Historical Fiction - Part I - The Story

I'm reading My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. Well, devouring, inhaling, and imbibing are better verbs to describe my voracious appetite for this morsel of fiction--an ideal historical novel. I'm nearing the end, so I'm putting off reading it because I don't want to finish the book. You know that place where you slow down to avoid ending the pleasure of reading? That's where I'm at now. So I thought I'd blog about it, instead of finishing the book.

What makes a good historical novel? Why is one novel better than another? I read a lot of novels, probably 2-4 a month. Reading is a way for me to relax, escape, laugh, cry, and revel in the human condition. It's why I love teaching literature. Whether it's Beowulf or Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, when a writer brings to life a character, real or fictional, I want to know all about him or her. And when a writer uses the English language to describe the human condition in curious, creative, and confounding ways, I'm hooked!

A good historical novel does at least three things well:

Tell a good story-
It all comes down to the story. In historical fiction, the basic architecture of the story is set, although there is not always detailed information about historical figures. For instance, my historical novel is about the daughter of Olaudah Equiano, Joanna Vassa. Not much is known about Joanna, so most of my novel is more fictional than historical. But for a character like Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, there are several sources and books to consult.

Like a memoir, a historical novelist must make critical decisions about what to include, and what to exclude. Most people who read My Dear Hamilton will know parts of their story, and Hamilton's untimely demise. So how does a writer keep readers interested when they already know the ending? This is not unlike the challenge Sophocles faced when writing tragedies like Antigone. The audience knew Antigone would die, but how that came about, what clues led to later revelations, how the denouement was revealed, all these factors encompass the plot.

In the Prologue to My Dear Hamilton, Eliza (the novel is in first person from Eliza's perspective-- a brilliant choice) refers to her husband Alexander as, "My husband. My hero. My betrayer." At the outset readers know Eliza will be betrayed. We don't know how (unless we remember the history really well), we don't know when, and we don't know with whom... but an expectation is set up, and we want to read the story to find out the bitter details. The reader is poised to commiserate with Eliza and excoriate Alexander right from the first page. However, I grew to like and admire both of them as I read the book.

The plot is fast-moving, even with some details about battles, political wrangling, friends becoming enemies and enemies becoming friends. The political background is critically important, but the heart of the novel is the love between Eliza and Alexander, their children, parents, and siblings. It's a novel about how to live with a "great" man, and how to be a "great" spouse. And so much more!

I'm going to go back and finish the book now!

In my next post, I'll write about creating believable and lovable characters, and in the final post, about world building.