Inaccuracies in books

I get annoyed with films or series on tv when people refer to their own child as ‘the baby’. Is it too much trouble to give it a name?

Some years ago I was reading a novel by Melvin Bragg which supposedly took place in the early 19th century. There was a reference to having to 'cope with all that flak'. This was a most amazing howler when one considers that 'flak' was a German abbreviation for Flieger Abwehr Kanonen', in other words Anti aircraft artillery!

Six years ago I found a self-published book on Amazon about life in the East end of London set in the 1940's. The spelling and grammar were terrible, but the story was so fascinating that I contacted the author to point out that this somewhat spoiled a good novel for me. She wrote back, saying that she left school at 13 (she is my age - 66) and in the future she was able to get proof readers and her books improved immeasurably!

I read a book set in the fifties. The heroine thought she was pregnant and went out to buy a pregnancy test! No way, even in the seventies only a doctor could do the test.

No it is annoying. I read a book recently set in the war years and the author mentioned an ambulance siren that could be heard in the distance. It would have been a bell at that time!

ReadyMeals .... or they show a baby who is holding its head up when it's supposed to be a newborn!

Sparklefizz - I too love Philippa Gregory, even if she does take a few liberties with historical fact. I tried to read Wolf Hall last year but couldn't get beyond a couple of chapters - I found her writing style to be awful and hard to read, personal taste I suppose

I couldn't agree more with everything that's been said about inaccuracies. What annoys me is that these fallacies are promoted, people who don't know any better believe them and historical fact is changed as a result.

I have just read a book by a relative. It is set in the Middle Ages and the heroine's name is Keira!! Am I wrong to think that name is a very new one?

In her nineties my mother started reading novels mainly set in the 20s 30s 40s and 50s. I suppose thinking back to her younger days. One was a male author who wrote novels set the area of London where she grew up. She would get so annoyed about the inaccuracies that in the end she wouldnt read another one of his.

The film about Mary queen of Scots is based on a verse play by Friedrich Schiller, and was first put on in 1800. I saw a prose version many years ago at the Edinburgh festival with Hannah Gordon as Mary.

One thing that makes me roll my eyes is when they have a cat in a movie, it is usually a normal black cat but they dub in the hoarse cry of a siamese cat. And they usually do the sound even when the cat is shown not opening its mouth or doing anything that would normally make it miaow. And when they need a baby to cry, they usually pick a cry clip that isn't appropriate to the age the baby is meant to be.

Anachronisns I have noticed
1)London Airport being called Heathrow Airport in the 1950s
2)
The Beatles being mentioned in the 1950s
3) Cliff Richard being mentioned as a "heart throb" in 1956 when he was still Harry Webb and at school.
4) Somebody being "Over the moon" in the 1950s.
Young women who write these things should get someone who lived during that period to check what they are writing about.

Oh dear. I enjoyed The Heart's Invisible Furies so much I missed the errors. Normally I would be irritated by errors too.

Elizabeth and Mary never met and how could Mary have a Scots accent when she was brought up in France? I know there is such a thing as poetic license, but.......

Oops..they're not their...how dare I criticise authors!!

It annoys me when authors describe flowers that don't actually bloom in the season their writing about.

I'm usually a lurker but I have logged in especially to say that I absolutely agree with everything everyone has said thus far on this thread.
I was recently reading a book set in 1967, and given that there are many ways that the author could have checked about attitudes and habits in the 60s I have been amazed at the inaccuracies to the extent that I have had to stop reading the book.
I have had to conclude that the writers and publishers don't care if the books/films are historically inaccurate. I think it possible that they are so afraid of alienating the younger audience that they include current idioms/habits so that the younger reader can identify with the character/plot. This is actually insulting to readers of every age.

I am reading The Heart's Invisible Furies too and enjoying it hugely! But I baulked at the adoptive father using an analogy about driving a BMW in 1959! I write historical fiction (meticulously researched) and always add a historical note to say which characters and incidents were real and which invented.

Farmor15 re workhouses. Actually workhouses have been mentioned as far back as 1631. But I do agree with you in the main, and with many others especially as far as speech is concerned. It takes a special kind of writer to capture the essence language of a particular period of time, and they're few and far between.

On a similar vein, my husband gets very irritated by inaccuracies in tv or films with motorbikes, cars or planes. Amazing how many times he picks up on errors even with sounds.

I have also had some women of my age (late 60s) say that 'girls didn't do science when I was at school'. I say 'maybe they didn't at your school - we did at mine!
Yes, we did science at my school Nannarose. However, have you been watching 'Back in Time for School'? Girls were taught science alongside boys in Victorian times but later on everything changed and girls had to learn household management and childcare - under the misleading title 'Domestic Science'.

I was annoyed about the inaccuries in the TV programmes Back in time. Heart for Christmas dinner! Etc. I did science and Latin at school and no domestic lessons. If we wore our hats in that way we would have been in trouble.
They should have consulted people who lived during those times.

Absolutely. The idiots reign. But as they say Alison Weir, Philippa Gregory and no doubt many others do take accuracy seriously. The danger is people DO very much believe what they see and hear - and so history is rewritten.

My gripe was a poor detective watching live football on a Saturday afternoon on his old TV. If author had said computer, they could probably gave got away with it.