Inspired by history
Digging into the past as a lens for the present
Stepping into history
I’ve always loved history. As a kid, it was stories from or inspired by the past that most fired my imagination: Greek myths, Biblical accounts of the people of Israel, books written for young readers about the American Civil War or Ellis Island or the Holocaust. In college I decided to study history and Jewish civilization, even indulging my Indiana Jones fantasies with a few courses in archaeology. And as an adult with a day job, bills to pay, and a busy family, I spend much of my free time reading history, biographies, and fiction (more often than not, historical fiction).
It was probably inevitable that one day I’d start writing historical fiction of my own. Telling stories helps me make sense of the world, as well as being pretty fun. And it’s always learning about the past itself that continues to inspire me. That’s why I’m starting this Substack.
Here I plan to share stories from the past, and occasionally maybe an attempt at an insight, that I find interesting and I hope you will, too. My first series of posts will be based on the thesis I wrote back in college about American Jews and the Holocaust. It was a heavy experience writing such a piece, but I believe it’s an important topic, many details of which have been largely overlooked. Don’t expect everything on this Substack to be quite so heavy, though—I plan to write about some lighthearted stuff, too!
I hope you enjoy reading what I post here and consider sharing it with anyone else who may find it interesting.
See you soon,
Sheilagh