Creative license to invent a sibling to a historical figure?
I am about half-way into writing a manuscript of historical fiction depicting mostly fictional European characters in the period between the First and Second World Wars. For purposes of the storyline I would like to create an imaginary third sister to Czar Nicholas II of Russia — someone who generally opposed the monarchy and specifically her brother's brutal regime, and decided to marry a commoner and leave the country.
We're all familiar with "fictionalizing" dialogue and situations within the lives of actual, historical figures. But I'm uncertain if what I'm describing is also commonplace. In other words, I wonder if it's acceptable or prudent to "invent" a sibling in this manner.
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Can you? Yes. There is nothing wrong with it, either legally or ethically. What you're doing would come under "artistic license". In fact, Alexandre Dumas' "The Man in the Iron Mask", for instance, relies on similar artistic license: as far as we know, Louis XIV had no twin brother. So you'd be in good company.
Should you? That's rather opinion-based. Here's something for you to consider, however: unlike Dumas' original readers, your readers would have access to Wikipedia. They'd immediately know there was no such sister. For some, that might significantly impede their suspension of disbelief. Then again, the fact that Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna had been very definitely murdered together with the rest of her family, did not prevent Disney (or was it some other studio?) making an animated movie about how she actually survived.
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I would advise against it. In a historical novel, you do not want to "tamper" with history. That is, you do not want to create a character close enough to a historical figure to be able to re-write history. People who are familiar with the actual history of the historical figure might resent this. The exception to this rule might be if a historical figure would be the main character.
There is a saying for a historical novel, "Your fiction's main characters ought to be minor characters in history, and your (main) historical characters should be minor characters in your fiction." You can make your hero say, a bodyguard to George Washington. "Everyone" knows that such figures have bodyguards and practically no one cares who they are. You can even allow your bodyguard hero to overhear Washington's battle plans and react accordingly. But your character should not be close enough to Washington to "talk back," or "consult" with him on battle plans, thereby affecting the course of history. Unless, of course s/he did so in real life.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/34672. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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