{"id":3997,"date":"2022-11-17T12:42:03","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T12:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patsytrench.com\/?p=3997"},"modified":"2023-02-01T10:52:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T10:52:36","slug":"what-is-the-purpose-of-historical-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patsytrench.com\/2022\/11\/17\/what-is-the-purpose-of-historical-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the purpose of historical fiction?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
When I asked this question on a social media forum recently the most common response from readers was, \u2018Knowing about what happened in the past can help to make sense of what\u2019s happening today.\u2019 Writers responded with comments such as, \u2018I have always had a fascination with . . . [the Roman period, Medieval Britain, the history of the woman\u2019s movement, the colonising of the USA, etc etc].\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My own response comes from my experiences of researching for my non-fiction books about the history of colonial Australia as experienced by my Australian ancestors<\/strong><\/a>. Among the books I read were a smattering of novels, because while non-fiction doesn’t necessarily focus on people’s emotions or reactions to events, a well-written and \u2013researched historical novel can bring to life the people behind those events.<\/p>\n\n\n