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Government House – armed only with her parasol. She also defended her father even though he was, at times, plainly indefensible. So similarly, get to know your central characters. Where were they born? Were they rich or poor? What exciting – or inciting – events were they involved in? What did they eat? The devil, as they say, is always in the detail. Also spend time delving into the period in which they lived, so you become familiar with what The best historical fiction transports you to a different time and place. life was like back then. Readers love a richly evocative sense of place in historical fiction so double (and triple) check that you’ve allowed no anachronisms to creep in and break the spell. A useful resource with your language is etymonline.com to make sure your words were in use at the time. Other good research sources are the family history sections of local libraries, the National Library of Australia’s online database
trove.nla.gov.au , which has newspapers, official documents, archives, the Australian Dictionary of Biography , and state libraries. But when you’re confident about your research, use that as a springboard into your imagination to bring your characters to life, with the kind of conversations they would have had, the fears, the doubts, and the heroism – or treachery. Show, don’t tell: demonstrate their personalities with their actions, rather than merely describing them. Fill in the gaps that history doesn’t tell us. Finally, try to look at your writing objectively, and leave out as much detail as you put in as you don’t want your reader to be overwhelmed. Instead, you want them to be engaged, excited and thrilled by the events you’re retelling, and to see the characters as real flesh-and- blood people with emotions they can empathise with, rather than as the remote, dry figures of history. The worst historical fiction is a forensic retelling of events that leave you feeling as if you’re back at school, studying for an exam. The best transports you to a different time and place, with a gripping and persuasive narrative that enthrals so much, we don’t realise we’re also being informed.
MARY ANN AND CAPTAIN PIPER by Jessica North Allen & Unwin, $34.99 A fascinating true tale about how the daughter of First Fleet convicts became the mistress of the grandest home in colonial Australia.
THE WRECK by Meg Keneally Echo, $29.99
A woman escaping arrest after a failed London rebellion survives a shipwreck and finds a new life in colonial Sydney, in a story inspired, in part, by Mary Reibey.
Sue Williams is the author of THAT BLIGH GIRL (Allen & Unwin, $32.99). Her previous historical fiction was Elizabeth & Elizabeth , about Elizabeth Macquarie and Elizabeth Macarthur.
THE SETTLEMENT by Jock Serong Text Publishing, $32.99
The shocking story of Aboriginal resistance to the colonists of Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) and the price they ultimately paid.
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