How many of you loved reading history books? Where is that thunderous applause? Most of my history textbooks were so crammed with names, dates and places that the context of it’s importance could be easily lost or forgotten after the test! At least, that was my experience. Hopefully today they have improved.
Historical Fiction, on the other hand, transports us to an historical place, usually set up with rich detail, and plunges us into how the characters are affected by those times.
The “fictional” part may take “real” people (eg. Hillary Rodham Clinton #27, Jesus #81, Mary Todd Lincoln #50), or imagined people (Bennie, the freed slave #82, Addie, born in 1900 to immigrant parents in Boston #73, and Lale the tattooist in Auschwitz #15) and will transform us to that to that place and time.
Good authors want to portray their time period accurately, and therefore, through their diligent research, god love them, give us our history lesson, complete with the characters which give context and color to their story. It is through the characters that we are able to relate to the historical period. This brings history to life for me.
Whenever life is really getting to me I do a little time travel into Historical Fiction. That usually puts my life into perspective. And, many times, makes me glad for today.
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