![A modified trope map graphic for The Strangers' Shrine. Over a blurred background of a Tuscan landscape, the text reads: When home betrays you, build a new home * queernorm world & mostly queer cast * thorny themes, cozy setting * small-town festivals & gatherings * supportive mentors * found family (when the first one fails you) a small-scale fantasy novel with trauma, triumph and community In the center, the book cover [art by May Barros]: two people leaning against a fence, looking out over a hilly landscape.](https://www.serobertsonfiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/strangers-trope-map-sans-arrows-2160-x-1130-1.png)
Coming Late 2025
When home betrays you, build a new home
Two former classmates, faithless priest Placida and traumatized shrine guard Lunden, are tasked with reopening an abandoned shrine far out in farm country. They didn’t know one another well at the Academy, and don’t intend to start now. They just have to figure out how to run a shrine on their own, so the townsfolk don’t send them home.
Between summer bonfires and winter rains, Placida and Lunden find that they’ll have to work together to make the shrine thrive — and that they both hide painful secrets.
The Strangers’ Sanctuary is a small-scale fantasy novel about healing from dysfunctional origins, finding your place in the world, potlucks, book clubs, and true friends. It’s set in the same queernorm, low-magic world as the Healers series, but can be read without it.
Cover art by May Barros.
Releasing wide in September 2025. Watch this space or subscribe to the newsletter for release announcements.