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Writing the Historical Novel, Part 1

When I began writing fiction, I never thought of myself as a historical novelist. Yet my two published novels tell stories that involve not only historical events but include chapters set in two epochal wars of the 20th century: in Absolution, Vietnam, in A Stone for Bread, World War II. My as yet unpublished novel Sun, which I sometimes jokingly refer to as the third in Herin’s war trilogy, is set during the 19th century’s Second Seminole Indian War.

In college, I majored in both English and History, so authoring fiction that encompasses history should not be surprising. Yet when I began Absolution and A Stone for Bread, I had no idea their stories would take my imagination into actual war arenas: in Absolution, a U.S. military camp in Vietnam and in A Stone for Bread a Nazi concentration camp. Yet I found the journey fascinating and one that not only offered this writer essential “story” elements, but also provided me important insights into the 20th century, insights that remain invaluable in today’s seemingly chaotic times.

In the early years of the 21st century, I discovered another reason for writing historical fiction. I began Absolution in 2002, in the summer following 9/11. At the time, I decided to set the novel prior to 9/11. It was much too soon, I believed, to use such a horrific event in fiction. But by the time I finished Absolution, America was four years beyond the Trade Towers attack. That’s when I decided to include the attack in the novel.

What I learned from that was a surprising realization: these days, it isn’t easy to shift a novel even a few years forward or backward in time. Why? Because we live in a world of constant technological change in which everyday items like telephones, TVs and appliances, even food packaging are constantly being redesigned and altered. And in the business of book publishing, it may take several years before a novel finds a publisher and another year before the actual book is released.

Is it any wonder then why so many of today’s best writers such as Anthony Doerr, Hilary Mantel and George Saunders, to name a few, are turning to the past for their novels?

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A Stone for Bread by Miriam Herin

Recent Posts
  • On May 11, 2020, Miriam’s second novel A Stone for Bread won the 2020 Eric Hoffer competition Legacy Award, which placed the novel on the short list for the Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize. Prior to publication, the Stone for Bread manuscript was a top-ten finalist in the 2014 International Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Novel Competition. In 2016, it was nominated for North Carolina’s prestigious Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction. Published by Livingston Press of the University of West Alabama, the novel received a starred Kirkus review through the Kirkus Indy program and was cited by Kirkus as an Indy Best book of the year for 2016. It was a 2017 Finalist in the International Book Awards, Literary Fiction category.
    February 21, 2022
  • Coming Soon: THE BASILISK, a novel of 12th Century France
    February 21, 2022
  • Coming Soon, Miriam’s medieval novel THE BASILISK
    February 17, 2022
  • 1. Lucky, The Backstory: A Grassy Field and a Basketball Goal
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My Readers Say

With a sharp eye for detail, Herin weaves a riveting and compassionate narrative out of lifelines that have echoed across the decades and become part of my own.

L.C. Fiore

This is a supremely ambitious book from a thoroughly gifted writer.

Joseph Bathanti

But here’s the main thing I have to tell you: A Stone For Bread is an irresistible page-turner.

Judy Goldman
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