Just the Facts of Fiction

Friday, March 25, 2022

By Joy Lucius

Reprinted from American Family Association

If you’ve read any of my blogs before, you know I love to read. It’s always been my favorite pastime.

As a child, I remember reading a book as I rested in the crook of a sweet gum tree and reading late into the night with the aid of a flashlight. I also recall riding my yellow bike up and down our country road with one hand on the handlebars and the other holding a book. (Looking back, this was probably not the wisest thing I ever did.)

My genre of choice has always been historical fiction. Always!

Maybe it was Laura Ingalls Wilder who first made me love reading about days gone by. But it could have been the stories of Anne of Green Gables. Or maybe it was Mark Twain and his characters’ mischief that first stole my heart as a reader.

I really don’t remember when I fell in love with historical fiction, but I did.

When I taught literature and creative writing, I was always hard-pressed to pull myself and my students out of my historical comfort zone to explore other genres. And if the truth be told, I was at my best when I taught those historical tales I loved so much. Any of my students will tell you that I got more excited than a little kid on Christmas morning when I introduced them to a novel based on history.

Now, all these years later, I find myself with a new love – writing historical fiction about unknown children of the Holocaust. It makes perfect sense that my love of reading and writing would come full circle in these Priceless Pennies books and the story of Rose and Odette Aboulafia.

But as I started research on Book 2 of this series, I grew perturbed at a trend I noticed in the historical fiction genre – historical revisionism.

At first, I chalked it up to the creative license of one or two authors. Then, I noticed more and more books for all ages of readers, as well as television shows, and even feature-length films simply changed the facts of history to suit cultural and creative whims.

I searched and read several commentaries on the topic. One claimed that “historical fiction” is really an oxymoronic term. After all, it is only fiction, and fiction, by definition, is not fact. It is fake. So why not just let writers be as creative as they desire?

I also read that everyone has their own perception and take on historical facts. No historical event was truly reported without bias. It was simply the facts as perceived by those involved. Accordingly, historical fiction can therefore be written from whatever perspective the author chooses.

Come on! It is one thing to write alternate history and make it known upfront that it is indeed a plot that totally alters and changes history, and its subsequent outcomes on the future. I can deal with that. In fact, it’s kind of interesting to imagine “what if” history had played out differently. It can give readers a deeper appreciation of God’s wisdom and mercy.

But alternate history and historical revisionism are two totally different things.

Now, I am the first to admit that man has made some really bad choices throughout history, choices that negatively impacted generations of men, women, and children. Yes, be it war, slavery, or the abuse and neglect of the weakest members of humanity, mankind has made hideous world-altering mistakes.

But pretending that those things never happened will only serve to make matters worse.

For example, I have been reading a series of Christian historical novels with female protagonists. They are beautifully crafted, lyrical tales about different times in history. The only problem is that each novel tried to paint women as strong and decisive characters in roles or situations that are downright revisionist. Unfortunately, society in the 1700s, 1800s, and even a portion of the 1900s simply did not allow, much less accept women in certain roles at that time.

Those were the facts of the times, so I just don’t get it. Why write a story that says otherwise? Instead, why not write a story based on historical fact? One in which a Christian woman of deep strength and faith persevered and overcame a realistic situation or trial? Why pretend things were different?

The only answer I can come up with is that we have bought into the lie as Christian writers that we must push our young women to conform to the world’s standards. Therefore, again, as writers, we need to revise our past as Christian women and paint an entirely different picture of what women should have been or should have done.

That is ludicrous.

Take the biblical story of Queen Esther, for example. Should we go back and change her story to make her into a stronger, more assertive character who refuses to participate in the beautification process required to become the next queen.

After all, today’s world would say it was a demeaning, demoralizing process. So, why not change it to make Esther rebel against the system and choose her own path in life? We could even make the story into such that she becomes queen and has no need for a king.

Or what about the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus? We could revise her story and create the sad tale of a pitiful unwed woman who had been taken advantage of for selfish reasons. We could craft Mary’s story into one of a single mom who triumphs over all adversity. But that’s the not the wonderful, glorious truth of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate One who came to die as a ransom for our sins.

Granted, no one in their right mind would do such a blasphemous thing, would they?

Maybe not. But here’s the issue: If we keep on reading and watching revisionist plots and never comment or complain about their authenticity, then one day, no one will know the difference between revisionist historical fiction and realistic historical fiction – or worse than that – even real historical facts.

So, as historical fiction writers and readers, we must understand that there is a difference between creating a story and fabricating a lie. The difference is subtle but could become deadly for future generations of readers.

When children in the future read a revised story about Queen Esther, we must make sure they know how much faith and courage it took for an orphaned Jewish girl to boldly approach a godless king and risk her life to save her people – simply because God had called her to such a time as that.

No matter how many “stories” of the birth of Jesus are written, future generations must read the truth of a virgin girl named Mary who agreed to being the chosen vessel to bring Christ into the world, despite the ridicule, shame, and eventual loss her heavenly assignment would entail. The entire story of salvation hinges on her purity and obedience to God.

Those future readers are the reasons why we cannot revise history – even in our novels and movies. For knowing the truth of our history, the good, the bad, and the ugly, will be the only way they keep from repeating our worst mistakes. And that is a fact!

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