Historical Fiction vs Creative Non-Fiction
Two Very Different Terms with Two Very Similar Results
I recently finished reading The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh, a work of historical fiction centred on a group of islands off the eastern coast of India called the Sundarbans. As per usual, when reading one of Ghosh’s novels, I was left both mesmerized and educated, as I learned of the tidal floods that can unexpectedly rise and surge over the mangrove islands, at times destroying everything in their path.
Ghosh’s 2008 novel, Sea of Poppies, which begins his Ibis Trilogy, was the first novel that really introduced me to the idea of using extensive research to tell a story. I was drawn to the idea of countless true stories embedded within an overarching work of fiction. Sea of Poppies changed the way I read. I was no longer content with even “great” literature; now I wanted great literature that also taught me about history, world events, nature, other cultures, and other countries.
By the time I was emotionally and mentally ready to tackle The Hungry Tide, I knew that it signaled a form of willingness on my part; that it would require a significant investment from me, the reader. I felt ready to learn of the Bengali refugees forcibly removed from the Morichjhanpi Island by the Indian government, the pervasive tiger and crocodile attacks, and the hunt for the endangered Orcaella river dolphin that hides in the Bay of Bengal.
Ghosh is an expert at mesmerizing his readers with sweeping generational tales while educating us on topics that, if read alone, would not so easily hold our attention. Since completing The Ibis Trilogy in 2017, which takes on the Opium Wars, I have extensively sought out similar novels to educate myself while still enjoying their subplots of clandestine encounters and epic travels. Ghosh’s writing style has taught me that there is something important in the lines between history, fiction, and fantasy and that the ability to blend them together can create something more than each could on its own.
In my most recent project, "Chapter Three" of Letting Go, I have taken on the Pandemic of 2019 and the significant losses it has caused for families worldwide. My main character is in the process of losing her father, and while he is dying, she is going through both a process of “letting go” while coming to terms with the fraught relationship they had while he was alive. This short story is a deeply personal true story, but I have taken certain liberties while writing this short story, so my project is an Historical Fiction undertaking. However, when I wrote the article titled "Intersectionality," which you can find under my "Research" heading, as unbelievable as this very short story is, I actually took no liberties, and this project I term Creative Non-Fiction (CNF).
By writing Letting Go, my hope is that the reader can experience viscerally one woman’s loss arising from the Covid pandemic while still enjoying the creative journey they are taken on through her musings and revelations. Historical fiction teaches me that literature can be both a pastime and an educational tool, and I find this both fascinating and motivating for my own creative writing.