Books like Joseph and His Friend by Bayard Taylor


Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania is an 1870 novel by American writer Bayard Taylor. The story centers on a profound, romantic—though non‑sexual—attachment between two men in Pennsylvania. Critics have divided in interpreting the novel as either a subtle political commentary on gay relationships or as an idealization of male spirituality, reflecting the complex attitudes toward same‑sex bonds in the late 19th century.
First publish date: 1870
Genre: LGBTQ+ Fiction/Gay Fiction
Authors: Bayard Taylor
0.0 (0 community ratings)

Joseph and His Friend by Bayard Taylor

How are these books recommended?

The books recommended for Joseph and His Friend by Bayard Taylor are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.


Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.

Books similar to Joseph and His Friend (28 similar books)

Pride and Prejudice by 6487689|Jane Austen book cover

📘 Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a classic novel by Jane Austen.

4.1 (304 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
A Tale of Two Cities by 6801893|Charles Dickens book cover

📘 A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens’ landmark historical novel, set in London and Paris during the French Revolution, follows Doctor Manette’s 18‑year imprisonment, his release, and his reunion with daughter Lucie amid looming terror.

3.8 (177 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Little Women by 6958509|Louisa May Alcott book cover

📘 Little Women

The beloved classic of American literature, Little Women, narrates the adventures of four March sisters as they grow up during the Civil War era.

4.1 (110 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Picture of Dorian Gray by 6388346|Oscar Wilde book cover

📘 The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde, first appearing as a novella in 1890 and expanded into a full novel in 1891.

4.1 (92 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Les Misérables by 823888|Victor Hugo book cover

📘 Les Misérables

Victor Hugo’s historical epic follows peasant Jean Valjean, unjustly imprisoned and pursued by the relentless inspector Javert, exploring themes of justice, redemption, and the social conditions of 19th-century France.

4.3 (44 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Age of Innocence by 6339938|Edith Wharton book cover

📘 The Age of Innocence

In post‑war New York, Newland Archer faces a dilemma when his fiancée’s cousin, the rebellious Ellen Olenska, challenges his elite society’s expectations and his own loyalty.

3.5 (43 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Giovanni's Room by 8267768|James Baldwin book cover

📘 Giovanni's Room

Set in 1950s Paris, James Baldwin’s novel follows an American expatriate entangled in a doomed love triangle, confronting desire, morality, and sexual identity with stark honesty.

4.2 (33 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Walden by 6287070|Henry David Thoreau book cover

📘 Walden

An essay that blends personal experiment, philosophical reflection, and detailed natural observation, chronicling Thoreau’s two‑year cabin life by Walden Pond and his quest for simple, self‑reliant living.

3.9 (26 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Red Badge of Courage by 6790383|Stephen Crane book cover

📘 The Red Badge of Courage

A war novel that follows Union private Henry Fleming as he confronts fear and shame after fleeing battle, seeking a symbolic "red badge of courage" and ultimately taking on the role of standard-bearer.

3.6 (19 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Maurice by 11274387|Edward Morgan Forster book cover

📘 Maurice

Maurice is E. M. Forster's pioneering gay romance set in early‑20th‑century England, tracing the titular character's journey from school to Cambridge and beyond.

3.7 (13 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
It's in His Kiss by 8399268|Julia Quinn book cover

📘 It's in His Kiss

Gareth St. Clair inherits a family diary written in Italian and a fraught fate. When he meets the quick‑witted Hyacinth Bridgerton, she offers to translate, and together they discover that the greatest secrets—and the perfect kiss—lie in each other.

3.8 (10 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The crossing by 7101959|Cormac McCarthy book cover

📘 The crossing

The Crossing follows brothers Billy and Boyd Parham as they journey across the New Mexico frontier before World War II, encountering wilderness, humanity, and the mythic realms of wolves and dusty plains.

3.8 (4 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
In Memoriam by 200776|Alice Winn book cover

📘 In Memoriam
 by Alice Winn

In 1914, a young man falls in love with his best friend fighting in World War I, creating an epic tale of forbidden romance amidst war's horrors.

5.0 (3 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
A Place for Us by 9657307|Isabel Miller book cover

📘 A Place for Us

In early 19th‑century New England, Patience and Sarah defy societal taboos to love each other, buy a farm, and carve out a sanctuary together.

5.0 (2 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Other Voices, Other Rooms by 6734402|Truman Capote book cover

📘 Other Voices, Other Rooms

Truman Capote’s 1948 debut, Other Voices, Other Rooms, blends Southern Gothic atmospherics with a semi‑autobiographical narrative, exploring adolescent friendship, family estrangement, and first love in the deep South.

4.5 (2 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Fire from heaven by 11490089|Mary Renault book cover

📘 Fire from heaven

Fire from Heaven is a 1969 historical novel that follows the childhood and youth of Alexander the Great, exploring his early life in ancient Macedonia and the formative influences that shaped the future king.

5.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Bom-Crioulo by 13679062|Adolfo Caminha book cover

📘 Bom-Crioulo

Bom-Crioulo is an 1895 Brazilian novel by Adolfo Caminha that portrays a black protagonist and a gay relationship, making it one of the first Brazilian literary works to address homosexuality and race.

4.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
What I Wish I Knew about Love by 506493|Kirstie Taylor book cover

📘 What I Wish I Knew about Love


5.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Imre by 5650040|Edward Prime-Stevenson book cover

📘 Imre

A pioneering 1906 gay romance set in Budapest where a British aristocrat and a Hungarian officer develop a profound friendship that blossoms into love.

0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Short Reign of Pippin IV by 6891955|John Steinbeck book cover

📘 The Short Reign of Pippin IV

John Steinbeck’s sole political satire flips the French Revolution, following an amateur astronomer who unexpectedly rules France, amid a comic court of royal antics.

0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The city and the pillar by 6949032|Gore Vidal book cover

📘 The city and the pillar
 by Gore Vidal

The City and the Pillar follows a young man's journey into adulthood as he confronts and accepts his homosexuality in New York during the late 1940s.

0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Teleny by 13371893|Anonymous book cover

📘 Teleny
 by Anonymous

A discreet 19th‑century tale of love and longing between the French musician Camille Des Grieux and Hungarian pianist Rène Teleny, set against the backdrop of a Parisian concert hall.

0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Despised & Rejected by 6322948|A. T. Fitzroy book cover

📘 Despised & Rejected

Set on a Devon holiday hotel in July 1914, this novel follows Dennis Fitzroy, a music-loving young man, as World War I erupts and he grapples with courage, love, and a growing awareness of his gay identity amid family pressures.

0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The easy way out by 8843387|Stephen McCauley book cover

📘 The easy way out

Patrick O'Neil, a travel agent, becomes involved in the lives of his straight-as-an-arrow younger brother, Tony, and his beautiful gay lawyer lover, Arthur, as he tries to navigate the complexities of his friends' relationships and career paths, including his parents' struggling suburban men's store.

0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Blithedale Romance by 14317987|Nathaniel Hawthorne book cover

📘 The Blithedale Romance

A communal farm in New England, and the dreams and desires of its idealistic inhabitants.

0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Someone to Trust by 13623993|Jennifer Taylor book cover

📘 Someone to Trust


0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Mr Right All Along by 13623993|Jennifer Taylor book cover

📘 Mr Right All Along


0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Beatrice the Sixteenth by 411364|Irene Clyde book cover

📘 Beatrice the Sixteenth

Beatrice the Sixteenth follows explorer Mary Hatherley as she journeys to a postgender world in 1909, revealing a feminist utopia that defies traditional gender roles.

0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Some Other Similar Books

The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta by John C. H. Oskison
The Novel of the War by Mary Jane Holmes
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
The Amulet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!

Please login to submit books!