Topic: letting readers know larger historical context: important?

[rab]

I'm working on a MG novel set in a 14th-century English village. My 10-year-old main character would know very little about the larger world in which she lives, nor would most other villagers care about things beyond the village. I've mentioned that Edward Longshanks is king, to provide context, but nothing other than that. I could provide it in an author's note, but to me, it would seem artificial to work it into the main text.

How important is it for readers to have the bigger picture? (I like how we know, in Cushman's Catherine, Called Birdy, that the MC's uncle is a crusader, or in Avi's Crispin, that John Ball is at work. But those things figure into the plots, and nothing like that works in my novel.)

[Marissa Doyle]

Being a history geek, I like to work in as much history as is appropriate for the book and for the audience...but it has to be just that--appropriate for the circumstances. If it feels inappropriate for your character to have any awareness of the bigger events around her, then don't include them.  And then go to town in your Author's Note because there are little budding history geeks (and teachers and librarians) out there who would like to know the historical context and maybe have some names/dates/events to tbe able to research further.

[annastan]

One solution might be to have a character pass through who brings news of the outside world. That way we'll have a bit more historical context, and we'll see the main character react to news of what's happening in the larger world. Of course, the traveler character would have to fit organically into the story.

[elizabethp]

I think maybe you can weave some stuff in, for instance, how does the bigger picture affect the every day person? And I agree that a good solid author's note would be very cool. One area of history that interests me is daily life, I guess you call it social history. One author has a neat website, too, where she posts pictures and other background material. House of Dead Maids.

[Vijaya]

Rab, I hear your dilemma. A historical note is sufficient because the history ought to be woven in seamlessly. I like the idea of a traveler bringing news of the world into a village. And of course, I expect the story to detail daily life ... that's what I adore more than anything else.

Good luck,
Vijaya

[rab]

Thanks for your responses, everybody. My MC focuses mostly on the little things in her life, which happens to be what I like best about historical research. I'll hold onto the big stuff that she wouldn't know about (and wouldn't understand even if she did) for the author's note.