In The Hollywood History of the World, historical novelist George Macdonald Fraser (no relation) looks at historical movies and at one point discusses critics who have no idea of history. One review of the movie Shalako scoffed at Sean Connery’s accent — seriously were we supposed to believe there were Scots running around the Old West? Yes, actually, there were.
This is a problem writers deal with a lot, particularly if they’re writing historical fiction: readers “know” the history and get thrown when their confronted with the real one. Case in point, some years back I was reading Southern Discomfort to a couple of beta readers. In one of the early chapters, FBI Agent Rachel Cohen is interviewing local resident Liz Mitchell about events in Pharisee. Among the books on Liz’s shelves is The Andromeda Strain. My beta readers reaction: wrong! Your book is set in 1973 and Michael Crichton wasn’t writing that long ago, was he?
He was, of course. But I imagine if they don’t think so, some of my readers may likewise think it’s a mistake. However I will take that chance (it’s not an essential detail to the story but I like it).
Another reader objected when I had a character reading “some comic book about the Black Panthers” — meaning the beginning the “Panther’s Rage” arc in Jungle Action. My reader pointed out the cover date is September of 1973 and my story’s back in May. I explained that cover dates back then were invariably several months after the publication date, to keep retailers yanking them off the spinner racks at the end of the month. Apparently this is not as well known as when I was a kid. Since I really like that detail, I won’t be changing it either. Hopefully readers will still be engaged, even if they think I’m wrong and I’m not there to explain.
