written a while ago .. the action is below the surface. It's a heartbreaking book, very perceptive .. though not a positive thing in the way the book goes. The key to the story is what happens when these feelings are buried, repressed, secret, unspoken.

I think we've all been there. It happened to me in my early 20's too; some unsolicited advice - if he's a good guy, someone important to you, try to find a way to be honest with him and then you might be able to hold onto that friendship as a friendship. Some people are a pure gift and terrible to lose.

Hoping it gets better Matthew - the situation you're in, I remember how much it hurts.

Greg wrote: "Matthew wrote: "I'm looking for books about falling in love with your straight friend.

Please notice that I didn't say "straight." You can find books where the friend is straight at first and sudd..."

Greg - it is so interesting to me that you said that about A SEPARATE PEACE. It felt very homoerotic to me when I read it in high school (back in the '80s) and kept trying to read between the lines in the hope that John Knowles was signaling there was more to the characters' affection than just fraternal friendship. As an adult reading it, it was obvious to me that Finny and Gene had more to their friendship, but it was just unspoken. In fact, I had A SEPARATE PEACE at the forefront of my mind when I wrote my book MY BARE NAKED HEART (which is coming out next month). I set it 1957 in a preppy all male college setting and set out to write a story from the time of A SEPARATE PEACE but with blanket honesty about the characters' sexuality and what young men of that age really think when they're in love with their best friend (or at least how I felt when I fell in love with my best friend(s) . . . ha ha).

Matthew - it is a good 6 or 7 weeks later, and I hope the ache is easing. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME and AT SWIM, TWO BOYS are 2 of my favorite books, so you have great taste (the intensity of the love felt in CALL ME BY YOUR NAME just simply wrecked me). Have you read Alan Hollinghurst's LINE OF BEAUTY? In that book, the action begins with the main character, Nick, moving into the Notting Hill family home of Toby, his straight BF and unavailable love. It is a really great, literary book - one of my favorites, and it really spoke to me when I was all a jumble about my sexuality.

Good luck!

OMG, I love this kind if plot. I don't know if any story with this plot though, sadly, but it reminds me of the time I had a crush on a straight friend back in high school.

I know this is an old thread, but I do hope it revives with some good book suggestions

I don't have any recs but i wanted to say I'm sorry you're going through that situation. That sucks.

A SEPARATE PEACE is a great read. If you’re willing to be a bit more flexible on the “straight” casting, I’d recommend GIOVANNI’S ROOM and A LITTLE LIFE. I think they explore themes you won’t find unfamiliar. Both excellent!

I would also suggest Baldwin's Giovanni's room. Also Hollinghurst's most recents The Sparsholt Affair covers this in some of the periods IIRC.

One other, though very subtle is The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

Bill wrote: "I would also suggest Baldwin's Giovanni's room. Also Hollinghurst's most recents The Sparsholt Affair covers this in some of the periods IIRC.

One other, though very subtle is [bo..."

Thanks so much for mentioning THE SPARSHOLT AFFAIR. Alan Hollinghurst is my favorite writer and I didn't know he had a new one out!

David wrote: "A SEPARATE PEACE is a great read. If you’re willing to be a bit more flexible on the “straight” casting, I’d recommend GIOVANNI’S ROOM and A LITTLE LIFE. I think they explore themes you won’t find ..."

All three good books!

Almost a decade later, and I'm back here again, bumping this thread for more books!

I've already read A LITTLE LIFE and GIOVANNI'S ROOM... and neither of them really hits the mark here, because in my opinion, neither one is about unrequited love... though they are both amazing books.