'Inventor of the past'

 

“Writers of historical fiction are not under the same obligation as historians to find evidence for the statements they make. For us it is sufficient if what we say can't be disproved or shown to be false.”  – Barry Unsworth

Born in England into a family of coal miners (on this date in 1930), Unsworth said he “got out of that trap” when his father bucked tradition and became an insurance salesman.  “He saved us,” Unsworth said.  

 

He started writing “traditional” novels but switched to historical fiction later in life with more than half of his 17 novels being in that genre.   At the time of his death – in 2012 on the same day as science fiction writer Ray Bradbury – he was so well entrenched in that style that Wall Street Journal writer Cynthia Crossen noted:  "Mr. Bradbury invented the future; Mr. Unsworth invented the past."

 

Unsworth was noted for writing that brought “real people” back to life, although in terms and language he often created for them.  “All my fiction starts from a feeling of unique perception, the pressure of a secret, a story that needs to be told."

 

Shortlisted three times for The Booker Prize, his 1992 masterpiece Sacred Hunger, about the English involvement in the slave trade, shared the prize with Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient  (definitely not bad company with which to share a writing prize).  

 

 As for why he chose to focus on historical fiction, Unsworth said, “I like the condition of being an outsider, just passing through.”