Next week I am co-hosting a themed #Devonbookhour on Twitter, when we will be focussing on historical novels, with a special emphasis on those set in Devon and/or written by Devon writers. This begs several questions. Firstly, what constitutes an historical novel? There are probably as many definitions as there are readers of this genre. Clearly some proportion of the book has to be set in the past but how much of the book and how far in the past? Time-slip or dual time-line novels are popular; I’ve written one! I do class mine as an historical novel and in my case 75% is set in the 1600s, with the remainder in a somewhat alternative version of 2020. My own opinion and I know that others will disagree, is that more than half needs to historical for it to be an historical novel. What then is history? The Historical Novel Society stipulate that books for review should be set at least fifty years ago. I think most of us struggle to accept anything that is within our lifetimes as ‘historical’; I am just coming around to considering books set in the 1960s and 1970s, that were written more recently, as historical. There are of course many books that are set in what is now the past but are emphatically not historical novels because they were contemporary when they were written.
Historical novels come in many guises and all are valid in their own way. There are those that seem to have been written as historical novels in order to justify the swashbuckling pirate type and a woman in a corset on the cover. Sometimes there is little evidence of historical research and the plot, frequently a romance, would have worked equally well in the present. I am not intending to be disparaging here, this is a hugely popular and highly marketable, version of the historical novel, even though it would not be my personal preference.
Then there are the immaculately researched historical novels, where the historical setting is intrinsic to the plot. This category can be sub-divided into those that feature famous people, frequently royalty and those whose main characters are purely fictional. In this respect, my own books are in a minority, as they tell the true stories of real but little-known people.
Why do people read historical fiction? Is it to learn more about the past in a digestible way, or is it because they are fascinated by history, or both? My own love of historical fiction and history blossomed concurrently. I can tell you exactly when my historical novel journey began and it did not grow out of reading children’s historical novels; I came to the likes of Rosemary Sutcliff and Cynthia Harnett as an adult. At the age of eleven I watched the film of Dragonwyck, probably on a wet Sunday afternoon, on a flickering black and white TV. I would probably struggle to sit through it now but somehow it spoke to me. I was already an avid reader, consuming up to five books a day in the school holidays. It was a diet of Enid Blyton, Malcolm Saville, Monica Dickens, Elinor M Brent-Dyer, Enid Blyton, Ruby Ferguson, The Pullen-Thompson sisters and yet more Enid Blyton? I have no idea how I realised that Dragonwyck was a book but realise I did and I quickly worked my way though Anya Seton’s entire output. I do still reread these. I then turned to Jean Plaidy. I have kept a shelf full of her books but I haven’t read one for decades. Then Norah Lofts, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Daphne du Maurier R.F. Delderfield and Susan Howatch were added to the repertoire. Next, inspired by the first Poldark series (despite the obvious attractions of Aiden Turner – he of the unrealistic scything – I never got into the remake) I read Winston Graham’s novels. It was fortunate that I latched on to such prolific authors. By the time I reached adulthood, I was eagerly awaiting the yearly offerings from E.V. Thompson, followed by Lindsey Davis and Susanna Gregory. I am a bit of a sucker for series, where I can follow the characters from book to book. I was looking forward to more from Ariana Franklin, when sadly, she died. You will also find Barbara Erskine and Phillippa Gregory’s non-royal fiction on my shelves.
In preparation for the Twitter event, I have looked at several ‘Best Historical Novels’ lists and these rarely contain my favourites, several of whom are now considered to be a bit outdated. Here are three such lists and from their combined suggestions I’ve probably only read a dozen.
http://www.listmuse.com/best-historical-novels-time.php
https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/history/best-historical-fiction-books
I have attempted my own list of authors, rather than specific titles, below. Some rate a place for nostalgic reasons, rather than as a reflection of my current reading habits. I don’t go for a particular time period, my favourites span 2000 years. Although I am happy to read a book set in wartime, I am not so keen on books that focus on the battlefront. The geographical setting is also an attraction for me. I do enjoy reading about places I’ve been. I tend to favour books set in Britain, particular the west country, which is probably why I have read so few on the ‘best’ lists. Strangely, some of the best known and highly revered historical novelists do not feature on my list. I promise I have tried the likes of Hilary Mantel and C J Sansom but just couldn’t get into them. It sounds slightly ridiculous but it is partly their sheer size. Not that I mind the lots of pages thing but I tend to read in bed and believe me you do not want Wolf Hall landing on your nose when you doze off. Perhaps I should try them again as ebooks.
I have yet not mentioned the output of my many author friends, some of whom will be less widely known but whose new books I eagerly await. I do enjoy genealogical fiction and my own Sins as Red as Scarlet has a nod to this. Although these tend to fit better into the genre of crime novels, some have considerable historical content. I have already written about several of my favourites. In fact, if you check my blog archives for December 2016, I singled out an historical novelist for each day of advent.
So here are some authors whose books I have enjoyed, as well as those mentioned above. I have made no attempt at ranking here (I have gone for alphabetical order). I am sure I will have missed some, so sincere apologies if I have offended you by not giving you a mention. It may not be because I didn’t enjoy your book!
Piers Alexander
Rebecca Alexander
Kate Braithwaite
Ruth Downie
Stacey Halls
Paul Marriner
Wendy Percival
Sara Read
Liz Shakespeare
Reay Tannahill
M J Trow
Beth Underdown
Join us on Twitter on Monday 9 November 8.00pm for #Devonbookhour (except it will be an hour and a half!).
The History Interpreter - Janet Few 
Nice to see Reay Tannahill mentioned. And I love Delderfield too.
I am sad that my Delderfield copies are such small print!
Very well said. And to see someone else still remember/love R.F. Delderfield!! Herman Wouk is another favorite of mine as well as Taylor Caldwell, Anton Myer [spelling] and Leon Uris.
Ah Jean Plaidy brings back memories for me too, a friend and I gobbled up every book she wrote and used to discuss them at great length on our walk to school. Sadly she died when she was 14 years old so we never got to progress together in our book journey beyond Plaidy, I do wonder often what we would have found next to love
! too love historical fiction. I once got into trouble for writing a school book report on a Jean Plaidy novel which my teacher didn’t think I was old enough to read. Thank you so much for my new reading lists. There appears to be quite a number I have missed.
Lots of the authors you mention I read too. As a teenager I enjoyed Georgette Heyer. Apparently she had a fine newspaper collection which she used for reference. These days I like the truth stranger than fiction of family history 😉 I don’t read so much fiction these days though recently enjoyed a Thomas Chaloner novel by Susanna Gregory. I also really liked the Falco novels by Lindsay Davis and the Anne Perry detective novels too.