Today I’m featuring a discussion post: Historical Fiction Pros & Cons (2024 Book Blog Discussion Challenge). Do you have Historical Fiction on your bookshelves (Deb’s World)? Do you have an opinion about historical fiction?
It is known that many avid readers are huge consumers of historical fiction. Anecdotally, I have found that many educators enjoy historical fiction. Followers of this blog and/or my reviews KNOW that I’m a HUGE Historical Fiction fan! I’m an avid reader, an educator (retired), AND a lifelong learner, so this genre is a perfect match for my natural interests and preferences. However, at least three anticipated histfic reads in the last year have been huge disappointments, and it’s causing me to consider pros and cons of the genre.
I suppose every genre has its pros and cons. You may love thrillers or horror but it might cause nightmares. Science Fiction may cause you to worry….looking at you Ryland Grace…..who knew the Sun could be consumed by a virus??? (Project Hail Mary)
A few of my favorite and dependable histfic authors include Kate Quinn, Susan Meissner, Ariel Lawhon, Stephanie Dray, Leslie Eames, Chanel Cleeton, Marie Benedict, Lisa See, Heather Webb, Ruta Sepetys, Cathy Gohlke, Sara Ackerman, Martha Hall Kelly, Hazel Gaynor, and a few others I’m watching. Who are your favorite histfic authors?
*The review links in this post contains links to reviews that have Amazon affiliate links.
What are the Pros and Cons of Historical Fiction?
I wouldn’t read the genre if my Pros didn’t outweigh the Cons. However, the Cons can be annoying and even worrisome. My biggest Con is probably one of my own doing. Let me explain. Before I even begin reading a historical fiction selection, I’m well on my way down a Google Rabbit Hole! I want to know about Picasso’s painting and the location of Guernica (The Girl From Guernica). I want to know about Francis Perkins (Becoming Madam Secretary). You get the idea. So….. when/if an author strays too far from the facts, it’s an immediate cause for concern. I understand that authors need to invent conversations and combine characters and move events around in a timeline, but don’t make up an identity or invent a relationship/event that never happened (usually to fit a modern agenda). In addition, too much modern thinking/dialogue spoils an otherwise good histfic read. I could give you examples of my most unsatisfying histfic reading experiences, but I won’t put these authors on blast. I can promise you, though, that I will not promote them or the books on my blog. If you are curious about specific examples, I’m happy to share in a private email communication.
Let’s Back Up a Minute: What is Historical Fiction?
Historical Fiction is a story whose setting is significantly set in the past using the date of publication as a reference point. A story set at least forty years before publication is considered historical fiction (there is no specific number of years that defines histfic and opinions vary). The definitions become more complicated when we discuss classic literature which has a setting far in the past. However, the setting was contemporary when the book was published. So that will not fit our definition.
There are a couple of ways to write historical fiction: write about a real event and real people (biographical histfic); or write about a real event with imagined characters. If authors don’t have sufficient research or there is inconclusive evidence about a real person, I prefer an imagined character over making up facts about real people. Authors, please don’t give a real-life person a defining identity or characteristic for which you have no evidence. Readers with a penchant for Googling will be highly disappointed. In the case of my two most disappointing reads, the author in her notes clearly states the reality and the reasons she chose to disregard the evidence. Sorry, this disclaimer is not helpful! At times, I wonder how the person’s descendants feel about these imaginings. Also, many readers never read the author notes and are left with false perceptions. If an author is going to fabricate the facts or lifestyle, I prefer that she uses imaginary characters set in the historical period.
One author explained in her prologue that all the newspaper headlines/blurbs had been fabricated. What? If you are going to make it look authentic, please use an actual primary source. I DNFed the book in the prologue (a first for me!)
Am I too demanding of the genre?
Some readers would say I am. After all, historical fiction is FICTION and not held to the same factual standards and expectations as nonfiction. OK. Fine. I can see your point. However, when it comes to writing about REAL people, it’s NOT OK to reinvent her or his life. Some readers won’t read historical fiction because they don’t know how much is factual. I would be happier if the authors made up the character and placed this character in a historical setting. Have other readers run into this situation? Have you experienced this concern?
Genre Mashups
Most of the time, historical fiction is a mashup of genres. It’s easy to include elements of mystery, aspects of a thriller, or a side of romance. These are subgenres known as historical mystery, historical thriller, and historical romance. The Rose Code (Quinn is known for including a side of thriller in her histfic stories) and The Nature of Fragile Things are two examples of mashups that are especially enjoyable. Occasionally, I read a histfic book that feels like women’s fiction set in the past. Yes, this is technically considered historical fiction, but some of these stories feel like they could be set at any time and the past has been used primarily to attract histfic readers. At other times, histfic can be an info dump and the story drags. Narrative nonfiction might be a satisfying compromise. Narrative nonfiction reads like a story and is my favorite form of nonfiction….good examples are The Woman They Could Not Silence, Killers of the Flower Moon,, Boys in the Boat, and The Day the World Came to Town.
Considering all this, some readers prefer to read nonfiction rather than historical fiction. I continue to read histfic, but I do have a growing list of reliable, trustworthy authors and other authors that I will avoid.
Are you comfortable reading historical fiction or do you prefer nonfiction? Do you have significant concerns with historical fiction?
I’m stepping off my soapbox now! I hope my musings have been thought-provoking. #BookProblems are the best problems! If you’re an avid histfic reader or a histfic author, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Summarizing the Pros & Cons
(Even though my cons list appears to outweigh the pros, my pros are weighted heavily!)
PROS
- Real-life Individuals
- Real Historical Events
- Unsung Heroes
- Untold Stories
- Enjoyable Opportunities for Leaning About Real Events and Real People
CONS
- Rearranging or Combining Events
- Re-imagining Real-life Characters (and assigning them behaviors or thinking that is not backed up by source material)
- Modern Slang
- Anachronisms
- Contemporary Thinking
- Hijacking the Genre (i.e. when you really meant to write a romance)
Historical Fiction QOTD:
Do you love stories based on real-life amazing individuals or about real-life events?
Do you have a favorite histfic story?
Do you have a pro or con I missed?
I’m linking up with Deb @ Deb’s World, Sue @ Women Living Well After 50, Donna @ Retirement Reflections, and Jo @ And Anyways… for the April installment of #WhatsOnYourBookShelfChallenge.
I’m also linking up today with the 2024 Book Blog Discussion Challenge hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight.
Happy Reading Book Buddies!
“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke
“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.” ~Denise J Hughes
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I have read a few great historical fiction books.
You clearly are a massive fan of the genre.
I’m tickled when I can answer a Jeopardy question based on my reading!
I love historical fiction and often find it a really great way of learning about different historical events. However, I completely agree that it isn’t right for authors to take real people and change them to suit their own stories. I get that some things might be altered for dramatic effect or to suit a storyline. I’ve often read notes that state that the order of events of events has been altered to fit the story better. However, to give real people personalities or lives that cant’ be backed up by evidence seems very wrong to me. It’s my biggest gripe with historical films too.
I guess because it’s fiction they can do it, but they lose me as a reader!
Fab post Carol! As you know I love this genre too, and I also have my pet peeves, modern slang being one of them! 😂
Thanks Nicki! Yes, all the modern slang and thinking!
You pretty well nailed the CONs. The book I just finished [I’ll leave it nameless] which I loved still had some of these things. “X–not so much” or things like that. Then there was an agenda chapter. That sort of thing gets old even if, in this case, it wasn’t untrue–many experienced in real life what the character experienced. I’m totally sick to death of female spies–they need their own genre I thing lol. I also worry that we are “cheapening” [not really the correct term, but I don’t know that the correct term exists] the horror of the Holocaust with so many novels–many of them pretty bad. Add in Christian fiction (I am a Christian but pretty much loathe Christian fiction which seems to rip off secular books and add in someone thinking a Bible verse or praying or what have you] and you get too many Holocaust novels that do nothing for the memory of the brave people who survived it. It is even worse as now so few are around to fight against all of them. I’m also sick of women hiding in plain sight as men. Right….no way they’ll ever know! Oh please. There ARE recorded cases of that happening, but so few as to be inconsequential.
I’ve noticed some Jewish reviewers calling out Holocaust stories for various reasons. I think female spies must be a legit sub genre by now! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
The best part of histfic is the rabbit holes it sends you down. I enjoy fictional characters set in historical situations, but if they’re real characters I don’t mind imagining what might have happened set beside the facts, but I don’t enjoy having the history rewritten into something a long way from the facts.
Yes, I love the goggling and learning aspect of histfic!
Rewriting history is problematic! Some authors take too many liberties with the fiction part of histfic! Thanks for commenting Jo!
This is an excellent post, Carol. Lots of great thoughts here and I agree with almost all of them. I never thought about some of the stories I have read being set in the past, and they really could have been set anytime, so true. I think the one thing I love about HistFic is that I almost always learn something. I never go down the rabbit hole until after I read the book though. As you know, I am a huge histfic fan and love when a book is so real, that a fictionalized character is someone I google, because I think they must have existed. There are so many subgenres of histfic now that I do have my favourites and settings. Lots to think about.
Thanks Carla! Yes! I’ve googled fictional characters before thinking they must be real! One was the composer in Symphony of Secrets! I was so sure he was real! 😂 With biographical histfic I usually go down the google rabbit hole first….which has come back to bite me on numerous occasions! With other histfic, I google as something strikes me. I’m glad we share the love for this genre!
The last one for me was The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West. I was sure Olivia West had to have been a real person.
Yes! I remember flipping to the author notes! I wasn’t too surprised because she usually has imaginary characters experiencing real events in her stories.
I agree with Jo, sometimes I’ve gone down rabbit trails with historical fiction. This was interesting.
Thanks for commenting Kristin! Historical fiction can be a fascinating reading experience enhanced by google rabbit holes!
Great post Carol. I agree. I enjoy historical fiction but find it annoying when they use real people and change them. In those cases I always wonder why they didn’t just make up a character instead. I would much prefer to Google a fictional character thinking they were real than have a real person changed for the book.
Thanks Jo! Changing the lives of real people is misleading and dishonest. Really disturbs me. 🧐 Just use a fictional character!
I loved reading this as historical fiction is my favourite genre, to the point that I have to remind myself to expand occasionally. I love fiction based on fact, and particularly war fiction. I agree with your cons. I have to favourite female authors of historical fiction – Hannah Kent and Kristin Hannah, but also many others. Jen
https://bestbookishblog.com/
I’ve read some by Kristin Hannah but not her most recent. I’m happy to hear we share the love for histfc! Thanks for commenting Jen!
I love this post, Carol. Lots to think about! I’m a big fan of narrative non-fiction. Right now, I’m enjoying Gail Ward Olmstead’s Katherine’s Remarkable Road Trip.
Thanks Gina! I’ll check out your rec!
I reviewed her Landscape of a Marriage about Fred Olmstead,
creator of Central Park along with many more. And yes, he was related to her husband.
What a great post and I’ve not thought about the pros and cons of Historical Fiction. I’m a fan but yes, I agree, those Rabbit Holes start appearing don’t they? Thanks so much for sharing with us at #WOBYS? I hope you can join us next month. x
Thanks Sue! An intriguing rabbit hole is a definite perk of reading histfic!
This was a great post Carol and clearly you are a super fan of Historical Fiction. I enjoy it too but unlike some readers I don’t usually go looking for further information, taking it on face value, so rabbit holes aren’t much of an issue for me! Does that make me shallow do you think? I can get involved in the life of a real character if sufficiently interested but I like to read and digest then move on. Thanks for joing us for #WOYBS and for explaining your pros and cons for histfic, it’s so interesting to read your views. I always enjoy your reviews!
Thanks Debbie! Reading is personal and each reading experience is unique. You’re not shallow! 😂 I’m sure I’m overthinking it!
This is a great post, Carol. I enjoyed it as a reader of historical fiction and as a struggling would-be writer of historical fiction. In the last year or two I’ve started reading the Author Notes at the back of the book before I read a novel. I want to be aware of what is fact and what is fiction before I start reading the book. The first historical novel manuscript I wrote started out with a real-life protagonist. Well into the 100,000-word project, I concluded that the real-life protagonist was too limiting. I did not have enough proof of her personality to write her thoughts and words, so I changed her name and adjusted the plot. That was extremely freeing. After writing that manuscript, I decided that the protagonist’s backstory deserved its own book, and that is the novel I’m working on now. The series will include several real-life characters, but the main character is a figment of my imagination. Writing historical fiction is challenging and rewarding. I enjoy the writing aspect as well as doing the necessary research, so it’s the best of both worlds for me. Making sure a character only uses words that were in common usage in the 1760s is one of those challenges. You wouldn’t believe how many words one would assume fall in that category but don’t… and vice versa! Several of the historical fiction authors you listed are on my go-to list, too.
I can’t imagine how difficult it is to write and research histfic. I admire you and your efforts for authenticity! I wish I could comment on the story that prompted this post! If you’re curious I’ll email you! I especially admire Stephanie Dray because in her recent book there is some question about Perkins. She went directly to her grandson and asked his opinion and went with his perspective (all in her author notes)…..she said above all else she wants to error on getting it right!
I am curious, Carol. You can email me through my website, but I can’t remember if I’ve ever given you the URL. janetmorrisonbooks.com.
I’ll email you
What a great discussion topic, Carol! When I was younger I didn’t read much historical fiction because I was afraid that, if I didn’t read about the time period beforehand, I’d have no way of telling whether the author’s portrayal of that time was accurate. But lately I’ve started to read more historical fiction, although I stick with authors I know I can trust (e.g., Kate Quinn).
Thanks for joining the discussion, Mary! Bless those trustworthy authors! I keep a list! 😂
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