My Take on Historical Fiction

I decided, after spending the entire summer reading fantasy novels, it was time to branch out a little. Plus, I was still waiting for the Brandon Sanderson books I'd requested from the library to show up at the hold desk. So I perused the stacks and came across "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory. I'd seen previews for the movie, and thought, Isn't this about Henry VIII? I don't know much about him! So I checked it out. I started reading it fully aware that there was a chance that it would get too racy for my taste, and I wouldn't finish it. Oh, Philippa, how clever you are.

First, though, a quick summary: Everyone knows Anne Boleyn got beheaded after being married to King Henry VIII. The book is about how her greedy, grasping family got her married to the king in the first place, and what sacrifices were made by her sister, Mary, in order for their family to rise to power. This book may as well be called, "The sexual exploits of the Boleyn girls and their questionable brother." Mary catches the eye of the king while he's married to Katherine of Aragon, Mary becomes his mistress, bears two of his children, a boy and a girl, and is cast aside while pregnant with the boy. Anne catches the king's eye while her sister is busy with childbirth (by the way, hooray for the ridding of a month of confinement before the baby's born). Meanwhile, the queen is trying hard to act like she is the apple of the king's eye, but the king is frustrated by the lack of a legitimate male heir. For 6 years he works with spiritual advisors to weasel his way out of his marriage to a very nice lady. All this time Anne is clinging onto his attention so she can marry him. And she does, as we all know. Mary spends this time as his sometimes lover and wishing she were in the country with her children. And she falls in love with William Stafford, who buys her a farm in the country and they secretly marry. Then Anne has one daughter, Elizabeth, but fails to produce another child, is disliked by the English populus, throws the court into corruption and debauchery, and is beheaded for witchcraft and adultery. So, that's the story.

Ms. Gregory is very very sly in her writing. It's as though she could read my mind and knew that she could start out with fancy, old-fashioned terms to describe the affairs of the king (Mary is dressing alluringly, fade out, fade in and her hair is rumpled and she's exhausted). Then she sneaks in a little more detail, still using antiquated vocabulary that makes everything seem more innocent. And then, at about page 500, she knows you're going to finish the last 100 pages, and starts using the modern-day terms in great detail. Yuck. And it worked. I had already read 500 pages. What's another hundred? Ugh. Boo on her. And boo on me for getting sucked in. So, that's my biggest complaint. I was talking to a friend yesterday who had seen the movie, and I asked what she thought. She said the movie left her feeling icky. Yep, that's how the book made me feel, too. Yucky King Henry VIII. No wonder all those people came to America to live in disease and squalor for years. They had to deal with horrible tyrannical psychopaths that changed laws and religion so they could fulfill their selfish desires. And I felt icky knowing way too much about the Boleyn family as well. I used to feel sorry for Anne Boleyn. Of course, this is categorized as "historical fiction," so I don't know what to feel.

Which leads me to the reason for the title of this particular post. I haven't read a lot of historical fiction. In fact, I think this book was only the second "historical fiction" novel I've read. I read "The Kingdom and the Crown" series by Gerald Lund a few months ago. And I had the same complaint after those books that I do now (nothing to do with the racy content, obviously--Gerald Lund's books are squeaky clean). My beef is that I don't know what is real history, and what is the author's imagination. Was Henry VIII really that disgusting? Probably. Was Anne Boleyn really that conniving? I don't know! I imagine the thoughts of each character and the small details are all fictional, but based on customs of the time. But I don't know! And that drives me crazy. It was the same when I read "The Kingdom and the Crown." Lund was very very very thorough about citing his references, though, and stating at the end of each chapter what was a real event and what was not. He also had a glossary and end notes and footnotes and a long introduction. But after I finished I was scratching my head and wondering, If you are going to spend that much time and research, why not make it pure history instead of adding in romantic characters and side plots? The answer I came up with was: romance sells, and history doesn't. I couldn't help but compare those novels to the books that are strictly historical, like "Seabiscuit" and "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" (that one is actually more like a documentary--it chronicles a girl in the Hmong culture that has epilepsy, and how the cultural barrier makes it difficult for her family and the doctors to cope--read it!). Both of the real history books are written in the style of a novel, making them entertaining and fascinating, and after I finished I felt like I knew more, and had gotten smarter by reading them. Not so with the novels. I felt confused and annoyed. On the positive side, the fiction inspired me to research topics I hadn't felt motivated to learn about previously. I just felt like I'd wasted hours of reading filth (in the case of the Boleyn book) and wading through pointless narration to get to the meat. I never would have pegged myself as a history girl, but I guess I care what really happened and what didn't. Go figure. I think it's time I try to read "1776," by John McCullough. I believe his books are good reads that are also historically accurate. Any other recommendations?