Hi there! I’m looking for beta readers for the first three chapters (16,110 words) of my novel, When the Dust Settles. This is a queer historical fiction story set during the Great Depression, and it's been a two-year labor of love. I’ve revised the manuscript twice so far, and it currently sits at 140,000 words. When the Dust Settles is a queer historical fiction told in third person, following the intersecting lives of three young women. Ruth McClellan, the eldest of four siblings, is the silent, discontent backbone of her struggling farming family. Her younger sister, Margot, is restless and determined, and will do anything to escape the rural town they live in. Myrna Wright, the poised wife of a powerful real estate developer, finds herself torn between loyalty to her husband, who acquires the land Ruth and Margot’s father fought so hard to buy, and the deep, complicated love she begins to feel when she befriends Ruth. When the Dust Settles explores queerness in a historical context, where economic hardship and societal pressure clash with deeply personal and emotional relationships. The three women navigate love and loyalty, grapple with identity and duty, and must choose whether to follow the paths laid out for them, or carve their own.

Requirements & Requests

I am seeking beta readers who will read the first three chapters and provide constructive criticism. What confused you? What bored you? What did you find engaging? Were there any areas you felt needed more explaining (or perhaps, less)? I am open to all feedback. Looking for beta readers with previous experience.

Comparable Stories:

Struggling to find recent comps, but open to suggestions upon reading. While I feel this story stands on its own, if you like the butchness and internal conflict in Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness or the atmospheric, queer city-life tone of Malinda Lo’s Last Night at the Telegraph Club, you may enjoy this story.

Trigger Warnings:

No trigger warnings for the first 3 chapters.