I love a great historical fiction read, so when I discovered this article yesterday, I thought it well worth sharing.
I fully agree with the author’s comments about what distinguishes excellent historical fiction from the rest. There is no substitute for research and ensuring that a story is entirely consistent with the time, place and people involved.
In keeping with the encouragement to pick up a work of historical fiction, I’d like to recommend some that I have found to be excellent.
To Be A Queen by Annie Whitehead
Miriamne the Magdala by J.B. Richards
A Daffodil for Angie by Connie Lacey
Blood and Ink by DK Marley
The Artist by Lyra Shanti
I do hope you enjoy this excellent post by Steve Cochrane.
I love to read. For the past 20 years plus, I’ve read on average 150 books a year. I even keep a list in my journal of all those books, so could prove it to you if you wanted! Books on history always figure prominently on that list, but not only non-fiction. I also love the genre of historical fiction. My latest one is titled Cutting for Stone by Indian-American writer Dr. Abraham Verghese.
This book has the elements of what I value in historical fiction. It is set in Ethiopia over a period of about forty years, dealing with issues of immigration from India and set in a hospital in the capital of Addis Ababa. The first element I value is what this book has in rich measure, a well researched context. Historical context must be accurate, or the book should rather be in the science fiction…