Janie Chang Recommends Historical Novels About Rule Breakers

In a New York Times column, Janie Chang, the best-selling author of several historical novels, recommends eight works of historical fiction that centre on characters who push against the conventions of their time. Chang argues that readers need more than descriptions of clothing and food to empathize with historical characters; they also need a grasp of the culture, social norms and politics that shape decisions.

She says one effective way to convey those mores without resorting to textbook explanation is to place characters in conflict with accepted social, religious or political rules, and let readers learn about boundaries through the reactions of the characters. Her selections include: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, set at a Dutch East India Company trading post in Nagasaki in 1799 and centred on a clerk whose affinity for Japan sets him apart; Curiosity by Joan Thomas, based on the life of Mary Anning, a cabinet maker’s daughter whose fossil discoveries in early 1800s Britain went unacknowledged because of class and gender; The Printmaker’s Daughter by Katherine Govier, about Oei, who takes over Hokusai’s studio in mid-1800s Tokyo and sells her own paintings as his; Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray, which follows Frances Perkins as the first female U.S.

Key Topics

Culture, Janie Chang, Historical Fiction, Mary Anning, Frances Perkins, Nagasaki