Land long forgotten: a novel; and A balancing act: accuracy and authenticity in historical fiction

Abstract

A Land Long Forgotten: a novel. A Land Long Forgotten explores a forgotten stage of the Communist period of Romanian history. Following Zina, a young girl who, along with her family, gets deported to a forced labour camp, this novel examines what it means to come of age in a place that simultaneously forces one to grow up and prohibits one from maturing naturally. Set in the 1950s, this historical novel combines elements of my own grandmother’s experiences in a Communist labour camp with imagined elements that are both verisimilar and fantastic. Through Zina’s relationships and her struggle for survival, this novel illuminates the brutal history of these camps while also showing the lengths Zina is willing to go for her loved ones.

A Balancing Act: Accuracy and Authenticity in Historical Fiction. This critical reflexive piece explores the ways in which authors of historical fiction navigate the balance of accuracy and authenticity. Drawing on Hayden White’s, Jerome de Groot’s, and Laura Saxton’s definitions of accuracy and authenticity and through a close reading of Kim Sherwood’s Testament and Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, I examine methods of creating authenticity through the use of historical record, as well as approaches for when accurate details of the past are non-existent or inaccessible. I then reflect on how I implemented these methods while writing my novel, A Land Long Forgotten.