Raise your hand if you love historical fiction!
Me, too, dear reader, and we’re not alone. This popular genre has re-emerged in recent years, and the book market is brimming with all kinds of offerings: Victorian romances, World War II spy thrillers, 1920s crime, and supernatural mysteries in just about any time period. There’s something for everyone.
And what’s not to like about a book that serves as your personal time machine, sending you back to the past to hear the creak of carriage wheels or the clash of broadswords, or even the curious cadence of words not used anymore? Back to characters, real or imagined, whose hearts are much like ours—full of longing and regret, joy and sorrow—but whose conflicts spring from a time and place mostly foreign to our own.
There is nothing not to like, as far as I can tell. But if a contemporary time period is more your thing, go in peace. The whole cosmic stew of humankind is fair game when it comes to fiction, and every story is a journey through time. All you have to do is pick up a book and set that dial.
Okay, you can put down your hand now. And thanks for joining me.