While a novel set in the past is fiction and has a right to present imaginary events and personages, it is not (normally) fantasy, and thus certain standards of authenticity must be observed. Otherwise, it moves into the category of alternative history. Different readers will obviously bring differing standards of expectations to this issue, but it seems worthwhile for us writers to consider what our own standards are. Because authenticity makes historical fiction a doubly demanding genre: a historical novel … Read More »

We’re all concerned about making our historical novels authentic. We research costumes, tools, and architecture. Yet all that effort can dissipate when the characters open their mouths, if their speech isn’t equally time-appropriate. But how can it be, when they are speaking Chinese or Medieval French or simply American English of the eighteenth century—rendered in “Modern”? Like Us Yet Not As we all know, dialogue can make or break a novel. It reveals the characters and their relationships; it can … Read More »