Historical Fiction — Michelle Dragalin

Today I’m happy to welcome author Michelle Dragalin as she shares about historical fiction.

“Historical fiction is a literary genre where the story takes place in the past. Historical novels capture the details of the period as accurately as possible for authenticity, including social norms, manners, customs, and traditions.( Google Aug 20, 2021)”

This is one of my favorite genres. I have been reading this genre for as long as I can remember. I started off with Louis L’Amour. He was my favorite author and to a degree still is a favorite. He is certainly the pole in which I measure other authors who write this type of fiction. Louis L’Amour was born in North Dakota. His writing is rich in detail and historical accurate copy fiction. Many of his books follow the same theme, I really enjoyed reading his books. In addition, he also wrote hardboiled mysteries which seem to be based in the forty’s and fifty’s.

Another author  I like to read are T.E. Kinsey’s Lardy Hardcastle Mystery books. While they may not be quiet in the same era as Louis L’Amour they are relatively accurate and his main protagonist in this series are two women.

I enjoy them because the authors provide a perspective of this time and view the people as equal. In addition, they characters are so varied just like in real life. They tend to make it very believable and use  and relate to the period of the time. Not to mention I really like history. I have always believed that adage

“Irish statesman Edmund Burke is often misquoted as having said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” while British statesman Winston Churchill wrote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. (Https:liberalarts.vt.edu>magazine>history-repeating, 2021 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)”

I am an enthusiastic fan of this adage, although I have to admit I don’t always follow it.

As a result,  I like to choose books that have are part of the historical genre or are in some way scholarly. I am lasso it’ biggest critic as I will often look up facts to determine how accurate their material and information are with regards to the period.

That is where readers may get mislead because they think that its historical fiction they often believe that a) this really happen and b) since it was written it is correct. NO! It is a fictionalized account of a period. No more no less. The reader needs to remember this when they are reading the story. An enjoyable story based on a period in history.

When a person reviews or read historical fiction, it is just as import to know it is a FICTIONALIZED account of  a time period. Enjoy the story, look up the period!!

Disclosure:

I am a book review who really receives ACR to review from a variety of websites and publication  I write an honest review  in exchange for copy of the book. T.E. Kinsey’s books were all provided by NetGalley.