Tag: Historical Fiction

7 June 2021

Book Review | The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escabar

The Librarian of Saint-Malo features, unsurprisingly, the town librarian from the small French town of Saint-Malo as a main character. Jocelyn and Antoine Ferrec marry on 1 September 1939, the day Germany illegally invades Poland, the event which creates World War II.

History tells us the city and the country did not fare well in the war.

This novel shows us some of what happened from a French point of view. That was a new perspective for me. While I’ve read a lot of novels set in and around World War II, almost all of them have been set in the USA or England, and told from the American or English point of view–American or English authors, and American or English characters.

A smaller number have shown the war in Germany, but still from the American or English viewpoint. Where there have been German characters, they’ve either been “good” Nazis (which are about as believable as “good” slaveowners in American Civil War fiction) or the Nazis have been the evildoers (well, history).

It was refreshing to read a story showing the war from the point of view of the occupied French.

(The book is written by a Spaniard, who were neutral in World War II). It provided new insights into the occupation, and didn’t have the American need for a stereotypical heroic main character. It’s a welcome difference.

I’ve seen a couple of reviews moaning about this book as being yet another Nazi romance, with the subtext being that the Nazis were monsters and we shouldn’t be trying to romanticise them. While I agree we shouldn’t romanticise evil, I don’t think this book can truthfully be classed with other Nazi romances.

First, The Librarian of Saint-Malo is not a romance (it’s historical fiction).

Second, while one of the German soldiers clearly has feelings for Jocelyn, I didn’t think she was anywhere close to being in love with him. And finally, the story wasn’t written by a white American woman trying to show a redemption story. It was more a gritty war story written by a Spanish man. As such, the ending is more inevitable than the happy-ever-after of a romance novel.

The novel is introduced as a series of letters from Jocelyn, the Saint-Malo librarian, to her literary hero, the fictional Marcel Zola. She explains in the Prologue why she has chosen to write to him, and there is the occasional mention of the letters or reminder in the body of the novel that these are meant to be letters. But they’re not—not like in other epistolary novels, like Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster, Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay, Things We Didn’t Say by Amy Lynn Green, or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel By Society by Mary Ann Safer and Annie Barrows.

The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escabar is a unique epistolary novel about World War II, set in France and written by a Spaniard. #HistoricalFiction #BookReview Share on X

Instead, the story read much like any other historical novel, albeit one written in first person point of view, as a letter would be. The story was exceptionally well researched (well, except for the line about “God Save the Queen”. The song changes names depending on who is on the throne, and the monarch during World War II was King George). I especially liked the fact the novel was written by a Spaniard—we need more historical fiction written from non-American perspectives.

We see the war progress through Jocelyn’s eyes.

We see the fall of France, the refugees (that was new to me), the arrival of the Germans, billetting, and the SS. The story takes us through the emotion of a lot of these events in a way a history book can’t, but the overall voice is still one of a person telling her story and trying to keep the emotion out of it. The French might mock the British for their stiff upper lips, but Jocelyn does a good impression. But the understated emotion makes it all the more powerful.

This is the first translated Mario Escabar novel I’ve read. I was impressed, and I will certainly watch out for future novels from him. Recommended for historical fiction fans.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About The Librarian of Saint-Malo

Through letters with a famous author, one French librarian tells her love story and describes the brutal Nazi occupation of her small coastal village.

Saint-Malo, France: August 1939. Jocelyn and Antoine are childhood sweethearts, but just after they marry, Antoine is called up to fight against Germany. As the war rages, Jocelyn focuses on comforting and encouraging the local population by recommending books from her beloved library in Saint-Malo. She herself finds hope in her letters to a famous author.

After the French capitulation, the Nazis occupy the town and turn it into a fortress to control the north of French Brittany. Residents try passive resistance, but the German commander ruthlessly purges part of the city’s libraries to destroy any potentially subversive writings. At great risk to herself, Jocelyn manages to hide some of the books while waiting to receive news from Antoine, who has been taken to a German prison camp.

What unfolds in her letters is Jocelyn’s description of her mission: to protect the people of Saint-Malo and the books they hold so dear. With prose both sweeping and romantic, Mario Escobar brings to life the occupied city and re-creates the history of those who sacrificed all to care for the people they loved.

You can find The Librarian of Saint-Malo online at:

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18 May 2021

Bookish Question #177 | Is it important for authors to have their facts right in historical fiction?

Yes!

Factually incorrect information is one of my bugbears with fiction.

It is something that will pull me out of a book. I don’t mind differences of opinion: novels are built on conflict, and having characters with different views is a great way of showing different perspectives. (If you’re looking for an example, I recommend When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin, which shows why many Americans in the 1930s thought Hitler and the Nazis were a force for good.)

Some people might say it’s only a story, that it doesn’t matter if the female character would have worn that style dress or eaten that particular food in that year. Some people will then yell at the TV movie when a character takes off in a 747-200 but lands in a 747-300. As such, we will ignore the views of some people.

Good historical fiction teaches facts along with a good story.

Great historical fiction uses the facts of history to offer an insight into our own culture and beliefs.

True story: I credit Elizabeth by Susan Kay with helping me pass my final school history exam. I loaned the book to a couple of friends, and it helped them as well. How? Because historical fiction gives historical figures personalities and emotions in a way textbooks don’t.

Textbooks often focus on the “what” and forget the “why”. Fiction focuses on the “why”, because the “why”, the motivation, is critical for a compelling plot.

As such, I am annoyed when historical fiction makes elementary or significant errors because people learn from books. If people are learning, authors have a responsibility to ensure that what they are teaching is correct. No, the characters wouldn’t have been singing “God Save the Queen” in 1944, because 1944 England was ruled by a king (the title and words of the song changed in 1953, when Elizabeth became queen. They’ll change back when Charles becomes king).

I am relatively forgiving of errors in older books.

By “older”, I mean published before the internet placed the whole of human knowledge at the fingertips of anyone with an internet connection. I am less forgiving of books written in the last twenty years. If I can fact check from my smartphone or Kindle, the author can fact check while they’re writing.

My favourite historical novels are the ones that start with a disclaimer that they are very sorry, but they moved the date of a particular well-known event by two weeks to better suit the storyline. That tells me the author cares about the history to both research it, and to follow it. Even better, I love the historical novels that finish with a short author’s note that sheds light on some of their research.

Sharon Penman does a great job with this. I can’t remember the details, but one of her novels had a scene with a character yelling insults to his sister from a balcony. In the author’s note at the end, she shared this somewhat unbelievable scene was straight out of the history books.

Penman’s impeccable research stuck with me, even if aspect of her stories didn’t.

Elizabeth Camden is another author who did this well. In Prince of Spies, Luke Delacroix volunteers as a human food tester. The project aims to determine what food additives are safe for humans to eat, and at what levels. This is based on real trials started in 1902 by Dr Wiley (who was later appointed as the first head of the US Food and Drug Administration). Wiley’s subjects were known as the Poison Squad, as some of the additives literally poisoned them.

But I can think of two exceptions.

One exception relates to marriage age.

Most people know that females married younger in years gone by. In Biblical times, girls were often married not long after they reached puberty, and often to men twice their age or more. Teenage marriages were common in past centuries (and still are common in some countries and faith groups e.g. the Amish).

However, I have no interest in reading stories in which teenage girls marry, especially when they are younger than the current age of consent. There are current news stories about adult men having relationships with girls (and I use that word deliberately) young enough to be their daughters … in some cases, girls younger than their own daughters. I’m not a fan of big age gaps in relationships, so it won’t surprise you to learn Emma is my least-favourite Austen novel.

We need to renormalise and promote marriage as being between two consenting adults, not promoting relationships that feature, force, or normalise relationships between teenage girls and men twice their age. Apart from my personal ick factor, this could be seen as promoting illegal behaviour. If fiction (especially Christian fiction) is featuring illegal or immoral behaviour, I want to see that behaviour clearly shown to be illegal, immoral, or both. We owe it to our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters.

Another exception is books written as alternative histories.

I find alternative histories fascinating, because they are intriguing looks at what might have been.
For example, both Fawkes and Romanov by Nadine Brandes are speculative adaptations of two famous real-life families. Fawkes refers to Guy Fawkes, the man behind the 5 November 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up the English Houses of Parliament. The story is a fantasy novel about his son, which presents a convincing fictional reason behind the plot.

Romanov is about the murder of the Russian Royal Family in 1918, and is a speculative look at what might have happened to Anastasia Romanov (who has long been rumoured to have escaped the fate that met the rest of her family).

I’ve recently watched The Man in the High Castle, another alternative history. It’s set in the 1960’s, but Germany won World War II and the USA is now split between Germany (in the east) and Japan (in the west), with a “lawless” neutral zone in the middle. I’ve also watched the first two series of For All Mankind, in which the Russians were first to the moon.

All have been excellent … but all have clearly been alternate history, so I expect and anticipate departures from historical fact.

What about you? Do you think it’s important to have all the facts right in a historical novel?

(Have I convinced you?)

16 April 2021

First Line Friday | Week 181 | Bridge of Gold by Kimberley Woodhouse

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from Bridge of Gold by Kimberley Woodhouse, a dual-timeline novel set in historic and contemporary San Francisco.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

About Bridge of Gold

Repairs on the Golden Gate Bridge Uncover a Century-Old Murder

Walk through Doors to the Past via a new series of historical stories of romance and adventure.

Underwater archaeologist Kayla Richardson is called to the Golden Gate Bridge where repairs to one of the towers uncovers two human remains from the late 1800s and the 1930s. The head of the bridge restoration is Steven Michaels, who dives with Kayla, and a friendship develops between them. But as the investigation heats up and gold is found that dates back to the gold rush, more complications come into play that threaten them both. Could clues leading to a Gold Rush era mystery that was first discovered during the building of the bridge still ignite an obsession worth killing for?

Find Bridge of Gold online at:

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Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

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22 March 2021

Book Review | The Moonlight School by Suzanne Woods Fisher

I listened to a podcast where Ginny Yttrup interviewed Suzanne Woods Fisher about her latest release, The Moonlight School. There were two things discussed in the interview that convinced me I had to read this book.

First, the book was about a new-to-me aspect of history.

One of my favourite aspects of historical fiction is the opportunity to learn about new people or events. This one that sounded fascinating: the moonlight schools created by Cora Wilson Stewart in Appalachia, to teach the adult residents of the “hollars” to read.

Second, Ginny Yttrup admired the use of Appalachian dialect in the book.

As a reader, I’m not always a fan of dialect in fiction, as I find it can distract from the story. As a writer and editor, I’m always intrigued to read a well-executed writing technique and to dissect how it works.

The book started with a list of characters, something I generally don’t like except in historical fiction where it’s important to know which characters are fiction and which are based on real people (something Suzanne Woods Fisher discussed in her ending Author’s Note). Done badly, a cast of characters (or family tree) can give away half the book’s plot. (I once read one where the family tree showed the main character was going to die halfway through the book. Talk about a spoiler!

Even done well, I find that a list of characters subconsciously signals bad writing—as though the author (or publisher) are worried the reader will get confused without the list. Personally, I find the opposite is true. I find a long list is more likely to confuse me because the list doesn’t say which characters are important and which are not. Good writing should introduce the characters in such a way that the reader knows who all the characters are—and how important they are—without getting lost. I don’t think the character list was necessary in The Moonlight School, as I ignored it and never felt lost.

Next, there was a Glossary, because the book used a lot of Appalachian dialect. I have a similar view on glossaries as I do character lists. If the book is well-written, then the meanings of the nonstandard words should be obvious from the context and the Glossary becomes unnecessary. Adding the glossary feels like the book is going to be hard, and it wasn’t.

Also, let’s be honest: while it’s easy to flick back to the list of characters or the glossary in a paperback, it’s almost impossible in an ebook. So it’s better to write the book in such a way that neither are needed.

In both cases, I think Suzanne Woods Fisher’s writing was strong enough that the characters, character relationships, and dialect were all easy enough to understand without the introductory lists.

Now, let’s get onto the story.

While the writing was excellent, I found the story very slow going. Why? Because the title, the book description, and the podcast interview had all intrigued me with the promise of the moonlight schools—something that wasn’t mentioned at all in the first half of the book.

So if the story isn’t about the moonlight schools, what is it about? It’s about Lucy Wilson, who leaves her home in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1911, to work as assistant to her father’s cousin, Cora Wilson Stewart, the first female Superintendent of Education in Rowan County.

Lucy initially finds the move from city to country life difficult, and I found her difficult to like. She seemed like a bit of a wet blanket, and I didn’t exactly find it believable that her upper-middle class upbringing hadn’t included riding lessons. However, I warmed to Lucy as she gradually got to know and appreciate the countryside and the people, and as she comes to appreciate the benefits of the less sophisticated way of life.

Lucy is also upset by the way the lumber companies—including her father’s company—are ruining the land. She realises one of the reasons is because the local people don’t understand the logging contracts they are signing, because they can’t read. This leads into conversations about literacy and the beliefs of the time: that adults can’t learn to read.

An unexpected meeting leads Cora to question that belief, and to develop the idea of the moonlight schools.

After that, I got into the story better and enjoyed it a lot more. Parts of the story were reminiscent of Christy by Catherine Marshall, including the innocent young girl barely out of school, the crusty older woman as the mentor, and the subtle and not-so-subtle attention of two very different men.

Overall, I think I would have enjoyed the book much more if it had been described as a coming-of-age story in the style of Christy, set against the backdrop of the changes logging brought to the Appalachians—good and bad—and the subsequent motivation to improve adult literacy. I think if I’d have known that before I read the story, I would have enjoyed it more.

The Moonlight School by Suzanne Woods Fisher is a coming-of-age story with a touch of mystery and romance, set in 1911 Appalachia. #BookReview #ChristianFiction Share on X

As such, my reactions to this book show the importance of setting expectations as an author, then delivering on them. The book was excellent. But it wasn’t the book the title or book description promised.

Thanks to Revell and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Suzanne Woods Fisher

Suzanne Woods Fisher is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than 30 books, including On a Summer Tide and On a Coastal Breeze, as well as the Nantucket Legacy, Amish Beginnings, The Bishop’s Family, The Deacon’s Family, and The Inn at Eagle Hill series, among other novels. She is also the author of several nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace and Amish Proverbs.

Find Suzanne Woods Fisher online at:

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About The Moonlight School

Haunted by her sister’s mysterious disappearance, Lucy Wilson arrives in Rowan County, Kentucky, in the spring of 1911 to work for Cora Wilson Stewart, superintendent of education. When Cora sends Lucy into the hills to act as scribe for the mountain people, she is repelled by the primitive conditions and intellectual poverty she encounters. Few adults can read and write.

Born in those hills, Cora knows the plague of illiteracy. So does Brother Wyatt, a singing schoolmaster who travels through the hills. Involving Lucy and Wyatt, Cora hatches a plan to open the schoolhouses to adults on moonlit nights. The best way to combat poverty, she believes, is to eliminate illiteracy. But will the people come?

As Lucy emerges from a life in the shadows, she finds purpose; or maybe purpose finds her. With purpose comes answers to her questions, and something else she hadn’t expected: love.

Inspired by the true events of the Moonlight Schools, this standalone novel from bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings to life the story that shocked the nation into taking adult literacy seriously. You’ll finish the last page of this enthralling story with deep gratitude for the gift of reading.

Find The Moonlight School online at:

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20 July 2020

Book Review | The Key to Everything by Valerie Fraser Lusesse

Peyton Cabot has grown up listening to stories about how his father, Marshall, rode over six hundred miles from Okefenokee to Key West (and back) in 1921, the summer he was fifteen. When Peyton’s father is hospitalised and loses his memory after a riding accident, Peyton decides to replicate his father’s journey.

As such, this is a definite coming-of-age story, which is common in Young Adult fiction.

But I don’t know how many modern teens would want to read a novel set in The Olden Days (i.e. any time before the invention of the iPhone) and a plot that meanders at the speed of a bicycle rather than a Tesla.

Because it is set in The Olden Days (1947), The Key to Everything brings us back to a forgotten time … or perhaps a time that never really existed. In Peyton’s world, the police are the good guys, people are kind to strangers, and it’s perfectly safe for a teenager to ride unaccompanied for hundreds of miles with only a weekly collect call home to assure his mother he’s okay.

As such, it is an odd novel. The writing is excellent, with a strong voice that fits both the time and the place. Peyton is a young man of character and compassion, despite a privileged upbringing that could have taught him to overlook people less fortunate. He also has a refreshing lack of racism—although I have no idea how accurate that is for post-war (and pre-Civil Rights) Georgia and Florida.

No matter.

We’re living in strange times right now, and The Key to Everything was a fresh distraction with excellent characters, and some serious life lessons sprinkled along the journey.

Recommended.

Thanks to Revell and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Valerie Fraser Luesse

Valerie Fraser Luesse is an award-winning magazine writer best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she is currently a senior travel editor. Her work has been anthologized in the audio collection Southern Voices and in A Glimpse of Heaven, an essay collection featuring works by C. S. Lewis, Randy Alcorn, John Wesley, and others.

As a freelance writer and editor, she was the lead writer for Southern Living 50 Years: A Celebration of People, Places, and Culture. Specializing in stories about unique pockets of Southern culture, Luesse has published major pieces on the Gulf Coast, the Mississippi Delta, Louisiana’s Acadian Prairie, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Her editorial section on Hurricane Katrina recovery in Mississippi and Louisiana won the 2009 Writer of the Year award from the Southeast Tourism Society.

Luesse earned her bachelor’s degree in English at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, and her master’s degree in English at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She grew up in Harpersville, Alabama, a rural community in Shelby County, and now lives in Birmingham.

Find Valerie Fraser Luesse online at:

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About The Key to Everything

Peyton Cabot’s fifteenth year will be a painful and transformative one. His father, the heroic but reluctant head of a moneyed Savannah family, has come home from WWII a troubled vet, drowning his demons in bourbon and distancing himself from his son. A tragic accident shows Peyton the depths of his parents’ devotion to each other but interrupts his own budding romance with the girl of his dreams, Lisa Wallace.

Struggling to cope with a young life upended, Peyton makes a daring decision: He will retrace a journey his father took at fifteen, riding his bicycle all the way to Key West, Florida. Part declaration of independence, part search for self, Peyton’s journey will bring him more than he ever could have imagined–namely, the key to his unknowable father, a reunion with Lisa, and a calling that will shape the rest of his life.

Through poignant prose and characters so real you’ll be sure you know them, Valerie Fraser Luesse transports you to the storied Atlantic coast for a unique coming-of-age story you won’t soon forget.

Find The Key to Everything online at:

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8 June 2020

Book Review | Stories that Bind Us by Susie Finkbeiner

First things first.

While I am a fan of illustrated or art-text covers like this, I mostly see them on contemporary romance or contemporary women’s fiction, often with an element of humour. Stories that Bind Us is neither contemporary, humorous, or romantic. (If that’s what you’re looking for, check out Kara Isaac or Victoria Bylin.)

Instead, Stories that Bind Us is a typical Susie Finkbeiner novel.

It is set in the “Goldilocks-sized” town of LaFontaine, Michigan, “smack-dab between Detroit and Michigan.” It’s the story of Betty Sweet, wife of town baker Norman Sweet for twenty-three of her forty years. But what starts as a chatty story soon turns into something more serious when Betty’s pleasant life is turned upside-down.

Stories that Bind Us examines grief, mental illness, and racism through Betty’s experiences with her husband, sister, and nephew … and even her memories of her long-dead mother. There’s not an over plot with Things Happening. It’s more a story of life and living, even when life is hard.

Susie Finkbeiner doesn’t write action-packed novels that keep you turning the pages. Instead, she writes quiet novels that keep me thinking about her characters and themes long after I’ve finished the novel.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction thought-provoking historical fiction.

Thanks to Baker Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Susie Finkbeiner

Susie Finkbeiner is the CBA bestselling author of A Cup of Dust, A Trail of Crumbs, and A Song of Home. She serves on the Breathe Christian Writers Conference planning committee, volunteers her time at Ada Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and speaks at retreats and women’s events across the state. Susie and her husband have three children and live in West Michigan.

Find Susie Finkbeiner online at:

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About Stories That Bind Us

Rediscover the power of story to open the doors of our hearts

Betty Sweet never expected to be a widow at forty. With so much life still in front of her, she tries to figure out what’s next, never imagining what God had in mind.

When her estranged sister returns to town, Betty finds herself taking on the care of a five-year-old nephew she never knew she had. In 1960s small-town Michigan, they make an odd pair. Betty with her pink button nose and bouffant hair. Hugo with his light brown skin and large brown eyes. But more powerful than what makes them different is what they share: the heartache of an empty space in their lives. Slowly, they will learn to trust one another as they discover common ground and healing through the magic of storytelling.

Find Stories that Bind Us online at:

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5 November 2019

Bookish Question #128 | Do you prefer historical or contemporary settings?

Honestly, I’m not fussy. I enjoy historical and contemporary settings. I’m more interested in reading a novel with an intriguing plot and compelling characters—setting is a distant third.

Having said that, I would like to read more original settings in both historical and contemporary fiction.

A lot of Christian historical fiction is set in the US, either around Western expansion, or around Gilded Age New York. I’ve read a lot of both, and now there has to be a unique twist to catch my attention (e.g. The Express Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse, which features the manager of a Pony Express station, or An Agent for Kitty by Nerys Leigh, which features a female Pinkerton agent hunting for dinosaur bones).

England is the other main setting for Christian historical fiction. Again, I enjoy titles featuring a unique twist or setting (e.g. A Hero for Miss Hatherleigh by Carolyn Miller, which also features an “undergroundologist” hunting for dinosaur bones, or Among the Poppies by J’nell Ciesielwski, which is set in World War One France).

I’d like to see more historical fiction set in other countries e.g. India, China, New Zealand, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe … anywhere.

The same holds true for contemporary fiction.

It’s almost all set in mainland USA, with the odd title in Alaska or Hawaii. If an alien read contemporary Christian fiction, they’d be forgiven for thinking there are no Christians outside the USA—which is obviously false.

Yes, I understand many American readers like to read novels set in familiar settings. So do those of us living outside the USA.

Also, it’s said that travel broadens the mind. I’ve travelled a lot, and I can confirm this is true. Travel, whether in real life or through the pages of a novel, introduces us to new places, people, and perspectives. Understanding others gives us the ability to empathise with them, and that makes us better people—and better Christians.

What about you? Do you prefer historical or contemporary settings? Why?

20 August 2019

Bookish Question #122 | When does a contemporary novel become historical fiction?

When do you think a contemporary novel becomes historical fiction (or vice versa)?

This question came up in a Facebook group recently. An author wanted to know if a novel set in 1979 would be classified as contemporary or historical. That got me thinking … and searching.

Who gets to decide whether a novel is contemporary or historical? It could be:

Libraries (if they classify by genre)
Bookstores (who usually classify by genre)
Writing organisations (especially those with genre-based contests)
Authors (especially when they’re self-publishing)
Readers

Most libraries I’ve visited organise fiction by author surname, not by genre, so that’s no help.

Bookstores often classify by genre.

But each store has different classifications, and it’s not always easy to tell what’s what. It doesn’t help that bigger stores usually classify a Christian historical romance as Religious rather than Historical (and if a book featured an African-American character or was written by an African-American author, it might be classified as African-American fiction, not Religious or Historical).

I checked Amazon, but couldn’t find any definition of historical.

That’s not to say it doesn’t exist. I just says I couldn’t find it. If you know where Amazon has a definition of contemporary vs. historical, please add it in the comments!

Amazon use the BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communications) codes, and I couldn’t find any definition of historical on their site either.

Amazon also isn’t helpful in that publishers self-classify—which is how we find novels in the nonfiction categories, and The Tattooist of Auschwitz in the Australia and Oceania category. (I can only assume someone mixed up Austria and Australia …)

What about writing organisations?

American Christian Fiction Writers have Contemporary and Historical categories in their Genesis and Carol Awards. They define Historical as “up to and including the Vietnam era”. The Vietnam war ended in 1975, so I guess that’s ACFW’s current definition of “historical”.

In contrast, the Romance Writers of America RITA Award and Romance Writers of Australia Ruby Award both classify “historical” as set before 1950. If you’d asked me, I think this is what I would have said—but I’m equally happy with a 1975 or even 1980 date.

With more recent historical fiction, I expect the time setting to be deliberate. For example, Pamela Binnings Ewen has written several legal thrillers set in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She’s writing about things like women’s rights and women in the workplace, so the 1980s setting is important. They would be different stories if they were set in the 1990s or 2010s—no matter whether the stories were labelled “historical” or “contemporary”.

In general, I expect contemporary stories to be set today—this year (or last year).

I expect characters in contemporary novels to have smartphones and Facebook and GPS and the Uber app (unless they’re philosophically opposed to smartphones and Facebook and GPS and Uber … which could make for a fascinating story).

If the novel is “contemporary” and doesn’t have these things, then I need to be clued in pretty quickly that the novel isn’t set today.

When does a contemporary novel become historical fiction? Is there a fixed date? Or is it up to the publisher (or reader)? #HistoricalFiction #ContemporaryFiction Share on X

I’ve recently reviewed West of Famous by Joni M Fisher, which was set in 2010. That worked for the story, but also worked because the opening made it clear the story was set in 2010. (And yes, there were a couple of plot points that wouldn’t have worked as well in 2019). In that respect, the story was actually historical … even though 2010 is hardly a long time ago.

But what about a story written and published in 2010 that I’m only reading today? Personally, I say that’s a contemporary story. Why? Because it was contemporary when it was written and published.

Using that same logic, Jane Austen was a contemporary novelist, because she was writing about the issues of her day. So were Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie.

So I consider a contemporary story as one that is written and published in the time in which it is set (whether that’s today or two hundred years ago). And a historical story is any story where the author is consciously looking back in time.

What about you? When do you think a contemporary story becomes a historical story (or vice versa)?

22 February 2019

First Line Friday | Week 81 | A Desperate Hope by Elizabeth Camden

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from A Desperate Hope by Elizabeth Camden:

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

About A Desperate Hope

Eloise Drake’s prim demeanor hides the turbulent past she’s finally put behind her–or so she thinks. A mathematical genius, she’s now a successful accountant for the largest engineering project in 1908 New York. But to her dismay, her new position puts her back in the path of the man responsible for her deepest heartbreak.

Alex Duval is the mayor of a town about to be wiped off the map. The state plans to flood the entire valley where his town sits in order to build a new reservoir, and Alex is stunned to discover the woman he once loved on the team charged with the demolition. With his world crumbling around him, Alex devises a risky plan to save his town–but he needs Eloise’s help to succeed.

Alex is determined to win back the woman he thought he’d lost forever, but even their combined ingenuity may not be enough to overcome the odds against them before it’s too late.

You can find A Desperate Hope online at:

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10 October 2017

Book Recommendation | Where We Belong by Lynn Austin

Where We Belong starts in 1890, in the Sinai Desert, with forty-five year-old Rebecca Hawes traveling to St Catherine’s Monastery to search for ancient copies of the Bible. It’s a start that hooked me immediately, both because of the historical setting, and because of the age of the heroine—it’s refreshing to read a novel where the heroine is out of her twenties.

I was also intrigued because I could relate to Rebecca’s thoughts about the desolate nature of the Sinai between Cairo and St Catherines. Her journey took seven days by camel. In comparison, mine took seven hours by minibus, but that was quite long enough to feel for the stubborn Israelites, condemned to spend forty years in the heat and dust.

But then Where We Belong left the Sinai in 1890, and travelled back to 1860 Chicago—and I wasn’t impressed. It was still Rebecca’s story, but now Rebecca was a pampered teenager in the days before the Civil War (which I knew was coming, even though she didn’t). Fortunately, it soon became apparent that Rebecca was no ordinary Victorian-era teenager, and nor was her sister, Flora.

The novel followed Rebecca and Flora from their teenage years in Chicago through to showing why they are travelling to the Sinai in 1890 with only a couple of young servants for protection. The most fascinating thing is that Rebecca and Flora are based on real-life adventurers, Agnes and Margaret Smith, born in Scotland in 1843.

This explains one of the strengths of the novel—the feeling of historical authenticity that can only be gained by extensive research (and then leaving out most of the detail of that research). The other strength was related, and that was the Christian element. Rebecca and Flora (like the real-life Agnes and Margaret) were women of deep faith. They were intelligent women who had the strength of character to choose to follow God, not society, and who had endless compassion for the poor.

Lynn Austin has yet to write a novel I haven’t enjoyed, but I do think this is her best yet. Recommended for Christian historical fiction fans, especially those who enjoy authors such as Elizabeth Camden and Jody Hedlund.

I’m a history fan, and I loved it from the first line to the last. (I don’t think I stopped in between). Even better, a recent article from the Smithsonian shows new manuscripts are still being discovered at St Catherine’s:

Lost Languages Discovered in One of the World’s Oldest Continuously Run Libraries

Isn’t that cool?

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Lynn Austin

For many years, Lynn Austin nurtured a desire to write but frequent travels and the demands of her growing family postponed her career. When her husband’s work took Lynn to Bogota, Colombia, for two years, she used the B.A. she’d earned at Southern Connecticut State University to become a teacher. After returning to the U.S., the Austins moved to Anderson, Indiana, Thunder Bay, Ontario, and later to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

It was during the long Canadian winters at home with her children that Lynn made progress on her dream to write, carving out a few hours of writing time each day while her children napped. Lynn credits her early experience of learning to write amid the chaos of family life for her ability to be a productive writer while making sure her family remains her top priority.

Along with reading, two of Lynn’s lifelong passions are history and archaeology. She and her son traveled to Israel during the summer of 1989 to take part in an archaeological dig at the ancient city of Timnah. Lynn resigned from teaching to write full-time in 1992. Since then she has published 24 novels.

Find Lynn Austin online at:

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About Where We Belong

The Adventure of a Lifetime for Two Indomitable Socialite Sisters

In the city of Chicago in 1892, the rules for Victorian women are strict, their roles limited. But sisters Rebecca and Flora Hawes are not typical Victorian ladies. Their love of adventure and their desire to use their God-given talents has brought them to the Sinai Desert–and into a sandstorm.

Accompanied by Soren Petersen, their somber young butler, and Kate Rafferty, a street urchin who is learning to be their ladies’ maid, the two women are on a quest to find an important biblical manuscript. As the journey becomes more dangerous and uncertain, the four travelers sift through memories of their past, recalling the events that shaped them and the circumstances that brought them to this time and place.

Click below to find Where We Belong online:

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | ChristianBook | Goodreads