Books Like Detransition, Baby

Ancilla

Sera Maddox Drake

An age gap. A forbidden, slow-burning love affair between a queer girl and her mentor. An occult curriculum. Some educations begin in the body… The conservative early 1990's in decaying rust-belt Ohio sets the stage. ═════════════ She had it all - riches, a college honors program scholarship, a girlfriend - until her conservative, hyper-religious parents discovered the sapphistry and forced her to choose between conversion therapy and disownment. That choice marked the end of her academic career and everything she thought she knew. Three years later, she is starting her life over when she meets a shy public librarian in a bookstore. What unfolds between them feels almost like magic. Given that he is about to become her private tutor in the magickal and erotic arts, perhaps that should come as no surprise. But at what cost? Her mysterious guide is everything she has ever longed for, yet she may be forced to choose between her developing identity and the most profound love she has ever known. Ancilla is a study of hunger. It is a dark, philosophical tale exploring forbidden passion, kink, devotion, trauma, sacrifice, and the complicated path toward becoming oneself. Readers of old-school erotic literature who crave the passion and poetry of Lady Chatterley's Lover and The Story of O will enjoy this, as will students of the Kabbalah and Thelemic magick on which the narrative is structured. Surrender… ═════════════ "Magic and philosophy sandwiched in between some of the hottest scenes I've read in recent years... Loved it!" - Hannah Gonzalez, Reedsy Discovery "Love is brutal, bloody, and ecstatic in this passionate romance... BDSM aficionados will love it... A richly imagined, lurid love story that's not for the faint of heart. (Our verdict: Get it!)" - Kirkus Reviews Since its launch, Ancilla has won multiple literary awards, including the 2026 Passionate Plume for Erotic Literature and finalist status for the 2026 Hawthorne Prize.