The A to Z Challenge Blog 2022- the Letter H

My arm is sore today as I got my send booster aka my fourth shot of the Pfizer vaccine yesterday, a small price to pay for surviving this pandemic.

Today’s letter is H. There were so many choices–hero, heroine, hyperbole, but I chose history. Today, H is for historical romance. Historical romance is a fictional story set in the past–at least fifty years ago, which would make the sixties history. It can contain mystery, suspense, exploration, and of course love, but these elements are dealt with in the context of the past.

Lately, many different self-interest groups have been hard at work trying to sanitize and rewrite history. People who were revered for their part in founding this country, Canada, have had their statues removed, their names taken off schools, even struck from records for their involvement in shameful practices. You can pull down all the statues in the world, but what was done in the past–good and bad–can’t be undone. Will hiding it make things better? For some, maybe, but sooner or later the sins of the past resurface.

There’s a very real danger in judging the events of two or three hundred years ago through twenty-first century eyes. And, while I know the road to hell is paved with good intentions, we have to remember that nothing can change what happened. All we can do is make sure is no longer happens and doesn’t happen again.

Writing historical romance can be challenging for many reasons. Unlike contemporary romance or sci-fi, you can’t really make it up as you go. You need to do research of the time, the place, the politics. Novels set during the war have to deal with slavery. I was a fact, and you can’t just pretend it didn’t happen. On this continent, both New France and the Thirteen Colonies fought wars with their indigenous peoples. It happened.

Sadly, throughout history, people have always tried to do just that. To the conqueror go the spoils, and the right to record history as they saw it. in George Orwell’s novel 1984, there’s even a ministry whose sole purpose is to sanitize history. The Allies tell the story of the Second World War, not the Nazis.

I have written four historical novels, three of them based on the early development of New France, Canada, and a fourth on the colonization of the islands in the Caribbean, specifically St John. Among the problems I faced were a lack of historical records. The documents I could find alluded to the various people and situations I mentioned. In my Canadian Series, I’ve based the stories in part of what I know of my own ancestors. The Price of Honor and The Price of Courage, trace my Poirier roots here in this country. There’s more to write and hopefully I will one day. If you enjoy historical fiction, why not give some of mine a try? Find links to my books here: https://mhsusannematthews.ca/

Check out the other posts here.  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nuoAOJ-BUAXE1Yl2yIArhUHInj902PHVX6_gL4oKiSo/edit#gid=1195767304