An historic account

I’m not sure how I became drawn to the genre of historical fiction. My mother left regency romance novels lying around the house when I was a teenager, and I pretty much devoured any fiction I could get my hands on at that age, so maybe that had an influence. Several non-romances had an impact on me as well. I absolutely adored survival stories: think My Side of the Mountain or The Island of the Blue Dolphins. (No wonder I love Lost so much!) Also, I was somewhat of a medieval junkie: enter my brief affair with Karen Cushman. When school librarians plugged award-winning books, I paid attention. There’s a reason those books win awards. My middle school library had the Newbery winners separated out from the other fiction and I’m pretty sure I read almost all of those. (The Nancy Drew books were also separated out, but I didn’t go so much for them. To this day I’m still not much of a mystery reader.) The Newberys I read included such historical fiction as Caddie Woodlawn, Adam of the Road, Johnny Tremain, King of the Wind (I had an affair with Marguerite Henry, too. Influenced by my elementary school librarian.), The Door in the Wall, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, The Bronze Bow, Julie of the Wolves, Sarah, Plain and Tall, Number the Stars, and The Midwife’s Apprentice.

I have just realized that I must go back and read some of those old Newberys. Also, apparently, I read a lot more historical fiction as a child and teen than I originally thought.

Anyway, as time went by, I suppose I lost touch with historical fiction. During high school and college, I don’t remember reading historical novels. I remember reading a whole lot of fantasy. And a smidgeon of science fiction. But then, one day, I picked up a little (hah!) book called Sarum by Edward Rutherford. It took me a while to get through the darn thing (and I’m not a slow reader: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in six hours! Woot!), but it sparked my interest and I delved into the genre again. I’ve become a fan.

There’s so much history to choose from, if I ever get bored with a time period, I can just pick something different. And I feel like I’m learning something, too, especially from the big fat novels with lots of research, like The Pillars of the Earth. I tend to neglect the classics, though I finally did get around to reading all of Jane Austen’s works. However, the classics aren’t really in the same genre. There, I found some justification for myself. I’ve also found some delightful little books that have become favorites like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. In conclusion, I don’t think I’ll be drifting away from historical fiction ever again.

At least until the next book in the Hunger Games series comes out.