Olivia Waite

Olivia Waite is an American author of queer historical romance, science fiction, fantasy and essays. She also writes about the genre as the romance fiction columnist for the New York Times Book Review.

She first became known for historical romance, including the Feminine Pursuits series. Its first book, The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics (2019), centers on a woman astronomer in Regency-era England, and it was followed by The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows, a love story between a printer and a beekeeper.

Murder by Memory (2025) marked her move into science fiction mystery. Set aboard a generation ship where passengers' minds are kept in a great library and restored into new bodies as needed, it follows Dorothy Gentleman, the ship's detective, who wakes in a stranger's body after a murder. The novella was a Hugo Award finalist in 2026 and began a series that continued with Nobody's Baby.