A review by abbie_
Lote by Shola von Reinhold

challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Lote is one of those books you read and then immediately want to buy ten more copies to gift to all your pals. It soared into my 2021 faves on illustrious, pearlescent wings, captivated my imagination, made me curious and angry at the thought of all the figures history deigned too unimportant to record, or went out of its way to erase so they didn’t disrupt the status quo. It’s got mysterious cults, conspiracies, tight-knit academic circles, queerness abound… just a beautiful, thought-provoking book I hope more people will pick up!

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Although the central figure of the book, Hermia Druitt, is fictional, the rest of Mathilda’s Transfixions are all real historical figures, many of whom I’d never heard of. Lote sent me on so many quests down various rabbit holes to learn more about these hidden queer and Black figures from history. And who’s to say there wasn’t a Hermia Druitt either? History often conspires to hide, destroy evidence of, and just plain erase people they don’t deem worthy enough, i.e. people who aren’t straight and white, let alone Black, queer or trans.

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As the book within Lote (you’ll see) says: ‘Documentation is regularly unorthodox or harder to come by when researching people of colour from this period, which speaks more about how society values certain lives than the veracity of their existence.’

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Please read this book if you can, and then join me in waiting for whatever Shola von Reinhold writes next!