Russell is an American writer originally from Florida, and many of the stories in her first collection, St Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, take place in a weird, heightened version of a Florida swamp. 1 – ‘from Children’s Reminiscences of the Westward Migration‘, in St Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves Here are four of her stories that I recommend reading ASAP.
So, for today’s ‘Madeira Mondays’, I wanted to point you towards some of my favorite, historical fiction stories by Karen Russell! Even though, regrettably, none of her short stories are set in 18 th century America (Please write a story set in 18 th century America, Karen! Please!!), lots of them explore other periods of American history and the American landscape. I was so excited to read her new collection last week – Orange World – and it exceeded my (very high!) expectations. Or, at least, have recognized something that I had not thought about before. I actually feel wiser after reading her stories, like I have understood something new about human nature. But all of her tales have fantastical or magical realism elements to them and they are all ridiculously well written. Lots of her stories are set in the present too. She writes both short stories and novels and many of her stories take place in the past – whether that is the old American West, 17 th century Greece, or 19 thcentury Japan. A brief flash, a glimpse, but with much that you have to fill in and guess for yourself.Īlso, maybe I am greedy, but sometimes I would rather read a collection with many different settings and characters, rather than commit to a whole book with just one time period and one setting. Similarly, short stories are tiny windows into another world. Pieces of historical evidence often provide tiny windows to another world, but so much is left unknowable. An old photograph discovered in an attic. Well, for one thing, they reflect the way that the past often comes to us, which is in brief, fragmented, incomplete bursts. Why are short stories such a brilliant form for historical fiction? BUT there is also something to be said for the short story as a medium for exploring history too. And I understand the appeal of getting wholly immersed in another time period, which one can do with a novel: learning about the minutia of life, meeting a big cast of characters, covering several years etc. I love a good historical novel (I’m writing one as we speak!). That historical tales were best suited to sprawling tomes with many sequels. It seems like a collective decision was made, somewhere down the line, that fiction set in the past should be EPIC in its scope.
When we think of historical fiction, we tend to think about novels.
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