Biographical Historical Fiction

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​Biographical historical fiction is a genre that dramatizes the lives of real historical figures by blending factual biographical elements with fictional storytelling.
These novels are based on real people, events, and settings but often invent dialogue, internal thoughts, and specific events to create a more compelling narrative. The goal is to offer a deeper, creative understanding of a person's life and the historical context in which they lived.
 
It’s no coincidence that some of my favourite books have fallen within this genre. 
I’ll only mention three, although I ccould easily list another ten. You will have your own favourite. Here are mine:
 

• I, Claudius by Robert Graves: An imagined memoir of the Roman Emperor Claudius.
• Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier: A fictional story about the model for the famous painting. 

• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel: A novel focusing on Thomas Cromwell's rise to power in the court of Henry VIII.

So, why write in this genre? I believe it’s subjective. Now, having completed my sixth novel of this kind, I can affirm that there were four fundamental reasons for me:
First, I like to vary my writing genres to keep fresh. That’s dealt with!
Second, I felt that there are historic figures who have been too neglected.
Third, the most important, so far… It’s fun and instructive to research these figures.
Four, the gender issue. In a male-dominated world, it’s helpful that writers choose strong female protagonists and inform readers about them. 
The people I chose and why for my series Fascinating Lives.
First, Aeneas Piccolomini, who later became Pope Pius II (Book 1 Pigsty to Papacy). I visited the Piccolomini library in Siena Cathedral. The artwork takes your breath away. There’s a cycle of frescoes about his life. Okay he was a pope, but he was a bit of a lad when he was younger. A great orator and humanist, he was well ahead of his times.
Second, Leonardo Fibonacci (Book 2 The Spiral Path). Until he came along, medieval traders were still using the abacus and Roman numerals. Imagine that for accounting! When he was little, he was already a mathematical prodigy. His father took him to North Africa. There, he absorbed Arab culture and saw the benefits of the numbers we all use today. He fought in Iberia, returned and risked the wrath of the Church by revealing the geometric proportions behind Creation.
Third, the first of the women: Fatima al-Fihri (Book 3 The Light that Awakens) The brave woman who founded the world’s first university in Fez (present-day Morocco). She wanted accessible education for the poor, for women, for everybody!
Four, another woman, the inspiration behind an eighteenth-century French novel Turandot and subsequently, Puccini’s opera of the same name. (Book 4 Daughter of the Steppes) she was the Mongol princess, Khutulun, who could defeat any man at wrestling and refused to marry anyone except for the man who could beat her. 
Five, soon to be published…Harald Fairhair, the Norwegian who first united the whole of Norway (Book 5 Valkyrie Nights). A great warrior, he had a number of sons by different wives and concubines but made the mistake of not nominating his favourite, Eirik Bloodaxe early enough.
Six, only just completed, the early-Renaissance figure Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, in arte Donatello, the fantastic sculptor, who helped give impetus to the Renaissance in Florence and Padua. (Book 6 The Weight of Beauty),