Gadzookery

[Dr Jekyll]

Most books with historical settings, say prior to 1800, have the characters talking in very stilted dialogue. EG 'they have arrived' instead of 'they've arrived'. To it seems distracting, like French characters talking to each other in English with French accents. An old uni friend of mine writes historical novels and has characters speak modern English but get's criticised for it, people say it makes the characters difficult to believe in.

What does everyone else think?