If you follow my Twitter or have seen my Goodreads, you will know that I read a lot of royal history and biography books, as well as historical fiction. So, in the last year or so, I was quite excited to see the two worlds collide more and more. Royal historical fiction can be hard to write; these were real people and fiction can be unbelievable when we know the truth. However, with the rise of royal-ish fiction, I’ve come to ask: how much of the story has to look at the royals?
The Gown, Meet Me in Monaco, and The Golden Hour have all featured in multiple book clubs for me, and I’ve had them on to-read lists on my own. I was quite excited to read each one of them. The Gown is based on a dual story between the present (2016) and the 1947 royal wedding, and while I’ve seen footage and heard the “coupons for dress” factoid, I was thrilled to get more of the behind the scenes story. And with Meet Me in Monaco, I was quite excited to read more of the media circus around the Monegasque wedding. So I grabbed them, and dug in! However, I didn’t quite get what I expected…
What Is Royal-Ish Fiction?
I’m going to go ahead and define royal-ish fiction as a piece of historical fiction anchored around royal history, but only loosely. They seem to run multiple storylines at once, and the royals tend not to be a main character at all. All of the books that seem to be out in the last year or soon to be released are all based around modern royal history, the twentieth century and forward. The anchoring royal is a real person (not Princess Diaries style, though those are still a classic), but the other characters are entirely fictional. You perhaps “see” the royals 5-8 times throughout the book- very briefly, and they don’t tend to make any waves in the story.
The Benefits of Royal-Ish Fiction
I think that there are certainly benefits to royal-ish fiction, the large one being that people who may not normally read those authors will pick up these books. Anything that exposes people to new authors is a good thing in my books (pun intended)! I would have never picked up any of these books based on the authors; it isn’t that they aren’t talented, simply that they aren’t in my peripherals at all. I don’t tend to read a ton of modern historical fiction, so I can say that I’ve read three new authors I wouldn’t otherwise have.
I also think that it can bring attention to people in history that you might not know. As a royal historian, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Princess Grace are very well-known to me. However, there are a lot of people who otherwise don’t know them. You won’t learn anything from these books, but there does seem to be more interest in them after reading the book. (Or so I can tell from book clubs.) If a book can encourage more reading, and more reading of history, I’m on board!
The Downfalls of Royal-Ish Fiction
I have to say, after reading three of these books in the space of 9 months, I feel rather tricked. You are drawn in on the premise of the royals, and they are pretty much absent. In The Golden Hour, the Duchess of Windsor appears roughly 7 times, for no more than a page at most, usually a short paragraph. I am truly interested in the Windsors time in the Bahamas, and the book flap description begins with “The New York Times bestselling authors of The Summer Wives brings World War II-era Nassau to incandescent life in a brilliantly original epic of espionage and human courage inside the court of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.” Sounds great, sign me up! However, you barely even get to see their “court”. And in Meet Me in Monaco, you don’t actually “see” the wedding in question. There is a tiny bit, but nothing substantial.
This may have to do with the publishing/marketing teams more than the authors, as I know that it often falls out of their purview. However, all three of these books were marketed as historical fiction about these royals, and they are pretty much irrelevant other than providing a basic starting point. The Gown is probably the best option- royal history runs through both the historic and present storylines, and although you don’t see much of Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth II is more present. The other two are very loosely based on royal history, though. It seems to be a trend, with more books due to come out in the genre in 2020, but I don’t know if I will be reading them.
I don’t tend to read modern historical fiction, it’s just not something I gravitate towards. I don’t enjoy reading about either WWI/WWII fiction, and that seems to be a basis for much royal-ish fiction. If you took the royal characters out of these books, I wouldn’t have read them- so it leaves a touch of a sour taste in my mouth.
Should You Read Royal-Ish Fiction?
Here comes the question I think many will ask- should you read royal-ish fiction? And my answer is: maybe. I will be using the “removal test” going forward; if I removed the royal and left the story, would I be interested in reading it? If the answer is no, I will probably be passing. If you think it sounds like a fantastic read, absolutely pick it up and give it a go! These are in no way bad books, just not books I would choose given the whole premise. However, I have friends and family who love WWII-era fiction, or whatever it happens to be, and I think they would love these books. Just be honest with yourself when looking at it!
So, I am very interested to hear your thoughts: are you a fan of royal-ish fiction? Or do you think that maybe it should be made more clear?
Cheers,
The Historian
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