'Inventor of the past'

 

“Writersof historical fiction are not under the same obligation as historians to findevidence for the statements they make. For us it is sufficient if what we saycan't be disproved or shown to be false.” – Barry Unsworth

Born in England into a family ofcoal miners (on this date in 1930), Unsworth said he “got out of that trap”when his father bucked tradition and became an insurance salesman.  “He saved us,” Unsworth said.  

 

He started writing “traditional”novels but switched to historical fiction later in life with more than half ofhis 17 novels being in that genre.   At the time of his death – in 2012 on the sameday as science fiction writer Ray Bradbury – he was so well entrenched in thatstyle that Wall Street Journal writerCynthia Crossen noted:  "Mr.Bradbury invented the future; Mr. Unsworth invented the past."

 

Unsworth was noted for writing thatbrought “real people” back to life, although in terms and language he oftencreated for them.  “All my fiction startsfrom a feeling of unique perception, the pressure of a secret, a story thatneeds to be told."

 

Shortlisted three times for The Booker Prize, his 1992masterpiece Sacred Hunger, about the English involvement in the slavetrade, shared the prize with Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient (definitely not bad company with which to share a writing prize).  

 

 As for why he chose to focus on historical fiction,Unsworth said, “I like the condition of being an outsider, just passingthrough.”

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