The 1980s Are... Historical Fiction???!

A Literal Literary Loser Feels Old

Brace yourselves, Dear Readers.

According to The Historical Novel Society (whose 2023 conference I went to and covered in the post, Do Writing Conferences Sell Books; TLDR, no, they don’t, but there are other reasons to go):

To be deemed historical, a novel must have been written at least fifty years after the events described.

So, yes, that means the 1970s are now in play. Yes, the 1970s were over 50 years ago. Yes, the 1970s are now historical fiction. No, I don’t like how time works, either.

I was first smacked in the face by this fact after my book, “My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region” was featured in a Book Funnel Group Promo, Journey Through the Past: 20th Century Historical Fiction going on now.

“My Mothers Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region” is primarily set in the 1930s and 1940s, with a framing device in the late 1980s. The 1930s and the 1940s are definitely historical fiction. They happened a long, long time ago. The 1980s, however, were just yesterday. They are not the historical part.

But you know what else is featured in this group promo?

Rosemary’s Garden, set in the 1970s!

That Night in Tallinin, which is set in the 1980s!

I remember the 1970s and the 1980s! How can they be historical?

Does that make me… historical? (According to my teen-age daughter, yes. Whenever I try to tell her about something from my youth, or struggle with technology, she reminds me, “You’re from the 1900s.”)

My May 2025 historical fiction, “Go On Pretending,” takes place in the 1950s, the 1980s, the 2010s (did we ever decide on what we’re calling those?), and in 2012.

The Historical Novel Society gives 50 years as their defining benchmark.

But the Historical Writers Association says 35!

THIRTY FIVE!

Do you know what was 35 years ago? 1989 was thirty five years ago!

That means that not only is the 1950s section of “Go On Pretending” historical, but so is the 1980s section!

Here is an excerpt:

(Following her family’s interview on A Citizen’s Summit, Emma Cain, the biracial, USSR-raised daughter of American defectors Rose Janowitz and Jonas Cain, is having dinner with Dennis Kagan, the Soviet television personality who hosted the show, when he makes her an intriguing, and time sensitive offer….)

Dennis looked around, and then he leaned in. Emma thought he might be meaning to kiss her, but, no, Dennis had something much more intimate in mind. “This hasn’t been made public yet, but it will be in the next few weeks. I am leaving Moscow. I am being sent to America. One of their networks, not a major one, a small one, on what they call cable television, they are giving me my own show. Once a week, for an hour, no commercials, I am to explain the Soviet Union to American viewers. Can you believe it? Can you imagine one of our television stations turning over an hour a week to an American to spew propaganda non-stop? There’s precedent for it. As part of Khrushchev’s rehabilitation campaign, he did allow a magazine called Amerika to be distributed in the USSR in exchange for a magazine called Soviet Life Today being sold in the US, but those were difficult to find here. You had to know it existed, you had to know the few newstands where it was being sold, you had to have permission to purchase it, you had to be able to afford it. Television is everywhere! And I will be the American’s Soviet face of it!”

“That is exciting,” Emma cheered sincerely. “Congratulations.”

“Come with me,” Dennis said.

“What did you just say?”

“They will love you in America. They love Negroes now, I am told. Though the proper term is Black. Or is it African-American? They cannot seem to make up their minds.”

“I don’t think that’s accurate. If my parents were certain of one thing, it was that they do not love Negroes in America. I believe history backs them up.”

“This will be different. Your story will fascinate the US press. The US press loves to be fascinated. They are like children with shiny objects. Or maybe cats.”

Why did he keep making her laugh? Especially when what he was saying was actually quite serious? As in life-changing.

“You want me to come with you to America…”

“We’ll need to get married, first, it’s the only way you’ll get permission to leave.”

“You’re asking me to marry you?”

“Not right away. There are still a few weeks before I leave. Get to know me. If you like what I have to offer, yes, let’s get married and go to America together.”

“You’re insane.”

“I am not. This is the USSR. All insane people are safely tucked away in asylums. The fact that I can walk the streets freely is the government’s seal of approval on my sanity.”

She was at some point beyond laughter now. She was now in silent incredulity.

“Can I at least think about it?” Emma managed to choke out.

“Think quickly.”

“Why? Are you afraid I might quit being cynical? Or a Negro?”

“No,” about this, Dennis appeared most sincere. “I am afraid this window of opportunity, this openness of Gorbachev’s, might close as quickly as the one after Khruschev’s removal from power. I would much rather be in New York than Moscow when it happens.”

Dennis is talking about Mikhail Gorbachev and his policy of perestroika. Gorbachev assumed power in 1985.

I remember 1985!

I was in high school (yes, dear, hip, youthful daughter, I, too, went to high school) in 1985, but I remember it!

And now 1985 is historical fiction? So is 1986, when the real life Citizen’s Summit which I based my fictional version on happened?

So is 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down, signaling the beginning of the end of Communism in Eastern Europe?

I remember all of those things!

Which means I now need to take a nap to get over this realization. (I am very old, you know.)

What do you remember as if it happened yesterday… which is now, technically, historical fiction? Let me know in the Comments!

***

And in case you’re curious about the magazine, Amerika, which Dennis references above, here is a video of my daughter and I discussing the book “Winning Hearts and Minds,” where I first learned about it: