Katherine Clements weighs in on historical fiction

What book changed your writing forever?

It’s been such a treat to see the response people have had to this series so far. The most common reaction appears to be horror at having to choose only one book. (I’m not suggesting we writers are only impacted by one book, more to discuss one that represents a turning point.)

Once you read this interview, I encourage you to share a book that changed your writing life in the comments.

As passionate readers, we all have so many books that have impacted us. This series focuses on the one that unlocked new possibilities in writing.

If you love historical fiction, this issue will be especially delicious for you.

Katherine Clements

I’m delighted to have

Katherine Clements

as my guest. Some of you may know Katherine from the wonderful challenge she’s been running recently, #100DaysofWriting, as well as from her Substack, the Inkwell.

Katherine's debut novel, The Crimson Ribbon, was published in 2014 and her second, The Silvered Heart, in 2015. Her third novel, The Coffin Path, became an Amazon bestseller and was nominated for the HWA Gold Crown Award and The Guardian's Not the Booker Prize in 2018. Her writing has won and been shortlisted for many prizes, including the Winchester Writers' Conference First Three Pages Award and the Weald & Downland Museum/Jerwood Prize for Historical Fiction.

Let’s look at the book that transformed her writing life, shall we?

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What book changed the way you write most dramatically?

The book I've chosen is Restoration by Rose Tremain. When I first read it, sometime in the 90s, I wasn’t yet writing. I’d always wanted to be a writer, but it wasn’t until my early 30s, around a decade later, that I finally began to try (which is a whole other story!). However, Restoration was the book that sparked my interest in 17^th century history.

Restoration is about Robert Merivel – a medical student in Restoration London who finds unexpected favour with King Charles II. As the best historical fiction does, it got me interested in the period, wanting to know more, so I began reading history books. I realised that the 17th century was a hugely tumultuous and pivotal century in English history, at the centre of which was civil war and revolution, which in all my years studying history at school and university, I never learned much about. England had a revolution 150 years before the more famous French one. Why didn’t it attract the same attention? I was fascinated.

As I read more, I stumbled across the germ of an idea that eventually became my debut novel, The Crimson Ribbon, which is set during the English Civil Wars. In fact, the first three of my novels are all set in the 17^th century. I can track my whole journey from aspiring to published author from that initial spark, so in that way Restoration has been a huge influence on my writing.

I’ve revisited the book many times since as a writer and found more to love and learn each time.

What about the book did you love / were you most impacted by?

First up, it's just a great novel, with a great story. It was one of the first literary historical fiction works that started to shift opinion of the genre in the 90s. It won the Sunday Express Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1989. For several decades prior, historical fiction was too often dismissed as genre pulp – either swashbuckling romances, bodice rippers or military epics – not the stuff of serious literature. But this book, and others like it, showed how relevant history can be, and how shedding light on the past can help us understand our present.

I’d always read historical novels, but Restoration opened my eyes to what historical fiction could be and helped me understand the kind of book I wanted to write.

What rules did it help you realize you were following in your writing?

It showed me that’s okay to play with history. With my historian's training (I have a degree in history and archeology) I was initially reluctant to change or adapt any established historical fact. I didn’t know what the ‘rules’ were, what was acceptable or not – something that many budding historical novelists struggle with.

Restoration showed me how to blend history with fiction to create story, and, crucially, how in fiction story and character must come first. I guess it enabled me to break with my historian’s approach and enter the mindset of the historical novelist. We explore the unknowable part of history – how people thought and felt – and ask the all-important question: What if?

What transformation did it catalyze? (Or what permission did it grant you as a writer?)

I’ve returned to the book many times since that first reading, and of course, reading as a writer is a different experience. I think it’s been pivotal in my approach to character development and characterisation.

Robert Merivel remains one of my favorite characters in literature. He's deeply flawed, vain, selfish, and not a little ridiculous, and yet we root for him. We're totally on his side. He's a perfect example of how to create a multifaceted character who feels like a real human being. The story is firmly his story, told in his distinctive voice.

Something I see often with beginner historical novelists is that they prioritise the history over the character development. When asked what the book is about, they will tell you about the historical background, whereas a novel is really about the people and what happens to them. History will inform and influence your characters, but you must create an interplay of the two.

I think such lessons continue to inform my writing, and they certainly inform my teaching. I still use the opening pages of Restoration when teaching characterisation because, honestly, I’ve never found anything better.

How has the transformation continued since then?

In answer to this I’ll tell you a story.

The Crimson Ribbon was published in 2014. During publication week I traveled to London to celebrate and sign books at various bookshops. It was my first experience of such things and with the glamour and excitement I was practically delirious. Taking the London Underground to my publisher’s office, who should I see sitting across from me, but Restoration’s author, Rose Tremain.

I approached her, and in my state of near hysteria, babbled incoherently for several minutes about how much I love her work, and how Restoration had been such a big influence on my own novel, which had just come out. She was charming, of course, and attentive, but clearly not prepared to be accosted by some sweaty, overexcited debut author!

It’s totally embarrassing that I fangirled so hard, but the moment felt so serendipitous, I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by. I sincerely hope she forgot my name immediately.

Who would you recommend this book to most? 

Any lover of historical fiction, people who appreciate intelligent, character driven narratives and novelists wanting to improve their characterisation skills.

What are you working on now?

I am just coming to the end of a sweeping historical novel that has taken six years to complete – the outcome of a year I spent living in New Orleans as a Fulbright Scholar in 2019. The Devil’s Empire is the epic tale of the birth of America’s most storied city, told by the people who built it. It’s a real labour of love which I hope will be published in 2026.

I’m also writing a novella commissioned as part of the Northern Weird Project, which will be released in 2025. Turbine 34 is about an environmental scientist sent to assess the impact of a controversial new windfarm on the Yorkshire moors, who discovers the dark truths that construction has unleased. I’m just beginning this project, and I’m really excited about writing something different.

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More about Katherine and her writing

Katherine Clements is an author, editor and coach for writers. She writes dark historical fiction; her most recent book is The Coffin Path which was nominated for the HWA Gold Crown Award and is now in development for the screen. She is an RLF Fellow, a Fulbright Scholar and an accredited coach.

She writes The Inkwell on Substack where she hosts a growing community of ambitious writers interested in creating productive and rewarding writing lives. She is currently hosting #100 Days of Writing, a gentle writing challenge to help writers reconnect with regular, playful creative practice. Her next book, a novella commissioned as part of the Northern Weird Project, will be released in 2025.

Find her on Substack at The Inkwell