WHAT IS THE HISTORICAL NOVEL?
I always loved reading books about history, but I first became interested in writing about history soon after I married Rich in 1988, and moved from St. Louis to Rochester, New York. One day Rich drove us south to the Finger Lakes area to visit the home of Mary Clark Thompson in Canandaigua along the shores of the lake with that name. I fell in love with the spacious, open mansion, surrounded by carefully designed and landscaped gardens. I yearned to learn more about the life of the woman who created this magnificent estate. Research taught me that Mary and her sisters had grown up in the small town of Canandaigua but when their father was elected Governor of New York and moved the family to Albany, the young women happily opened themselves to the vibrant society there. Mary met and married Frederick Thompson who became one of the earliest bankers in the country. When he died he left Mary childless with 40 million dollars in a time with no taxes. As a result of my research, an article I wrote was published in the Rochester newspaper, but I headed for graduate school at SUNY Brockport, and then moved to Seattle. While in graduate school, I worked at Rochester General Hospital and learned to be an archivist. My job there was to collect and film oral histories. I also did this more recently for the city of Tenino along with my daughter Becca. I would often pitch my ideas for a book about Mary Clark Thompson to agents and/or editors at conferences but no one was doing much with historical novels then.
Recently, however this genre has roared into a life all its own. At the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference last September, the editor of a small press asked me to submit a proposal for the book.
Two books that have helped me understand the components of a true historical novel are:
Writing Historical Fiction by Rhona Martin, St. Martin’s Press, NY 1988.
How to Write and Sell Historical Fiction by Persia Woolley, Writer’s Digest Books, 1997.
I also refer to an article in “The Writer” magazine, February 2000, page 7, “First Person Narrators in Historical Fiction” by William Martin.
For me, a good historical novel seeks to uncover and bring to light some forgotten, lost, or hidden part of history usually centering around a person, place, thing, or event.
For example, the historical novel would NOT be the story of a romance that could be placed in any time period. That would be classified as Historical Romance. A true Historical Novel requires research, research, research for a deep understanding of the period with detailed information on clothing, transportation, education, setting, history of the area, events going on in the time period and what the people wore, ate, how they lived. The story needs anchoring with place, events, dates. However, there is plenty of room for “what if” and some liberty can be taken with people’s personalities, how they might have interacted or what they said. The author is given room to “color” the story, to give it life.
Recent books offer excellent examples:
Giver of Stars by Jo Jo Meyers, Pamela Dorman Books, Viking, 2019. This book brings to life The Packhorse Library of Eastern Kentucky set up by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, l935 to l943. The program brought books to 100,000 rural residents.
Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, Plume Book, 2001. The author imagines the domestic life of artist Johannes Vermeer, Dutch portrait painter in the town of Delft in the mid-1600s. Chevalier centers her story around the maid who may have posed for the painting of the Girl with A Pearl Earring. Vermeer and his wife, Catharina had 15 children. The 11 who lived offer room for imagination. This book so inspired me that I researched the life of Vermeer and found photos of many of his paintings. The book was also made into a movie.
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, Doubleday 2020, awarded 2020 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The book shines light on the lives of young black men whose lives can be changed suddenly by circumstances beyond their control. Whitehead is also the author of The Underground Railroad, which follows the lives of men and women escaping slavery.
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, Riverhead Books, 2013, reveals the world of botany to her readers as the character studies this topic on her family’s estate in early Philadelphia.
Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2018, focuses on a photo of four children sitting on a step in Chicago. Behind them, their mother enters a door and beside them is a sign saying they are for sale. The author brings in a couple of newspaper reporters to help her dramatize this story.
Salt to the Sea by Ruth Sepetys, Penguin Books, 2016. This multi-award winner is classified Young Adult but is also a good example of historical fiction. The author follows several lives as they join on a journey at the end of World War II. They travel to the Baltic Sea to escape the Russian soldiers and board a ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff. The book is really focusing on what happened to that ship but cleverly uses the lives of characters to get the reader there.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, Ballantine, 2017. Story takes place in Memphis, Tenn., 1939, when a group of children living with their parents on a Mississippi houseboat are kidnapped and taken to an Orphanage.
HISTORICAL WRITING EXERCISE TO TRY: Think of a family heirloom and set a timer for 20 minutes. Keep your hand moving and explore the importance of this object to you and your family. What memories does it surface for you? Describe the object in detail. How is it historical?
Above is a collection of my historical fiction books, but The Dutch House is fiction only.
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