[hildea]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I agree that it would be difficult for a modern author to write authentically in the style of an earlier era. Probably the best they can do is try to write characters who act in a manner appropriate to their time period and avoid using any modern-day slang. Maybe throw in an occasional period slang word for flavor.

When Mary Robinette Kowal wrote her Glamourist Histories series (Jane Austen with magic), she made a word list with all the words Austen used, and checked every word in her books which didn't appear in Austen's books. See The Jane Austen Word List and Words I couldn’t use in Glamour in Glass. An interesting entry from the list of words she decided not to use:

wastepaper basket — (Weird note. Trashcans, wastepaper baskets, garbage cans… none of these exist even as a concept. Everything got reused, fed to the pigs, or burned in the fire.)

And here's a description of magic using Austen's vocabulary:

Originally Posted by "Shades of Milk and Honey" by Kowal

The smell of jasmine nearly overpowered her, burning her nose and making her eyes water. Her younger sister, Melody, who wove folds of glamour in the corner, was evidently the source of the overpowering fragrance.

‘Melody, what in heaven’s name are you doing?’

Melody jumped and dropped the folds in her hands; they dissolved back into the ether from whence she had pulled them. ‘Oh, Jane. When I visited Lady FitzCameron with Mama, she conjured the loveliest hint of jasmine in the air. It was so elegant and . . . I cannot understand how she managed such a subtle touch.’

Jane shook her head and went to open the window so the jasmine fragrance could dissipate with more speed. ‘My dear, Lady FitzCameron had the best tutors as a girl, including, I believe, the celebrated German glamourist Herr Scholes. It is hardly surprising that she can manage such delicate folds.’ When Jane let her vision shift to the ether, so that the corporal room faded from her view, the lingering remnants of glamour were far too bulky for the effect that Melody had been trying to attain. Jane took the folds between her fingers and thinned them to a gossamer weight that she could barely feel. When she stretched them out, they spanned the corner in a fine web. Once she anchored the folds to the corner, the glamour settled into the room, vanishing from view. The gentle fragrance of honeysuckle filled the air, as if from a nosegay of flowers. It took so little effort that she barely felt light-headed.

Of course, historical novels don't need to aim for authentic original language to be worth reading. It's much more important (to me, at least) that the characters (mostly) act in a manner appropriate to their time period, as 4691mls wrote. Except: I usually need to like the protagonists in order to like a book, so I prefer protagonists whose ideals on human rights are among the more progressive of their time.