I enjoy reading historical fiction because all of the characters and settings are mostly in place. It also shows the reader that the author can do their research. I love the feeling when the author gets something right; it shows the passion they have for their work. With any genre in fiction, it is easy not to describe things in the detail they need. Still, some authors go above and beyond to give the reader the full experience. The best authors do not focus on sight alone; but also bring in other senses, such as hearing, smell and touch.
Reading historical fiction- why I enjoy it
Historical fiction is something I enjoyed for a long time because I love history. When you read a history book, it is easy to forget that the people we read about were real, they felt the same things we do. Every person in history has a story to tell. We often only hear it from the perspective of whoever is ruling at the time and the evidence we have either from wars or what ambassadors collected. The data collected is most critical within wars; each person lost had a life, a family. When historians reduce them to a number, they lose the story. That person is lost, and even with extensive research, no one can ever gain the truth.
Another example I want to use is the six wives of Henry VIII. These six women lived five hundred years ago. It is only through letters, the accounts of ambassadors such as Eustace Chapuys and eyewitness reports that we can only begin to understand those women. Even then, historians are still scratching the surface. So much has changed between the 1500s and today; it is easy to forget what was important to those people.
Katherine of Aragon held religion to her heart, like everyone else in the Tudor era. When Henry VIII tried to divorce her to marry Anne Boleyn, he used the Bible as a source of evidence. Upon her arrival in England, Katherine married Henry VIII’s older brother, Arthur. When he died, Katherine said that the marriage remained unconsummated. That meant she could marry Henry. Katherine refused to back down; she continued to argue that she never had a valid marriage with Arthur. While historians do record Katherine’s life in detail, they usually do not record her emotions. Historical fiction tries to add feelings into these people’s lives.
Another reason why I like historical fiction is that it allows the author to put a different spin on characters if we do not know much about them. Fiction allows us to explore different sides to people that historical records can neglect. We know a lot about the rulers of our world, what they did during their lives; but we rarely know how they feel. Reading historical fiction can help to close that gap. We will never know how those people truly felt. Still, it allows us to connect with them on a different level that various historical sources can’t do.
I am reviewing different books in the historical fiction category, including:
The Taming of the Queen– Philippa Gregory
Lady Mary and Eliza Rose- Lucy Worsley
The Marquess House Saga- Alexandra Walsh
Six Tudor Queens Series- Alison Weir
Fatal Throne- various authors
The Girl With No Name and The Married Girls- Diney Costeloe
Here is the list of my top five favourite historical fiction novels.
I will review a range of historical fiction books, and the list will continue to grow as I write more reviews. If you want to know what historical novel to read next, you can check out each of my studies. I will include both the good and the bad parts of the story or series, allowing you to make an informed decision.