One attribute readers of historical fiction always mention is its ability to create an immersive experience – the notion of being transported in time and place. And what does that mean? What do you think readers mean when they say that?
In surveys I’ve conducted about historical fiction, feeling “immersed in time and place” is the #1 factor defining readers’ favourite historical fiction. So, when doing a series called ‘Readers on Reading’, I asked: What aspects of an author’s writing make you feel like you’re ‘immersed in the novel’s world’ and/or ‘transported in time and place’?
One reader said: “Details! The devil is, I’m sure, in the details for an author. But for a reader, details pull our minds into the story. What did the characters find on their dinner plates? What were they wearing? What was the room like that they were in? What smells came wafting in the window? What were the background noises, the music? How did the light hit the scene around the characters? How were they reacting to all those stimulants?”
Another reader responded: Landscape that is practically a character … as in McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove or Leif Enger’s Peace Like a River. Clear and vivid descriptions that have me practically smelling and tasting the food or environment … as in Gibb’s The Beauty of Humanity Movement or The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones. And period details will transport me as in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.
And a third reader had this to say: “Using deep point of view and multi-layering of characters help. As does a slower drip feed of info, enough to keep me interested. Bringing the characters to life on the page, is a must for me.”
What about authors? Nicola Griffith, author of Hild and Menewood which are both historical fiction, offered this perspective on Literary Hub:
“When writing my historical novels Hild and Menewood I aimed for the reader to experience, to see, smell, hear, taste and feel the seventh century as Hild does; to gradually adopt her mindset and worldview; to think her thoughts and feel her joys. To be her, just for a little while.”
These aspects stand out for me:
- Build the world of your characters
- Reflect the mindset of their time and use deep point of view
- Be sure to engage all the senses
- Attend to the details
I’ve just spent the last few days reading Colin Falconer’s Silk Road. In this case, the world is a trip across the silk road in the 13th century. Multiple mindsets are reflected:
- the mindset of a female Tatar princess who rides and fights better than her brothers
- the mindset of a Dominican priest sent by the Pope to convert the heathen
- the mindset of a Templar knight whose mission is to protect the priest
Their world is one of constant danger from the natural elements, from marauding tribes, and from competing promises and desires. A couple of paragraphs that I highlighted as I read.
One from the desert:
“It was a wasteland not of dunes and soft, butter-yellow sand but an endless plain of grey salt flats and root hummocks with a few dry, thorny desert plants. They rode into the teeth of a hot wind; the horizon dissolved to a yellow dust haze, and the poplar trees at the rim of the oasis bent and swayed as their caravan wound its way towards the great deserts at the centre of the Earth.”
Another when they encountered a group of travellers along the Silk Road:
“Everything seemed strange and frightening and compelling all at once: the demonic clash of cymbals and doleful bleating of a gong from the temples; the rhythmic chanting of priests; the massive statues of Borcan reclining beside the road, painted with stupendous colours. Once he saw a statue the height of ten men, hewn from bare rock in the cliff face.
The Silk Road was no longer a lonely place, it was crowded with creaking carts, or peasants treading their way to market with baskets of fruit and vegetables balanced across their shoulders on bamboo yokes. Small caravans of a few mules or camels brought silks and teas from the south. Occasionally Josseran heard an imperial postman run past with his great belt of bells.”
Falconer’s novel was definitely an immersive experience.
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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.
