After only one week of this new year, you may agree with me that 2021 will be unique and unforgettable.
Just as new events emerge from the background of the past, so new stories (especially historical novels) spring up, building on the raw material of old stories.
This month, I’m pulling back the curtain to reveal a few of the pleasures and challenges of writing stories that combine the old with the new.
What’s fun?
- immersing myself in a bygone, faraway culture (and visiting the location virtually or in person)
- creating and getting to know my characters
- getting to know actual people who lived then and there, sometimes giving them roles in my stories
- developing a plot and themes
What’s challenging?
- Staying true to history (what could have happened then)
- Discovering details of life that make the story seem real
- Creating an entertaining, believable plot
Hamnet, an acclaimed 2020 novel, is a recent example of a story built on an existing historical foundation.
- Modern-day techniques and twists breathe new life into the life stories of William Shakespeare and his family.
- Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son, died at the age of eleven (probably of the plague), and the novel focuses on the lives of his family members before and after his death.
- Setting details (mostly unpleasant) made me feel I was there (and glad I didn’t live then)
- Author Maggie O’Farrell’s deep emotional portrayals of her characters and focus on their unusual backgrounds, especially William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes/Anne, brought them to life
- The exploration of the lasting and differing effects of grief on the characters raised questions about the plague’s impact—perhaps like PTSD?–on families and societies
- The link between the life and death of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, and the writing of the play, Hamlet, is a key part of the story. The author points out that in Shakespeare’s time, spelling wasn’t uniform, so Hamnet and Hamlet were considered the same name.
- A few caveats:
- Use of present tense can become tiring
- Switching characters and time periods without warning in succeeding scenes is jarring and took me out of the story
- Rating of Adult for an on-screen love scene
Readers, what new stories based on old ones have you enjoyed?
If you’ve read Hamnet, what did you think of it?