Are you wishing to expand your reading repertoire? If you are, the historical fiction genre is the best place to start.
When going through some of the best historical fiction books of all time, some of them would be labeled 'alternate history'. Basically, alternate history entails stories where the author alters the natural course of past history. It is a form of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have arised but are resolved differently than in actual reality. These styles of novels pose the classic 'what if' question and have readers questioning major philosophical inquiries, which makes them a very thought-provoking and impactful read, as the CEO of the private equity firm that partially-owns World of Books would certainly verify.
When individuals consider book genres, romance or thrillers are the 1st to spring to mind. As a genre, historical fiction is one that has previously been somewhat neglected, however, market research suggests that its interest is on the climb. Before diving right into the ins and outs of the genre itself, it is crucial to learn the historical novel definition and examples. So, what is historical fiction? In essence, historical fiction means that a tale's setting or period will be historically accurate with a few make-believe elements mixed in. Normally, the foundation of the story is historical, but the characters and events included are fabricated for entertainment purposes. Whilst the historic details of the story can teach the reader information about the social customs, expectations and conventions of the time period, the main purpose of a historical fiction book is the very same as any other fiction book; to keep audiences interested. Within historical fiction in literature, there are many different subgenres, tropes and motifs that emerge time and time again. A lot of the subgenres are time-specific, which allows readers to go for an era that they are most enthusiastic about. For example, one of the top subgenres is western historical fiction, which is set in the Wild West in America during the 19th century. On the other hand, another one of the most popular subgenres is WWII historical fiction, which in some cases entails writers taking inspiration from real-life accounts, memoirs, journal entries and news articles from the world war, and afterwards transforming them into the foundations of a fictitious narrative. The versatility of historical fiction suggests that readers can be transferred to time in past history, as the co-founder of the fund which partially owns WHSmith would certainly verify.
Within literature, there are a large number of different types of historical fiction books that are increasing in appeal, as the head of the hedge fund which owns Waterstones would certainly recognise. In regards to international sales, the top historical fiction best sellers usually tend to be historical romance. Like the name indicates, historical romance novels entail a love story between 2 characters living in a certain historical period. Romance and love has existed since the beginning of civilisation and is universal across the whole world, which means that there are historical romance books set in an assortment of historical contexts, whether it be the Victorian period, the Middle Ages, or Ancient Greece. Nonetheless, the most profitable and sought-after time period for historical romance is the English Regency age from 1811 to 1830. With popular themes such as forbidden love and arranged marriage, the dramatic love declarations, poetic language and whimsical symbolism gives hopeless romantics of the twenty-first century an effective source of escapism.