As an author, it is logical to ask questions about writing such as: if I write historical fiction must it necessarily respect a historical background?
It is often by approaching a definition that the solution appears. A historical fiction is above all a literary work and unlike a book written by a historian whose objective would be to relate the facts with the greatest accuracy, taking liberties with the text is part of the artistic process. It is up to everyone to situate themselves according to their personnality, more or less close to what we could consider as historical reality.
Sometime ago, I read an interesting article about the new film adaptation of The 3 Musketeers (A. Dumas) after seeing the film. And that made me think. It is obvious that the author imagined many facts on a historical background but at no time did the novelist position himself as a specialist but more as an enthusiast who made his characters live adventures. And this, whether he worked alone or in a group. I think as an author, writing historical fiction is different from writing historical essays.
Link :
Lire Magazine littéraire n°517 (article read about 3 musketeers)