Tony Grist (poliphilo) wrote,
Tony Grist
poliphilo

Historical Novels

How long ago does a novel have to be set for it to qualify as an historical novel?

I reckon the events it deals with need to be outside living memory (at the time of writing).

Thus a contemporary novel set in the trenches of WWI would be an historical novel and one set on the beaches of Dunkirk wouldn't.

I'm reading Stevenson's Weir of Hermiston,  He was writing it in the 1890s and it's set around the time of Waterloo. That's a gap of about 80 years- which puts it on the cusp. Is it an historical novel ? I can't decide. 
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  • 26 comments

  • Off To Derbyshire

    We're off to Derbyshire today. Ailz and Jacky (who will be travelling with us) are signed up for a course on clerking a Quaker Meeting- and…

  • Milice

    Odd how words come through in dreams that you have no reason to use in waking life. "Milice" for instance. I had to look it up to check…

  • An Unfamiliar Part Of Town

    I dreamed I was in a bus that was going through Oldham. "Hey," I said to my companion, "I've never been in this part of town…