Historical fiction is a genre that has been popular for centuries and continues to captivate readers. Historical fiction writers use their imaginations to tell stories about the past, creating worlds and characters that feel real. Fiction can be anything from romance novels set in times of war to young adult novels exploring the lives of children during World War II.
Historical fiction writers, J K Rowling – J K Rowling wrote all seven books in her wildly successful Harry Potter series while living on government assistance, struggling as a single mother who endured bouts with clinical depression. It wasn’t until after she finished writing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone that a publishing company picked it up.
Susan Straight – Susan Straight is an award-winning author of fourteen novels, including A Million Nightingales, I Been in Sorrow’s Kitchen and Licked Out All the Pots, Highwire Moon, and Take One Candle Light a Room. Her work has been translated into six languages. She was born on March 27th in Riverside, California, but lived all over the United States with her family. Their most permanent move was to Sacramento, California, when she was in high school.
Michael Ondaatje – Michael Ondaatje is one of Canada’s greatest writers (he won both Governor General’s Award Fiction and The Giller Prize for The English Patient ) and a world-acclaimed author. He was born in Sri Lanka but immigrated to Canada when he was 16, so both cultures heavily influenced his writing.
Virginia Woolf – Virginia Woolf, an award-winning novelist, essayist, and critic, helped pioneer modernism with such novels as Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927). She also wrote one of my favorite short stories, “The Mark on The Wall,” in 1917 that discusses philosophical ideas through imagery which I love!
Charles Frazier – Charles Frazer won critical acclaim for Cold Mountain: A Novel. His other works include Thirteen Moons and Nightwoods. Historical fiction runs deep in his writing, and I like to think of him as a writer who makes history come alive.
Kazuo Ishiguro – Kazuo Ishiguro won the prestigious Booker Prize in 1989 for The Remains of the Day. Historical fiction is not my favorite genre, but this book was so beautifully written that it has stayed with me all these years. His other works include Never Let Me Go, which also have historical elements, including science-fiction, unlike many others on this list.
Julian Barnes – Julian Barnes wrote Metroland, a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of France during 1977–1982 when there were terrorist attacks by Middle East extremists such as Action Directe.
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