There is more skill required, in my opinion, to write compelling non-fiction, than there is to write fiction.
And I feel this is largely due to people’s perception of what non-fiction is. We all remember dry school textbooks that tried to make the subject interesting but could do little for the disinterested minds of teenagers.
I also have a certain amount of undergraduate English degree trauma relating to a particular textbook which filled me with dread whenever I needed to read a chapter.
But as I have got older and, to be honest, more interested in the world around me, I have discovered a love of non-fiction that I wasn’t expecting.
It started with a question about graveyards. I don’t even remember what it was now but I have always been fascinated with them and wanted to know more. So landed on my doorstep, the brilliantly titled A Tomb With A View by Peter Ross. It came highly recommended on several channels and I must admit, I fell in with the obvious passion for the subject matter straight away and the whole book offers a look inside an often forgotten, albeit inevitable, part of our lives.
In my TBR pile is a book about Ruth Ellis, again it came about from a simple question “What did she actually do?” quickly followed by “Did she deserve to be hung?” also followed quickly by “I doubt it”.
Wikipedia filled in the scant details of her life and I quickly realised her story was one worth knowing. A difficult childhood filled with abuse gave way to an adulthood living and working in the fast lane. There doesn’t seem to be much doubt that she killed the man she was sent to prison for killing, but should she have been hung? I look forward to reading more about her story.
Another book I bought recently is The Warrior Queen by Joanna Arman and it tells the story of Aethelflaed, the daughter of Alfred the Great who was raised by her father to rule and did so with great success.
History often forgets women like Aethelflaed and relegates women like Ruth Ellis to a mere footnote. Graveyards are seen but not spoken about, holding too much fear for the living to acknowledge.
Maybe there is a theme here in the non-fiction I have recently added to my shelf. Maybe confronting uncomfortable parts of our history and society is the appeal. And rightly so, if you aren’t seeking knowledge on your own terms, you aren’t really learning.
Charlotte Wood is a feminist and writer of the macabre and sinister. She reads horror, fantasy, classic literature and historical fiction (with a preference for history from a woman’s perspective).