The Lilac People

For readers of All the Light We Cannot See and In Memoriam, a moving and deeply humane story about a trans man who must relinquish the freedoms of prewar Berlin to survive first the Nazis then the Allies while protecting the ones he loves.

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Coming April 29, 2025 from Counterpoint Press

About the Book

In 1932 Berlin, Bertie, a trans man, and his friends spend carefree nights at the Eldorado Club, the epicenter of Berlin’s thriving queer community. An employee of the renowned Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld at the Institute of Sexual Science, Bertie works to improve queer rights in Germany and beyond, but everything changes when Hitler rises to power. The institute is raided, the Eldorado is shuttered, and queer people are rounded up. Bertie barely escapes with his girlfriend, Sofie, to a nearby farm. There they take on the identities of an elderly couple and live for more than a decade in isolation.

In the final days of the war, with their freedom in sight, Bertie and Sofie find a young trans man collapsed on their property, still dressed in Holocaust prison clothes. They vow to protect him—not from the Nazis, but from the Allied forces who are arresting queer prisoners while liberating the rest of the country. Ironically, as the Allies’ vise grip closes on Bertie and his family, their only salvation becomes fleeing to the United States.

Brimming with hope, resilience, and the enduring power of community, The Lilac People tells an extraordinary story inspired by real events and recovers an occluded moment of trans history.

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Early Praise for The Lilac People

Goodreads, A Most Anticipated Title
LGBTQ+ Reads, A Most Anticipated Book

“This beautifully wrought historical novel about a trans man’s resilient survival through the promising Weimar Republic to Nazi Germany to the still-oppressive Allied occupation is a poignant reminder that history may not repeat itself, but it surely rhymes . . . Milo Todd paints a rich portrait of this often-overlooked period of queer history with protagonists who might be fictional, but represent the tenacity and hope of queer individuals past and present.”
—Katherine Ouellette, WBUR

“Not only is The Lilac People a moving story, it might also be a roadmap of how we move forward.”
—Michelle Hart, Electric Literature

“Stirring . . . In Todd’s hands, this vital chapter of LGBTQ+ history comes to life, as the characters find a means to survive through found family. This timely historical drama hits hard.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Todd’s detailed narrative conveys the terrors and uncertainties of life during wartime: the inability to trust even close neighbors or loved ones’ true identity; the fear of attack; the wrenching horror of trying to make sense of who lived and died. The ambitions and joys of Berlin’s queer community are equally well drawn . . . Todd vividly illustrates the power of love and community in the face of oppression.”
—Kirkus Reviews