Narrative History and Speculative Peep Shows
I find, from time to time, that it's difficult to explain to people exactly what it is I write. "It's history," I say, "but it's not a textbook. It's going to read like a novel." "Oh, so you mean a historical fiction?" I'm asked. "No, it's all true, all nonfiction. It's more like a historical narrative, I guess." "Oh," is the usual response I get, usually accompanied with a quizzical expression of someone who doesn't get it but would rather talk about something else. I really don't know what to call the genre. The closest I've found is Narrative History which is taking history and telling it in story form. This genre allows for more speculation, more dramatic elements and, for the reader, a more exciting and engaging bit of history. The problem I face, though, is how much license can I take and still have it counted as a history book? Passages like this easily count as history