I always pictured my main character, Louise Lloyd, as an adventuress. Even before I realized I was writing a series, I had big dreams of Lou travelling the world, solving crimes where she landed. It’s part of, but not the whole reason, why I set my series in the 1920s. The feeling of freedom and openness felt universal. It’s a notion Louise has even as far back as Dead Dead Girls, where she wonders what lies beyond her home in Harlem. Lou is firmly in her #BelleEra and she wants more than this provincial life.
When thinking about the way I wanted these stories to go, Paris was the perfect place to put Lou next. I first thought about just how many American expatriates there were, and many of those Black people. I thought about the thriving art scene, and how the Années Folles, or Crazy Years, as Parisians would say, lent itself to a whole birth of new art and dance and literature.
I was anxious for a place for Lou to have a place where she could belong, and that was Paris. Not only because of how many American expatriates were there between the wars, but because it was so much more welcoming than America could be for both queer and Black people.
Being a lesbian in Paris was so much safer than being in America. From the Belle-Epoque era to the Cold War era, LGBTQ+ people thrived. While in America, sodomy laws meant that gay people could meet a lengthy prison term or hard labour, sodomy laws in Paris were repealed in 1791, after the French Revolution, decriminalizing homosexual acts.
Arguably, Paris wasn’t as open-minded as Berlin, where, in the Weimar Republic, LGBTQ+ people could live so openly that it was considered the Queer Capital of the World. There was a Black diaspora in Berlin where Louise could find a home, but I never considered a place other than Paris for Louise to explore next.
Montmartre, where Louise eventually settles, is on the right bank of Paris. Home to struggling artists, bohemians, and dancers, it is also where the queer scene absolutely flourished. Le Monocle was one of the first lesbian clubs. Opened in the 1920s, the club boasted long lines, an all-women orchestra, and attendees wearing monocles to signal their sexuality. It was the place for women to be with women. The nightclub was shut down in the 1940s after Germany invaded France.
Women were more free to love women. American expat Gertrude Stein, salon owner and mentor to authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, made Paris her home with her partner Alice Toklas. Artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec often featured lesbians and bisexual women in his artwork. Lesbian women thrived in the art industry. It’s comforting, to me, to know that queer joy existed. That women were able to love other women, and it didn’t result in hate crimes and fear and hiding. I wanted Louise to experience that joy, to see what life could be for her.
I also think, as cliché as it may seem, Paris is one of the most inspiring cities for the 1920s. The art scene is something that has always fascinated me, and I knew that Louise’s first case had to be in the art world of Paris.
I never wanted to make being gay seem like a crime, that Louise should be punished for who she is. It takes her a long time to accept who she is, and as she moves from Harlem to Paris, I think Louise becomes a new person, or a better version of the person she already was. She gets to see the world isn’t out to get her, and that’s exactly what I wanted for her.
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A Few Queer Historical Mysteries
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Last Call at the Nightingale, by Katharine Schellman
1920s New York city starring a seamstress as a detective.
Even Though I Knew The End, by C.L. Polk
1940s Chicago with a magical twist.
Dear Sylvia, Love Jane, by Erin Hall
1940s San Francisco noir.
Lavender House by Lev A.C. Rosen
1950s San Francisco with Knives Out vibes.
Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht
1960s New York City starring a lesbian spy.
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