Adventures in Storytelling: Historical Fiction Presented by Michele Leininger, State Library of Iowa and Katie Dunneback, Southeastern Library Services
Objectives for class: • Understand the history and evolution of historical fiction • Recognize current trends in historical fiction publishing • Identify: • Sub-genres and genre-blends • Historical fiction publishers • Review outlets • Organizations and Awards • Indicate methods to analyze a historical fiction collection • Identify RA tools for historical fiction readers • Discover ways to market the historical fiction collection
A Brief History of Historical Fiction: Grandfather of the historical: Sir Walter Scott • Waverly (1814), published anonymously • Featured everyday people during the 1745 Jacobite rebellion against the British in Scotland • Set standard for what is considered “historical” – approximately 50 years • Other titles include Rob Roy (1818) and Ivanhoe (1820), which is credited for creating interest in the Middle Ages.
History cont, The 19 th c imitators: • Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850): Puritan New England • Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities (1856): French Revolution • Tolstoy’s War and Peace (1869): early 19 th century Russia
History cont. , early 20 th c: critical acclaim • Sienkiewicz’s Polish books and Quo Vadis (1895); Nobel Prize in 1905 • Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy (10201922); Nobel Prize in 1928 • Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (1936); Pulitzer Prize
History cont. ; mid- 20 th century: • Rise of popularity led to view that is lower form of literature: – – – Westerns Blend of history and romance Women writers Poor history Period pieces
History cont, the recent renaissance: • Rise of the literary historical novel – Atwood’s Alias Grace – Frasier’s Cold Mountain – Millhauser’s Martin Dressler • Multiple genre-blending attracts a wider audience – Gabaldon’s Outlander series – Liss’ Conspiracy of Paper – Brown’s Da. Vinci Code
Historical’s current trends: • Well-tread history with a new perspective – The Other Boleyn Girl (Gregory) • Fictionalized biographies of the famous – Loving Frank (Horan) • Rise of social history over political history – Year of Wonders (Brooks) • Genre-blending – The Name of the Rose (Eco) – March (Brooks)
The Publisher and the Historical novel • Remains very popular at all the major houses: Macmillan, Harper. Collins, Penguin Group, Random House, Simon & Schuster, St. Martin’s Press, Time Warner • Most popular/best-sellers not usually marketed as “historical fiction” • No real historical fiction imprint; under publisher’s name or various imprints • Historicals found in multiple places in catalogs: general fiction, literary fiction, literature, romance, mystery, fantasy, Christian/inspirational
Authors to know: • Classics: Aldrich, Cather, Cooper, Renault, Richter, Scott, Seton, Sutcliff, Tolstoy, Undset • Benchmarks: W. Clark, Cookson, De la Roche, Delderfield, Fast, Forester, Graves, Kantor, Lofts, Michener, Mitchell, Plaidy, Renault, Richter, Seton, M. Shaara, Stone, Sutcliff, Thane • Contemporary benchmarks: Carr, Clavell, B. Cornwell, Doctorow, Dunnett, Goudge, J. Higgins, Holland, Jakes, Mc. Cullough, Mc. Murtry, Price, Settle, F. Stewart, Thom, Uris, Vidal • Current popular authors: Coyle, Donati, Gabaldon, Gregory, Griffin, Kent, Laker, Llywelyn, Maxwell, Miles, Nevin, O’Brian, Penman, Rutherfurd, J. Shaara, Tarr, Wood • Up-and-coming authors: C. Carr, Faber, Furst, Kanon, Liss, Pearl, Reich, Vreeland
What’s in your collection?
What do historical readers want? • • • Time periods and eras Geography Level of historical detail Level of fact and fiction blend Realism, violence and sex Author Pacing Characters and point of view Language and dialogue Accuracy
What should be in your collection?
Marketing the invisible collection • Dual labels for the genre-blends • Bibliographies and displays – – Time periods Geography Cultural heritage Fiction and nonfiction together • Book clubs
What did you read?
Defining the invisible genre:
Next steps: • Find the historical fiction and inventory it! • Look for any holes (by genre, period, geography) and find titles to help fill them • Talk to your historical readers and find out what their favorite sub-genres are • Find out what the local book clubs are reading
Important class notes: • Extra credit for this class is due by 5: 00 on October 2. • The SF, Horror and Western class will be held on November 6, 13 and 20. • Registrations for the next class will begin following the last Historical class (which is Ocbtober 7). Announcement will be to this group first.
Thanks! • Class Web site: http: //www. statelibraryofio wa. org/ld/continuinged/genrestudy • Michele Leininger: michele. leininger@lib. state. ia. us or 800 -248 -4483 • Katie Dunneback: kdunneback@sls. lib. ia. us or 800 -397 -0029
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