Today I'm pleased to welcome author JJ Toner. I met JJ through HFAC, Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative. It's a great place to visit if you enjoy all types of historical fiction. Historical fiction is a broad category encompassing fictionalized history, romance set in specific time periods, mysteries, suspense.
Today, JJ poses the question: What exactly is historical fiction? I know he'd love to hear from you, so please leave a comment.
What is Historical Fiction?
I have written 2 historical fiction books and I’m nearly finished editing a third, and yet I’m not at all sure how to define the genre. The book I’m reading at the moment, The Executioner’s Heir by Susanne Alleyn is firmly rooted in French history leading up to the Revolution. At the front of the book Ms Alleyn provides a list of characters, and only a few minor characters — a street urchin and some servants — are fictional; all the others are real historical figures. H/F = 80/20
On the other hand, Mary Louisa Locke’s mysteries set in late 19th century San Fransisco, are
populated entirely by fictional characters. Her research of the period and the
location are impeccable, of course, giving the reader a fully-rounded historical
fiction experience. H/F = 40/60
Clearly, there is a
difference between these two books. The first, I would call Fictionalized
History, the second, perhaps Mysteries set in a Historical Context.
Phillipa Gregory’s books
are all about real life people, kings and queens of history. Her books, though
fiction, must be considered perilously close to pure history. I would class
these books Fictionalized History. H/F = 90/10
My own book, The Black Orchestra, is set in Berlin during World War 2. I have followed the progress
of the war from 1939-1942 with care, weaving the fictional story into the fabric
of the historical record, and there are one or two historical characters
included in the story, notably, Hans Oster and Reinhard Heydrich. I think the
term Historical Fiction fits my book well. H/F = 45/55
Consider Fatherland by Robert Harris. In this book every minute detail of life in Nazi Germany
has been
meticulously researched, and yet the book is based on an alternative (fictional)
version of history, where Germany has won the war. Still it qualifies as
Historical Fiction in my view. H/F = 30/70
Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther novels are set firmly in and around Germany before, during and after the
war. The books feature a number of historical characters and yet are fictional
through and through. H/F = 25/75
Karen Perkins’ wonderful
book, Thores-Cross contains two intertwined stories of the north of
England, one a contemporary story, the other a haunting tale of social history
from the 18th century. No real life characters are featured. Indisputably
Historical Fiction, this one, with strong paranormal elements. H/F =
50/50
My new book, The Wings of
the Eagle, is set in 1943 Germany, but I’m not confident that I could call it
Historical Fiction. It’s more of an action adventure story with the Second World
War as a backdrop. H/F = 10/90
Perhaps we should
categorize Historical Fiction on a sliding scale (as above) depending on the
historical content versus the fictional.
JJ Toner was discovered under a cabbage patch in Ireland with a pen in his hand.
He finally started writing again in 1996, after half a lifetime of
procrastination. Not that he was ever short of good excuses. For 35 years he
worked with computers as a petroleum geophysicist, with medical and veterinarian
scientists, accountants, engineers, and in a variety of industries, from health
care through manufacturing to shipping. His work took him all over Europe and
USA, and yet he somehow found the time to marry, built a home, father three
kids, and get his golf handicap down to a respectable figure. A Maths graduate,
he has been a full-time writer since 2007. He lives in Ireland with his wife and
his youngest son. So far, JJ has self-published a book of short stories and
three thrillers. The latest of these, The Black Orchestra, is set in Germany
during the early years of the Second World War.
5 comments:
That seems like a really good idea, JJ. It might put an end to all the discourse we see around the net: complaints from some that there's not enough history in the historical fiction they bought, and others unhappy about having too much history. Thumb's up!
I admit to a preference for what J.J. describes as fiction set in a historical period--as long as the author has a good grasp of the mindset of the time. With a few exceptions, I'd rather read about ordinary people and their challenges rather than the famous names of history.
I'm with you, Bev. There's so much out there about rulers and famous people. I've always been interested in the daily lives of ordinary citizens--also the lives of women. Not much is mentioned about them, not even women who had a lot of power, like the Vestal Virgins, are barely documented.
It's a great idea to describe historical fiction with a simple indicator of proportion--how much fiction, and how much "true" history. (Though I think that the people who dislike "too much history" are actually complaining about the sort of over-researched hf that gives endless info dumps about the historical background--can't see why a reader would complain about the history in a novel simply because it featured real people and was scrupulously true to events.)
But I, like Bev and Suzanne, find the "fictionalized history" about footnote people--rather than history's superstars--to be much more interesting. People just love writing novels about kings and queens--partly, I suspect, because of the glamor, and also (for the serious researchers) because there is so much available documentation about them! (Honestly, what can possibly be said in a novel about Anne Boleyn or her famous daughter that hasn't been said a hundred times already?) For myself, though, I was always a lot less interested in the spoiled and shallow Marie-Antoinette than in the honorable, conflicted, conscience-stricken man who was ordered to cut her head off.
Susanne: I meant to ask you, was it Sanson who invented the guillotine? JJ
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