How much tolerance for fiction in historical fiction?
I recently did a presentation for my writing group, Quill and Cup, on how much fiction there is in historical fiction. Many writers feel daunted by the amount of research required to write historical fiction. It can be a lot! I say that as someone who loves research!
History is a story. Full stop.
The telling of history is the telling of a story. It emphasizes some parts, ignores others. It’s revisited. It’s revised. It has limits. What we think we know about history is based on the stories that we were told by our own families and the place(s) and times in which we live. Margaret Atwood writes that “Individual memory, history, and the novel, are all selective: no one remembers everything, each historian picks out the facts he or she chooses to find significant, and every novel, whether historical or not, must limit its own scope. No one can tell all the stories there are.” Be reassured that no one can know everything about every time period or place.
Historical Fiction Definition
Historical Fiction takes readers to a time and place in the past. How far back in time does an author have to go for their work to be considered Historical Fiction? A good rule of thumb is a minimum of 50 years.
Historical fiction novels include details about social norms, cultural practices, political events, key figures, and technological advancements. The main characters may be biographical, inspired by real people, or entirely fictional. Likewise, the plot may follow precisely actual historical events or timelines or be entirely fictional or usually a combination of the two.
There is a whole set of subgenres within historical fiction – which is for the most part simply taking other fiction genres and putting the word ‘historical’ in front of it. For example,
- Historical Romance
- Historical Mystery
- Historical fantasy
- Historical thriller
- Historical adventure
- Alternate History
- Biographical history
And in these sub-genres there is variation in how much fiction is tolerated. Or what I call the ‘fudge-o-meter’.
As you can see, Biographical History has less tolerance, especially if based on a famous person. The factual details of the person’s life are not ‘fudged’ but their inner life and emotions may be.
In Historical Mystery, one of my favourite genres to read, the historical details are largely accurate and detailed and work with the mystery. I love the Brother Cadfael Chronicles by Ellis Peters. Set in the early 12th century in England, Cadfael has been a soldier and has late in life become a monk. Best of all, he is a herbalist and has a walled herb garden. I have a weakness for walled vegetable and herb gardens. Also, the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear is set in one of my favourite time periods, the 1920s. I’ve recently enjoyed the Malabar House series by Vaseem Khan set in 1950s India after Independence and Partition whose main character is India’s first woman police detective. It’s a time of optimism, excitement and change. I love time periods like that.
As we move towards Historical Romance, there is more tolerance for ‘fudging’ as the focus for these novels is the romance.
Alternative History, as you might suspect, is one of the most tolerant as these novels are premised on asking what if events as we know had unfolded differently.
Finally, Historical Fantasy with their dragons, wizards, and magic are the most tolerant.
I like that historical fiction as a genre is wide enough that all sorts of writers and their preference for research can find a place to tell their stories. Personally, I like the research involved and find that the details uncovered help me develop my settings, plot and characters. I confess I also sometimes use it to avoid writing. I am getting better at not interrupting my writing flow by making lists of details to check at a later date.
Although my novel is based a true person, she left only faint traces in the historical record. So, I’ve maintained accuracy about all known facts about her life but have imagined her personality, her struggles, her motivations, and what her life might have been like.
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References:
Atwood, Margaret. 1997. In search of Alias Grace : on writing Canadian historical fiction. University of Ottawa Press.
