Past Perfect:
Historical Fiction and
Readers’ Advisory Service
Sarah Johnson
Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University
Webinar for the Concord Free Public Library
July 14, 2011
The Historical Fiction Renaissance
• Increasingly popular since mid-’90s
• Frequently chosen by book groups
• Appearance of new literary awards
- Walter Scott Prize (2010-)
- ALA Reading List (2007-)
- Langum Prize (2003-)
THE SEVEN BASIC QUESTIONS
WHY do people read it?
WHAT is it?
HOW do you define it?
WHO reads it?
HOW MUCH of it is history, and how much is fiction?
WHEN does it take place?
WHERE can you find it?
“The past is a foreign country…
they do things differently there.”
- L. P. Hartley
“All novels are historical…
but some are more historical
than others.”
- George Orwell
(sort of…)
“Nouns always trump adjectives,
and in the phrase ‘historical fiction,’
it is important to remember
which is which.”
- Thomas Mallon
WHAT DO READERS WANT?
•
Convincingly accurate historical setting
•
Entertaining plotline
•
Compelling, realistic characters that reflect
their time
•
To learn what it’s like to live in another time
period
•
Historical detail that’s woven naturally into
the story
The Subgenres of
Historical Fiction
Part I:
THE BASICS
Traditional Historical Novels
Goals:
• Realistically portray a historical
period, place, and its inhabitants
• To entertain
Characteristics:
• Straightforwardly told and wellpaced, but no set plot pattern
• Protagonists you can root for
• Authors are storytellers, first and
foremost
Traditional Historical Novels
Benchmark authors:
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•
•
•
•
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Jean Auel
Ken Follett
Margaret George
Philippa Gregory
Jean Plaidy
Jeff Shaara
Multi-Period Epics
Goals:
• Let readers view a culture over an
extended period of time
• Provide a comprehensive picture of
a civilization or geographic area
Characteristics:
• LONG!
• Series of chronological snapshots
• Emphasis on setting and historical
change; character development not
always paramount
Multi-Period Epics
Benchmark authors:
• James Michener
• Edward Rutherfurd
Sagas
Goals:
• Explore characters’ domestic lives
and family relationships
• Show how changing times affect
people’s lives
Characteristics:
• Long, involved single novels, or
multivolume series
• Follow multiple generations, or
groups of friends, over time
• Emphasis on characters, setting
Sagas
Benchmark authors:
•
•
•
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Catherine Cookson
John Jakes
Kate Morton
Beverly Swerling
Western Historical Novels
Goals:
• Authentically portray the historical
Western experience
Characteristics:
• Set “out west” anytime from the 16th
to mid-20th centuries
• Significant historical detail and
strong sense of place
• Considerable diversity in subject
matter
Western Historical Novels
Benchmark authors:
•
•
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Sandra Dallas
Elmer Kelton
Larry McMurtry
Lucia St. Clair Robson
Richard S. Wheeler
Part II:
GENRE-BLENDING
Romantic Historical Novels
Goals:
• Let readers escape into a world
where romance takes center
stage
• Tell a romantic story against an
accurate historical backdrop
• Engage the reader’s emotions
• Separated into three subcategories:
romantic epics,
romantic historical novels,
historical romances
Romantic Historical Novels
Benchmark authors:
• Romantic epics: Sara Donati,
Jennifer Donnelly, Kate
Furnivall, Diana Gabaldon
• Romantic historical novels:
Diane Haeger, Lauren Willig
• Historical romances: Mary
Balogh, Loretta Chase – highly
dependent on era. Too many to
name!
Historical Adventure
Goals:
• Entertain
• Let readers become armchair
travelers and adventurers
Characteristics:
• Brisk pacing
• Heroic protagonists (usually men)
who test their mettle against a
known enemy
• Well-realized physical settings
Historical Adventure
Benchmark authors:
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•
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James Clavell
Bernard Cornwell
William Dietrich
Conn Iggulden
Patrick O’Brian
Historical Mysteries
Goals:
• Present readers with a puzzle to
solve, usually a murder or murders
• Let readers combine an interest in
history with an intellectual challenge
Characteristics:
• Detectives who serve justice by
solving crimes
• Cases solved without modern
forensic methods
• Types: Hard boiled / cozy /
traditional
Historical Mysteries
Benchmark authors:
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•
•
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Ariana Franklin
Anne Perry
Ellis Peters
Laura Joh Rowland
Steven Saylor
Charles Todd
Historical Thrillers
Goals:
• Engage and thrill the reader
with exciting, suspenseful,
exhilarating storylines
Characteristics:
• Intelligent protagonists who
find themselves in danger
• Complex, multi-faceted plots
• Suspenseful page-turners
• Frequently fast-paced
Historical Thrillers
Benchmark authors:
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W.E.B. Griffin
Ken Follett
Alan Furst
David Liss
C.J. Sansom
Literary Historical Novels
Goals:
• Use a historical story as a way
of expressing a universal or
contemporary theme
Characteristics:
• Eloquent, carefully chosen
language
• Multi-layered plotlines
• Leisurely paced
• Address serious issues
• Character driven
Literary Historical Novels
Benchmark authors:
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Geraldine Brooks
Tracy Chevalier
E.L. Doctorow
Sarah Dunant
Barry Unsworth
Susan Vreeland
Christian Historical Novels
Goals:
• Tell a historical story that reflects a
Christian worldview
Characteristics:
• Addressed to Christian readers
• Portray the religious life of earlier times
• Characters who strive to live godly lives
in an imperfect world
• Major conflict deals with Christian
principles
• No explicit sex or language
Christian Historical Novels
Benchmark authors:
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Deeanne Gist
Gilbert Morris
Tracie Peterson
Francine Rivers
Lauraine Snelling
Bodie & Brock Thoene
Part III:
THE OUTER LIMITS
Time-Slip Novels
Goals:
• Let readers imagine that “slipping” from
one time period to another is possible
Characteristics:
• Creatively written
• Supernatural elements used as a plot
device
• Characters travel back to another time,
are reincarnated, or have an inexplicable
connection to another time period
• Elements of romance, mystery, fantasy,
thrillers, even science fiction
Time-Slip Novels
Benchmark authors:
• Barbara Erskine
• Anya Seton
(for Green Darkness)
Alternate History
Goals:
• Answer the question “what if…?”
• Examine alternative outcomes to
historical events
Characteristics:
• Plots hinge on one historical event,
imagining what would have
happened if it turned out differently
• Run counter to historical fact
• Many based around wars or battles
• Creative and thought-provoking
Alternate History
Benchmark authors:
• Robert Conroy
• Newt Gingrich & William R.
Forstchen
• Harry Turtledove
Historical Fantasy
Goals:
• Appeal to readers’ imaginations
• Add elements of Fantasy to historicallybased stories
Characteristics:
• Detailed, vividly rendered historical settings
• Elements of the fantastic: magic,
supernatural powers, mythical creatures
• Otherworldly atmosphere
• Characters from myth and legend
• Frequently long, leisurely paced novels
Historical Fantasy
Benchmark authors:
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Marion Zimmer Bradley
Guy Gavriel Kay
Juliet Marillier
Jules Watson
Cross-Genre Favorites!
Dorothy Dunnett,
The Game of Kings
traditional + literary +
swashbuckling adventure
Diana Gabaldon,
Outlander
romantic epic +
time-slip + traditional
A.S. Byatt,
Possession
literary + romantic +
mystery
Questions:
Think about the most heavily circulated
historical novels in your library.
What subgenres do they fall into?
Do they fit into more than one
category?
Looking Beyond the
Subgenres:
Appeal Factors
“Appeal is what takes us – and readers –
beyond mere subjects and plotlines.
Appeal terms, added to a plot summary,
open up books for readers and allow them
to decide if this is a book they are in the
mood to read and enjoy … The elements
of books to which a reader relates
constitute the appeal of a book for the
reader.”
Joyce G. Saricks, Readers’ Advisory
Service in the Public Library
Appeal Factors for Historical
Novels:
• Time period and geographic setting
• Type of historical content
• Tone
• Pacing
• Language, style, and dialog
• Type of character
Historical Fiction in the
Collection
HOT TOPICS and THEMES
• Royal women
• Lesser-known
historical characters
• Tudor England
• Renaissance Italy
• Sagas
HOT TOPICS and THEMES
• Parallel narratives
(dual-time novels)
• Ancient Rome
• Paranormal elements
(including vampires!)
• Historians writing fiction
Historical Fiction Is…
EVERYWHERE!
Historical Fiction Is…
invisible…
Historical Fiction Is…
invisible…
THE ISSUE of
PAPERBACK ORIGINALS
THE ISSUE OF REPRINTS
2011
1987
2010
2010
The End:
Any questions?
Email the speaker: [email protected]