The Young Adult Historical Fiction Society discussion

Hello fellow book enthusiasts!

Would love to get your thoughts on footnotes.
I was mulling over the idea of putting them in a YA historical fiction novel. When I say footnotes, I am not suggesting dry translations in German. I am proposing to explain words people may not know like vaulted ceilings or revealing something interesting about a historical character.It would be similar to the footnote format that Susana Clarke uses in her novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Another example would be like reading J.K Rowling's Harry Potter on the Pottermore website. Your opinion would be very helpful and valuable to me! Thanks for reading :)

Personally, I would find footnotes in a work of fiction somewhat intrusive. They would interrupt the flow of the novel and bump you out of the "world" the story has drawn you into. I would prefer a glossary at the end (as in Louise Rennison's books where she explains British terms or Caroline Lawrence with her historical terms & notes.) I also love it when historical fiction authors include notes regarding their research, especially what is "real" history & what/why they altered to fit their story.

Just be careful not to put any spoilers in such a glossary or author's note without warning your reader. I tend to read such notes first so have been burned a time or two when plot points are revealed there.

If the setting is really important I also appreciate a map or two or even a floor plan or map detail showing, say, the relationship of buildings in a village or monastery. Maps make it much easier for me to visualize a location and the movement of the characters.

And if the novel is complex with lots of characters I really appreciate a character list with brief descriptions ( a la Lindsey Davis's Falco series) as I tend to be lousy at remembering who's who.

Thank you so much for your time and input. Your comments have been extremely helpful. :) I am definitely going to rethink the footnotes in terms of a glossary. I will have map and list of architecture/art mentioned in the book as a reference guide.

Maria,
I put a Japanese language glossary in the back of my YA novel (set in Japan 1853), but when it came to dialogue between the characters I found repeating the question in the text helped as the heroine learned the new culture/ language. The feedback from readers has been overwhelmingly positive with the glossary. Time well spent, though it took over a week to put the glossary in order. Happy to send you a copy if you want to see what I did. Hope this helps.

Maria,
I used a glossary for my book which is set in 16th century France. I also used an introduction to explain historical context, and an author's note to tell readers about the latter portion of Catherine de Medici's life. Hope this helps.

Thank you Donna and Jamie. This has been very helpful in deciding what direction to take. :)