Jessica Elizabeth Turner
asked:
Still unsure if this is fiction or not? Sometimes I’m confused as to how it can be both fiction and nonfiction at the same time?
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The Diamond Eye,
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Bistra Stoimenova
This is historical fiction - you have real-life events and real people, but the story deviates here and there to fill in the gaps that history has left.
Lindsay
It cannot be fiction and nonfiction at the same time, that's not a thing. It's fiction INSPIRED by a real person and some of her wartime experiences.
Mary Crawford
A non fiction book called Lady Death is about this female sniper. Check it out.
Linda Scroggy
It is fiction, based on a true incident. In the author's notes at the end of the book, Kate Quinn explains about her research for the book and how she used it to write the story and fill in with people and situations of her own. It is based on Lyudmila's memoirs. A example is that there was no assassination attempt that evening on President Roosevelt. That part of the story was all fiction.
Chiara
If you read to the end and read the author's notes she explains that most of it is non fiction, inspired by the real biography of Lyudmilla. And she highlights what parts are fiction.
Natalie
How do you strike the right balance between fact and fiction when writing historical fiction?
Kate Quinn explains...
"Historical facts provide the framework, like the bones in a human body. Then I fill in the gaps where there are missing bones/facts, and layer fictional elements and characters on top like laying flesh and muscle on top of the skeleton. Ideally speaking, it all then comes to life!"
Kate Quinn explains...
"Historical facts provide the framework, like the bones in a human body. Then I fill in the gaps where there are missing bones/facts, and layer fictional elements and characters on top like laying flesh and muscle on top of the skeleton. Ideally speaking, it all then comes to life!"
Yaaresse
I get it. I cringe when people describe a non-fiction book as "a novel" or treat historical fiction as established fact. The best historical fiction sticks to the documented facts of a person or event while using imagination for the details. The best historical fiction authors are upfront about which parts are fact and which were imagined. Quinn is one of the best. Her author notes contain full disclosure on what she added and why.
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