Putting the "Her" back in History….

… over at Women’s History Month on the RAR website!

I’m so grateful to Bobbi Dumas for giving me the chance to orate from my internet soapbox on a topic that means so much to me: giving women in history the credit they deserve, from the monarchs who defeated Armadas (yes, Elizabeth I, I’m looking at you); to the enterprising female merchants of the Middle Ages, who picked up where their husbands left off; to the women who defended their homes and their monarch during the English Civil Wars.

The post is titled “Reclaiming Women’s History”, but I feel like it’s really less about reclaiming women’s history, as a separate discipline, and more about putting women back in the larger historical narrative– which is something that historical fiction does brilliantly, helping us remember that women did play a role in great events (Donna Thorland’s American Revolution set novels, The Dutch Girl, The Turncoat, et al, are a great example of women being woven back into the narrative– and not just sewing flags!). It’s not just a women issue, it’s a history issue. When we leave women out, we provide a skewed view of the past.

See what I mean about that soapbox?

To read more, head on over to the RAR page, where I’m talking about women in history, books, writing, and historical crushes. There are also two give-aways, one domestic and one international, so just head over to the post and leave a comment there by March 22nd for a chance to win!

Happy Women’s History Month!

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