Adult Historical Fiction from Tudor to Victorian England
Why are so many of us fascinated by history? Perhaps it's because a knowledge of the past can help us to understand ourselves a little better - of who we are today, and why we think the way we do.
Historical fiction can add to this process. A good novel can speculate on how people once felt about things: their values and priorities, their dreams and desires? What did they believe in? What did they strive for each day? And what did they get up to after dark?
We might not always be able to answer these questions with perfect accuracy. But that’s not what counts. It's the asking that is important - the setting out of all the options: all the different ways that people can be.
From the Tudors to the Elizabethans, from the Georgians to the age of Victorian Gothic and the Belle Époque, the drama and comedy of historical fiction can challenge the accepted narrative of the past. It can take a more sober look at things that were once treated too lightly, or even smile a little at those that were taken far too seriously.
It is a key that liberates the imagination from the narrow chambers of the here and now. And every time we open a history book or read a good story we hold that key in our hands.
