Books Quote by Melanie Benjamin

“As a historian, I found myself all too often treating my historical subjects like fictional characters, malleable entities that could be made to do…

— Lauren Willig

As a fiction writer, of course, you need to take some leeway with certain aspects of history to make the story work.

— Joseph Boyden

You can't believe anything that's written in an historical novel, and yet the author's job is always to create a believable world that readers…

— Justin Cartwright

Writing historical novels can be dangerous. We need to be as accurate and as fair about the historical record as we can be, at…

— Edward Rutherfurd

If you're writing something that's clearly labelled as an alternative history, of course it's perfectly legitimate to play with known historical characters and events,…

— Diana Gabaldon

I often tell people who want to write historical fiction: don't read all that much about the period you're writing about; read things from…

— Thomas Mallon

I feel very strongly that where the facts exist, a historical novelist should use them if they're writing about a person who really lived,…

— Alison Weir

Historical fiction is not history. You're blending real events and actual historical personages with characters of your own creation.

— George R. R. Martin

Write whatever way you like. Fiction is made of words on a page; reality is made of something else. It doesn't matter how "real"…

— Anne Enright

I can't read historical fiction because I find the real thing so much more interesting.

— Antonia Fraser

Historical fiction is not only a respectable literary form; it is a standing reminder of the fact that history is about human beings.

— Helen Cam

I think I'm too lazy a writer to do something like historical fiction. You have to do so much research. I just write what…

— Sarah Dessen