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24 contributions to Historical Fiction Club
That was a fun discussion! What are you all reading this weekend?
We had a fun Zoom discussion of Yesteryear by Claire Caro Burke, our first group read! Thank you to everyone who came. I appreciate you! 🧡 Once it's processed, I'll post the AI summary of the discussion so others can join in the conversation. In the meantime, what are you reading this weekend? I'm still reading The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li.
That was a fun discussion! What are you all reading this weekend?
2 likes • 2d
That was so fun! I loved that everybody had a slightly different take. It made for a lively discussion!
Reminder: Book Discussion Friday 29th May at 4pm Pacific
A quick reminder of our discussion of Yesteryear by Claire Caro Burke. It's tomorrow (Friday 29th May) at 4pm Pacific. Check the event under the Calendar tab for the Zoom link. See some of you tomorrow! I've got a whole bunch of deadlines this week, so I haven't been able to spend as much time participating in conversations in here as I'd like. I'm behind on email and everything else too. But it makes me so happy to see you posting and talking with one another 🧡
Reminder: Book Discussion Friday 29th May at 4pm Pacific
1 like • 4d
I cannot wait to talk about this thing!
Thoughts about re-tellings and re-imaginings of classic novels
I just finished reading a re-imagining of a very famous novel (sorry, but I can't identify it because I'm reviewing it for the Historical Novel Society and the review hasn't been published yet) and it got me thinking about what attracts readers to these types of novels. There's the obvious marketing hook: if you loved book X, you'll love book Y. But if we adore the classic novel enough to think it's perfect as it is, what makes us willing to take a chance on a re-telling, knowing how unlikely it is that it will be as satisfying as the classic version? I suppose Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is a good example (and unrelated to the book I just read). Why do you think the thousands (millions?) of spin-offs of this story in both book and film/TV forms are so successful? Do people love P&P so much that they'll watch/read anything even tangentially related to it? I'd love to know what keeps you coming back to retellings of your favourite classic novel (or what keeps you away)!
2 likes • 4d
@Clarissa Harwood I completely know what you mean about it becoming distracting. Like I love A Christmas Carol, but when it's copied too faithfully it just falls flat. The writing is such a big part of the original that you need to be adding something new to make up for having lost that.
0 likes • 4d
@Felicity Fields Beauty and the Beast makes me think about where the line is between a retelling and a repeating trope.
What should we name our cat mascot?
My kids named our two fluffy black cats Squid (because he's black like ink) and Dove (because of the little cooing sound she made when she was a kitten; she now sounds more like a squawking vulture 😂). What do you think is a good name for our Historical Fiction Club cat? [Edited to add: I'll create a poll on Monday 25th so we can decide.]
What should we name our cat mascot?
1 like • 8d
or a second suggestion -- since Anne Boleyn is such a popular historical fiction figure, how about "Happi" for the words on this medal https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_M-9010
1 like • 8d
@Zena Ryder I think Moost Happi was the motto she adopted for her reign (most happy), and anno 1534 is the year the coin was minted. That probably was her happiest year though, as things went downhill pretty quick after.
What are you reading this weekend?
I'm reading The Book of Goose by Yiyun Lee. This is the publisher's description: "Fabienne is dead. Her childhood best friend, Agnès, receives the news in America, far from the French countryside where the two girls were raised—the place that Fabienne helped Agnès escape ten years ago. Now Agnès is free to tell her story. As children in a war-ravaged backwater town, they’d built a private world, invisible to everyone but themselves—until Fabienne hatched the plan that would change everything, launching Agnès on an epic trajectory through fame, fortune, and terrible loss." I'm loving it so far!
What are you reading this weekend?
1 like • 9d
@Zena Ryder There's a guy on substack who does a "slow read" of war and peace - one chapter a day for a year. I actually signed up for 2026, but then I got interested in Homer's Odyssey and abandoned W&P.
1 like • 9d
@Zena Ryder Have you done any of the slow reads? Last year I participated in the "Wolf Crawl." for Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies (but bailed out before the last book because I was too attached to Cromwell to read about his death). I found it so gratifying to spend so much time with a book and live with the characters week after week.
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Kayleigh Shoen
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@kayleigh-shoen-2892
Journaler, short fiction writer, teacher, and lover of stationery.

Active 7h ago
Joined Apr 26, 2026
Boston, MA