Why Historical Fiction

I have just finished working on a book review of Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (which will be published on Friday) for my friend’s site, Boxes of Paper, and it got me to thinking about why I want to write historical fiction. For me I think the answer is relatively simple, I want to be able to experience those moments in history and to share them. Since I haven’t invented my time machine yet, writing lets me go back and walk the decks of the Titanic or fight in the trenches during World War I. I want to be able to write a story as moving as Sarah’s Key to make people remember.

The Holocaust is one of the areas which has always fascinated me. I read anything I can find on it, fiction and non-fiction, all in the hopes of trying to understand and make sense of it. It is a fascinating, albeit horrific time in history, which always shows the absolute best in people at the same time as showing the absolute worst. I think some of the fascination also comes from the fact that I can’t use logic to make sense of it. But in writing about it maybe I will be able to find a way to get a little closer to being able to put a little bit of understanding to it.

The desire to learn more and experience more guided me to take a tour in 2008 that was based around the lives of Anne Frank and Oscar Schindler. A lot of people thought I was nuts for picking such a dark tour for a vacation but for me when I found the tour I couldn’t imagine not doing it. The tour was beyond anything I could imagine. It brought me to a new level in my knowledge. It took all the history I had been learning and made it very real. To stand in the places where so many people died was incredibly emotional. It was a heartbreaking tour in a lot of ways and one that completely changed how I react to things I learn and read about that period now. To see the enormity of the camps or to see buildings crumbling because no family members survived to reclaim them made it all very tangible and opened my eyes more than any text book could have. I actually felt for the first time in my very soul the regret and sadness for all those people and all the potential that was wasted with their lives.

When I was on the trip the tour guide asked me at one point what I wanted to do with all the information I was getting and my answer was that I didn’t know for sure because what I wanted and what I felt that I could do were two very different things. I explained that I really wanted to write a historical fiction piece about the Holocaust but that I didn’t think I had the right to do so. It seemed almost wrong to me to write something fictional about something that I have no real frame of reference for. It didn’t feel like it was my story to tell.

If he was to ask me the same question again I think my answer would be a little different. It may not be my story to tell but what I realized as I was working on the book review is that I should still write the stories that are in my head about the Holocaust. Someone has to keep telling the story so it is not forgotten and although it may not be my story it is still important to me to share my knowledge. I wrote in my journal while I was on my 2008 tour that I would always remember them, the people that were lost, especially all the ones that had no one left to remember them. I meant that promise but I also want to make sure other people remember them as well.

This is what I see as the role of historical fiction, or at the very least what I want my historical fiction to be. I want to tell stories that will make people think, reflect and remember. Not everyone can go and visit places like Auschwitz and feel the chills that ran down my spine or the goosebumps that developed on my arms and neck but maybe as a writer I can cause that reaction. Maybe I can help to make sure that the millions that lost their lives for no good reason are remembered. Maybe I can create images that will stick with readers the same way the images I have from my tour have stuck with me.

Selfishly I also hope in writing a historical fiction piece that maybe I can start find a way to rationalize the irrational. Maybe I can find a way to put myself in the situation where I have to think about what I would have done and about the choices I might have made. Sure I will never have a true answer because hopefully I will never be put in a position where I have to make any of those decisions but I think it is worthy to think and question myself about.