A Reading Life

Upending the cart of received ideas

By Katherine A. Powers

Globe Correspondent / July 25, 2010

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There is an element in some historical fiction that pleases me more than any other trick of the trade. It is the taking up of some widely accepted notion and employing it throughout the story as a comic foil, undermining it, and tweaking its nose. It’s a small thing, an entertaining debunking maneuver that is certainly not enough to carry ... (Full article: 1094 words)