The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name forces the reader to confront the horrible reality that many LGBTQ youth and adults live with every day. The choice to set the stories in countries from all over the world, even those generally considered accepting of the LGBTQ community, is a powerful one which forces the reader to confront the reality of what the LGBTQ community faces every day. These stories do not shy away from the horrific! Pathan strikes a good balance between the depressing and the uplifting, presenting the reader with a handful of stories that end on a positive note. Each story in this collection is cleverly constructed to force the reader to think about LGBTQ issues from a different perspective. The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name by Fiza Pathan is a powerful book that everyone should read, regardless of what community they identify with.

Pathan’s stories are notable for their sympathetic characters and strong message of tolerance.  

A sublime collection of short stories that tug at your heartstrings Fiza Pathan delivers an exquisite work of literature. One that is that is rippling with melancholy and an intimate understanding of love at its riskiest but a most necessary gamble for the hearts she touches. Displaying the same literate skill that has marked her previous releases she renders complex circumstances in strikingly personal terms and in each deeply felt love story she masterfully teases out every shadow and nuance of her characters’ inner lives. These are stories that start as a trickle and gradually swell to a torrent of emotion that will burst the banks of your heart. On many levels, they are transcendent love stories and overwhelmingly empathic with Pathan doing a marvellous job of capturing the tensions, anxieties, highs and lows of her characters. Not just those that come with first love but that which requires a leap of faith to overcome culturally entrenched prejudices and an extraordinary willingness to embrace that which we truly are.

An exceptional collection of powerful and poignant short stories The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name is recommended without reservation!

Each story in The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name resounds a call for the cultural acceptance of LGBTQ+ people . . . A tender and enlightening collection of stories focused on modern sexuality and related through a diverse cast of characters . . . Heartfelt and at times shocking, the stories in this collection shine a light on hate, prejudice, and whirlwind of emotions that LGBTQ+ people and their allies face . . . The book is careful with details and terminology, resulting in respectful and informative writing that helps drive each story and deliver appropriate impact. Many of the stories focus on intersex children and adults, and the confusion of the characters is tangible as they navigate love and sexuality in ambiguous terms. It is tragic to watch these characters, many of whom feel "born in the wrong body," struggle with their shame and self-esteem, as well as with the nefarious forces of the outside world . . . These stories are not light. In addition to sexuality, they draw on themes of religion, friendship, family, justice, and self-worth. As the grandfather of one intersex child says, "I will say that equality exists beyond the boundaries of what is between someone's legs." The collection a testament to this statement. Another grief-stricken character laments, "My sister died in anonymity," a silence that the collection works to reverse. Stories follow a thought-provoking arc, while each elicits empathy and sadness. Fictional newspaper articles echo the all-too-real horrors of homophobic bullying, rage, and murder, emphasizing that the issues facing the LGBTQ+ community should not be ignored.

 ~Meredith Hardwicke for Foreword Clarion Reviews

THE LOVE THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME is, at its core, a series of loving arguments, making a case for the acceptance and support of people as human beings, whatever their sexual orientation or gender identity. . . Each individual's story, however, is their own, and in the end it's the people whose relationships matter - the troubled nephew taken in by his drag queen uncle, the mother who chooses to have a living daughter instead of a dead son, the bookstore owner who connects deeply with a customer - and it is they who make the stories come alive. ~Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader

. . . examines the diversity of global LGBTQ communities and their common challenges . . .incredibly varied collection of 21 stories covers the gamut of LGBTQ issues and the hurdles individuals face. . . highlights the somewhat lesser-known topics of asexuality and intersex identities . . . tackles one of the most volatile topics for not just LGBTQ communities, but also the entire world . . . this volume's exhaustive approach to elevating queer issues remains commendable. ~Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed by Gisela Dixon for Readers' Favorite

The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Short Stories by Fiza Pathan is an excellent collection of short stories, all of which revolve around the topic of LGBT worldwide. The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name contains 21 stories on the lives and status of the gay and lesbian community as a whole, and draws from existing realities around the world on this human rights issue. The stories themselves are beautifully woven and most of them are touching. Various cultural backgrounds, nationalities, and ethnicities are explored in these stories and all of them are not only relatable, but extremely believable and shine a strong spotlight on the lives and challenges of the LGBTQIA community throughout the world.

I loved reading The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Short Stories by Fiza Pathan and couldn’t put it down. I found the stories poignant and, at the same time, delivering a strong message and depicting the realities of lives lived in the shadows and often under the burden of shame. Fiza Pathan is obviously a very talented writer and manages to make the stories not only meaningful, but also enjoyable in a certain sense purely from the creative aspect. The actual content of the stories is moving and sad. However, hopefully, it is books like these that will ultimately enable true recognition and acceptance of this much alienated and shunned community, and eventually enable them to get to a place where being LGBTQIA is regarded just as normal and ordinary as being heterosexual or anything else in the world today. This is a must-read book!