The other day at Crowvus HQ, we were discussing our favourite Jane Austen novels. Amazingly, for saying there were four of us with a positive opinion, each person had a different favourite. Jane Austen's books, of course, are not historical fiction, but books written contemporaneously to what is now an historical era. But! All the multitude of spinoffs which her books have invoked are historical fiction. Pride and Prejudice is not my favourite Austen story, nor my second or third, but I absolutely love the series Lost in Austen . People hear the phrase "fan fiction" and immediately think lesser of it, but this is a little unfair. Fan fiction is not a new thing, it is how folk stories grew into legends, adventures becoming more daring with every telling. But what has changed is the way in which these stories are retold and the care which is now (quite rightly!) taken to preserve and protect the rights of the original author. In the case of Lost in Austen , this is not t...
I've always been interested in Americana, although that comes in waves, so occasionally I'll be poring over the biographies of various presidents and then the following week my fascination has waned completely. It does mean that I was reasonably familiar with the Civil War background of the book, which made me very enthusiastic to read it. It is grounded in American history - and of course it should be: Freedom for Me is inspired by the true story of a young Chinese man who signed up to fight for the north in the American Civil War. More than complex military strategy or groundbreaking historical moments, this is the story of one boy's decision to fight, and how his reasons for fighting mature and develop over time. I loved reading about how Thomas, the main character, began to learn about himself in the context of others. His closest relationship is with his brother, but he develops deep and meaningful friendships with his brothers-in-arms and with an runaway slave, Sam....