Queering the history books
Author Lex Croucher is writing the stories they needed when they were growing up
“When I write love interests, I’m writing the kind of people that I fancy,” author Lex Croucher (they/them) tells me with a grin. Case in point: Lady Bridget Leclair, the female knight and total heartthrob in Lex’s new medieval YA romcom, Gwen & Art Are Not In Love. Lady Bridget is the strong, silent type. She’s butch and mysterious, adept at jousting and delivering pithy one-liners. “That would have been my kryptonite as a teenager,” Lex reveals. As you might have already gathered, their novels are a riot, bursting with vividly drawn, diverse characters having wild adventures in evocative settings.
BY ROXY BOURDILLON
Photo Hannah Croucher
Today we are speaking about these historical books via the modern medium of Zoom. Lex is fresh from the shower, wearing a tank top that shows their tattooed arms. On the wall behind them hangs a beloved and enormous two-metre-wide Edwardian tapestry, a 30th birthday present from their nearest and dearest. Lex’s passion for the past is abundantly clear. They inform me that in their spare time they enjoy “wandering around ruined castles”.