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Historical Fiction is a story that 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. The idea is to take readers out of the events of their lifetime. Most book lovers agree that Historical Fiction is the closest we’ll get to actual time travel.
What makes a historical novel believable is its setting. Historical Fiction is set in a real place, during a culturally recognizable time. The details and the action in the story can be a mix of actual events and ones from the author’s imagination as they fill in the gaps. Characters can be pure fiction or based on real people (often, it’s both). But everything about them — their attitudes and look, the way they speak, and problems they face — should match the era. Of course the key to an author getting all of this right is research. Authors are always allowed artistic license, but the most satisfying works of Historical Fiction have been researched down to every scent, button, turn of phrase, and cloud in the sky.
Origins of Historical Fiction?
It wasn’t until the early 1800s that Historical Fiction emerged as a contemporary literary genre. Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe (1819) was one of the first popular novels of the genre. Set in 1194 near the end of the Crusades, the book’s titular hero returns to England only to find he has been disinherited for falling in love with the wrong woman. Ultimately, Ivanhoe must choose between family and country, or love.
Source: Celadon Books
The general category of Historical Fiction is often called Documentary Fiction. It adheres closely to events of the era and strives to be as historically accurate as possible. In The Buddha in the Attic (2011), Julie Otsuka follows the lives of three young Japanese “picture brides” in San Francisco. Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman (2020) features a Chippewa man trying to make life better for his reservation in 1953.
Source: Celadon Books
Biographical Historical Fiction, tells the fictionalized story of a real person’s life. Colm Tóibín’s The Master (2004) follows the life of Henry James across Europe as he works and falls in love. This category also includes stories about the history of a specific group of people, like Charles Johnson’s Middle Passage (1990) which details the terrors of the slave trade.
Historical Series and Epics are works of Historical Fiction that cover many eras, often in several settings.
Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge series begins with The Pillars of the Earth (1989), about the building of a great Gothic cathedral in 12th century England, and ends five centuries later. In Frank Delaney’s Ireland (2005), a storyteller holds every tale important to the country, from ancient kings through 20th century triumphs.
Historical Mysteries and Thrillers have all the elements of the contemporary genre; they’re just set in the past. Jess Kidd’s Things in Jars (2019) takes readers to Victorian London, where Detective Devine must rescue a valuable child. Set in a remote Icelandic coastal town in the 1680s, The Glass Woman (2019) by Caroline Lea features a newly-married woman questioning how her husband’s previous wife died.
Historical Romance tells the burning love stories of the past. In Diana Gabaldon’s epic Outlander (1991) series, a British nurse has just returned from the war when she’s mysteriously thrown 202 years back in time and has an affair for the ages. Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (1936) introduces the world to Scarlett O’Hara, a young woman determined to marry well during post-Civil War reconstruction.
Historical Adventures often take readers on journeys by air, sea, or land. A young slave risks her life in a terrifying ride to freedom in Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad (2016). Homer’s The Odyssey (8th century B.C.) recounts the past triumphs and defeats of Greek hero, Odysseus, as he sails home from war.Historical Adventures often take readers on journeys by air, sea, or land. A young slave risks her life in a terrifying ride to freedom in Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad (2016). Homer’s The Odyssey (8th century B.C.) recounts the past triumphs and defeats of Greek hero, Odysseus, as he sails home from war.
Historical Fantasy gives the author artistic license to change the details of the past while holding fast to others. W. M. Akers’ Westside (2019) imagines a dystopian 1920s New York City, with the rich and poor divided by a giant fence along Broadway. This category also includes alternative reality histories — an exercise in what could have happened, despite an already-resolved event. In Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America (2004), Charles Lindbergh becomes President in 1940 and shows no interest in stopping Hitler’s rise to power. Characters in Stephen King’s 11/22/63 (2011) try, with the help of time travel, to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
World Building – you are building a world for your readers, hence the customs, social arrangements, family environment, governments, religious structures, international alliances, military actions, physical geography, layouts of towns and cities, and politics of the time are relevant. As Harry Sidebottom, author of Warrior of Rome series said: “The past is another country, they not only do things differently there, they think about things differently.”
Character – whether real or imagined, characters behave in keeping with the era they inhabit, even if they push the boundaries. And that means discovering the norms, attitudes, beliefs and expectations of their time and station in life. A Roman slave differs from a Roman centurion, as does an innkeeper from an aristocrat in the 18th century. Your mission as writer is to reveal the people of the past.
Dialogue – dialogue that is cumbersome and difficult to understand detracts from readers’ enjoyment of historical fiction. Dip occasionally into the vocabulary and grammatical structures of the past by inserting select words and phrases so that a reader knows s/he is in another time period. Don’t weigh the manuscript down or slow the reader’s pace with too many such instances. And be careful. Many words have changed their meanings over time and could be misinterpreted.
Setting – setting is time and place. More than 75% of participants in a 2013 reader survey selected ‘to bring the past to life’ as the primary reason for reading historical fiction. Your job as a writer is to do just that. Even more critically, you need to transport your readers into the past in the first few paragraphs. Consider these opening sentences.
Plot – the plot has to make sense for the time period. And plot will often be shaped around or by the historical events taking place at that time. This is particularly true when writing about famous historical figures. When considering those historical events, remember that you are telling a story not writing history.
Conflict – the problems faced by the characters in your story. As with theme and plot, conflict must be realistic for the chosen time and place. Readers will want to understand the reasons for the conflicts you present. An unmarried woman in the 15th century might be forced into marriage with a difficult man or the taking of religious vows. Both choices lead to conflict.
World Building – you are building a world for your readers, hence the customs, social arrangements, family environment, governments, religious structures, international alliances, military actions, physical geography, layouts of towns and cities, and politics of the time are relevant. As Harry Sidebottom, author of Warrior of Rome series said: “The past is another country, they not only do things differently there, they think about things differently.”
