Georgette Heyer

[savivi]

I thought I might start a thread on Georgette Heyer, if that isn't too presumptuous.

I'm just currently reading An Infamous Army, and back in my Heyer mood.

I really do think she's one of the best Regency romance authors out there (though my favorites are her Georgian novels). Her women are strong and capable, though still being a part of 19th century norms -- her men are so delish, and you really get a picture of life back then. Only Heyer could get away with being a snob!

My favorite Regency Heyer stories are:

The Devil's Cub
Frederica
Regency Buck
The Corinthian

What are your favorites? Or do you have other thoughts? Like her repeated use of lavendar kid gloves?

[maudelynn]

I have about 20 of her books, a friend grabbed them at a 50cent book sale, and have yet to read them. I wonder if I have any of the ones you suggested... Does she have more than 20?


Oh, it looks like the 2 nearest me are Cousin Kate and the Corinthian

[savivi]

Haha, Cousin Kate's my least favorite actually, though it's a mystery! The Corinthian is about the escapades of a girl pretending to be a boy, and the hot hot man that travels with her for the entertainment.

I think she wrote over 40 historical romances, and then wrote a bunch of modern (at that time) mysteries. I've only read a little over twenty myself. But there's time, there's time.

She started the cross dressing plot line (The BEST one is The Masqueraders, though that's 18th century), and is supposedly responsible for the modern Regency romance genre, but without the smut. I love it.

OH! And this may interest the Napoleanic War fans, but her novel An Infamous Army, which is the one I'm reading now, is considered the be the best description of the Battle of Waterloo EVER. EVEEEER. Crazy. And it's still required reading at Sandhurst.

End of lecture.

Anyway -- Maudelynn, you're really lucky! Half of my books are in storage, so I only have a few with me. And you may just have a bunch of the rare ones. What do the covers look like? Are they the newer Harlequinn ones (that look like really bad smut novels)? Or are they older hardcovers or paperbacks?

You may just have a goldmine on your hands. I'd be interested to see your full list

[maudelynn]

these are the newer, smutty looking ones, thus my reluctance to read them in public
heheh, maybe i will make my own wee book covers out of wrapping paper, sort of like whiskey in a paper bag!

[Mme de Beaufort]

I'll have to go out and find some of these books. They sound interesting.

And PS, starting threads in appropriate places is not presumption, dear, it's expected and encouraged around here.

[georgielee12]

I recently picked up "False Colours" by Georgette Heyer at a used book store. It's on my TBR list. If only I had more time, I'm really looking forward to reading it.

[savivi]

Hahaha -- I love those covers. My friend had a SCANDALOUS trilogy which she covered and titled "Fairytales." I can assure you, they were not.




I forgot to mention Arabella!!! Which was made into a German film in the 1930s, haha... and they moved the time period up to modern (well, let's say classic, now). Though not to be mistaken with the opera.

False Colours is really fun, too!

Thank God for my college's outdated library. Their fiction section was unreal. Like 2nd editions of Jane Austen novels that really should have been in the rare section, but you could check them out.

And I should mention!! An Infamous Army is somewhat of a sequel to Regency Buck and Devil's Cub (the heroine's family line comes from one, and the hero from the other). Devil's Cub is a sequel to These Old Shades, whose male lead was in The Black Moth, only with a different name and title... but it's definitely him.

The Black Moth was her first novel. It's definitely fun to see her iron out her writing in these early ones.

[maudelynn]

Haha, I bet I KNOW the trilogy of which you speak!

[savivi]

LOL!! I think you do, too!

[catecalloway]

Oh, if anybody in this group hasn't read Georgette Heyer, there isn't any time to lose! AND they've recently started printing a new edition with acceptable covers!!! (http://www.georgette-heyer.com/rhouse/)

Oh, she's SO funny, she's HILARIOUS, and she's got the best grasp of the English language of any writer I can think of right this minute. Unlike Jane Austen, there's no deep message here-- these books are all froth and fun. I think she herself described them as the kind of books you want to read when you're in the bathtub or sick in bed. Or as I've also heard them described: Hot water bottle fiction.

Some are better to start with than others. I find the non-romance ones pretty dull. Let's see-- an EXCELLENT one to start with would be Arabella. The Convenient Marriage is really good too. And Black Sheep. And False Colours. She's got three different styles of hero-- there's the sardonic dangerous type, the calm, mature guy (better than it sounds-- think Knightley), and the jovial, not particularly bright but good natured type (also better than it sounds). And same with the heroines--- you're not getting the same one every time, and while the structures are essentially the same, she did a great job of setting up a unique situation in every book. She had an amazing gift for dialogue, characterization, you name it. If she had any weaknesses in my opinion they'd be throwing in too many duels and highwaymen and clothing half the women in "puce," which I've never exactly understood. And they're packed FULL of historical detail, most of it regency. At first the dialogue might be a little tiny bit challenging, because she throws in a lot of slang from the times and at times you might wonder what's being talked about, but you get the hang of it before long and by the time you've read a book or two you can't believe you ever had any trouble. And if you search online, somewhere somebody wrote up a Georgette Heyer slang glossary.

I don't even know where to BEGIN to describe these books-- you have no idea how much joy and happiness and comfort you have in store for you if you haven't opened one up yet! You lucky!

Okay, I'm going to look for some quotes to give you an idea of her style. Can messages be this long? I've never posted to a message board before yesterday. I'm going to start a new message and post some quotes in it...

[catecalloway]

Okay, here’s the first quick example I could find of typical Georgette Heyer-- this is an excerpt from False Colours:

“Having relinquished the chapeau-bras into the tender care of a footman, Mr. Fancot trod up the stairs in the wake of the butler, and entered the drawing-room on that portly individual’s sonorous announcement.

At first glance, he received the impression that he was being scrutinized by upwards of fifty pairs of eyes... at this moment… an elderly spinster who had been observing him with avid curiosity, confided to a stout matron in the over-loud voice of the deaf: “Very handsome! That I must own!”

Startled, and far from gratified, Kit looked up, involuntarily meeting Miss Stavely’s eyes. They held a look of twinkling appreciation; and he thought suddenly that she was more taking than he had at first supposed. He smiled, but before he could speak Lord Stavely interposed, saying: “Come, Denville, my mother is anxious to make your acquaintance!”

He led the way across the room to where the Dowager Lady Stavely was seated in a large armchair, grimly watching their approach.

…She had a deceptive air of fragility, and her thin fingers were twisted by gout. Her expression was not that of one anxious to make Lord Denville’s acquaintance. When her son rather obsequiously presented Kit, she said: “H’m!” in a disparaging tone, and looked him over critically from head to foot before holding out her hand. That tickled his ready sense of humour, and brought a dancing smile into his eyes. He said demurely: “I am honoured, ma’am!” and bowed politely over her hand.

“Fiddle!” she snapped. “So you are William Denville’s son, are you? You’re not as good looking as your father.”

Lord Stavely cleared his throat deprecatingly; a faded lady of uncertain age and a harassed demeanour, who was standing beside the Dowager’s chair, looked imploringly at Kit, and uttered a faint, twittering sound. He was aware of tension amongst the assembled members of the family, and began to be very much amused. He replied, “Oh, no! But then, my father was exceptionally good looking, wasn’t he, ma’am?”

She glared at him; and in another attempt to put him out of countenance, said: “And, by what I hear, you’re not as well-behaved either!”

“He was exceptionally well-behaved too,” countered Kit.

Someone behind him gave a smothered guffaw; the faded lady, blenching, said, in the voice of one expectant of a blistering set-down: “Oh pray, Mama--!”

“Pray what?” demanded the Dowager sharply.

Lord Stavely, jerked out of paralysis by a nudge from his wife’s elbow, hurried into the breach…”

[savivi]

HAHA, someone is in love with her as much as I am!


And I agree on the beginnings, almost all of them start in a drawing room, with the hero getting a talking to from his family. You could bet on it. With boxing cant and lots of references to puce and lavendar -- you are so dead on!

I started Friday's Child, and how refreshing! The first page is our hero being rejected as he proposes marriage.

"She stole a look at him under her eyelashes. No, he was not as handsome as poor Wrotham, whose dark, stormy beauty troubled her dreams a little. Wrotham was a romantic figure, particularly when his black locks were dishevelled through his clutching them in despair. [Sherry's] curls were dishevelled too, but there was nothing romantic about this, since the disorder was the result of careful combing..."

...

"'...I dare say you would never have thought of offering for me either if your father had not left his fortune in that stupid way!'

'No, I dare say I shouldn't, agreed the Viscount. 'At least, yes, I should! of course I should!...'"

...

"'Where are you going? Answer me, I command you!'

'I'm going back to London!' answered the Viscount. 'And I'm going to marry the first woman I see!'"


I love it already.

[savivi]

And Catecalloway -- I thought Kit was *bleeping* ADORABLE in False Colours -- a perfect example of a jovial, innocent hero... if I remember that one right!

[Mme de Beaufort]

All this chat about Georgette Heyer, I'm simply going to have to give it a whirl. If I wasn't already inundated with books I need to review... aaaauuuugh. I will take all this excitement under advisement. Funny I never heard of her until recently... but that's mostly because up until about two years ago, I've never really known anyone besides me that was a Jane Austen freak; so nobody could advise me of other authors.

Always happy to learn there's something new for me.

[Miss Ida]

My teacher loves Georgette Heyer, we talked about her yesterday in fact and when I graduate he are going to give me his favourite These Old Shades

I have the awesomest teachers

[savivi]

Wow! A man who likes Georgette Heyer -- that's really unusual.

My first experience with her was about 9 years ago, when I was a freshman in highschool. My friend handed me Regency Buck (her mom found her old collection in the attic). I liked it, but didn't love it, and completely forgot about Heyer -- I have no idea why. And then three years later, I suddenly had this urge to read her work again -- and I was HOOKED ever since.

The only problem is, I haven't been able to convert a friend yet! They just weren't that interested in Regency or other periods. I've been all alone in my Heyer fandom -- so this is why I'm so excited that I've found people who love her too, or are interested in reading her. So, sorry if I get slap happy about all of this!

[catecalloway]

Oh, this is so great! I completely relate to the not having any friends who know about or care to investigate Georgette Heyer (with the exception of my cousin Rachel). I found out about her through the wife of a guy I took fiddle lessons from--- we got to talking about books, Jane Austen, etc., and she said, "Hold on; I have something to show you," and she took me upstairs to her closet where she had a big cardboard box full of Georgette Heyer books that she was hiding from the world because of the embarrassing book covers-- totally understandable. So she lent me one, and... I owe her so much, you guys. Every once and awhile I'll run into her at an old time music event and I'll pass along some book discovery. Oh! Which reminds me! Of something that doesn't apply to Georgette Heyer! So I'd better figure out how to make a new subject. Hold on. I'm going to have to figure this out tomorrow--- it's past my bedtime.

[catecalloway]

Okay, I should be in bed right now, but I've just gotta write out another Georgette Heyer excerpt.
But before I do, I'm so glad to hear long posts aren't a bad thing! And I'm also so glad to see other people are quoting text too! It's so practical and helpful when you're trying to decide whether or not to investigate a new writer.
Okay, anyway, here goes:
(from Friday's Child-- (another good one!))

"Must have a carriage," Mr. Ringwood said. "Landaulet."

Mr. Fakenham, who had been narrowly inspecting a dish of curried crab through his quizzing-glass, looked up at this, and said positively: "Barouche. All the crack nowadays! Can't have Sherry's wife driving about town in a landaulet like a dowd."

"Oh no!" agreed Hero. "I am going to be all the crack. I have quite made up my mind about that. Sherry said I might cut a dash, and I think I should like to very much."

"Spoken like a right one!" grinned Sherry. "Of course she can't have a landaulet! Dash it, that's what my mother uses! A barouche, with a pair of match-bays: slap up to the echo!"

"Best look in at Tatt's tomorrow," nodded Ferdy. "Nothing in your stables fit for a lady, dear old boy."

Mr. Ringwood, who had produced a visiting-card from his pocket, made a note on it. "Tatt's," he said, 'Coachman and footman. Pageboy. Abigail."

"Chilhan is attending to that," said the Viscount. "Says he knows just such a one as will suit."

"Riding horse," said Ferd.

"She don't ride."

"Yes, I do!" Hero interrupted. "At least, I have often ridden the old pony, and you know you put me up on your hunter when I was only twelve, Sherry!"

"Well, you aren't going to sit there saying you rode him, are you?" demanded Sherry. "Never saw a horse get rid of anyone faster in my life!"

[savivi]

Friday's Child, hands down, is ADORABLE!!!!!! I loved every second of it. And maybe I was hormonal, but I was really moved by the later end of Hero's time in London... you know what I mean, carrying the bird cage and clock.

I adored her relationship with Sherry's friends -- I think that was the most endearing thing. Ringwood, Wrathom, and Fakenham were SO cute, and just what brothers should be. Any time they were all together with her and Sherry, I found myself giggling because I thought it was so dear.

And what I loved about Sherry was that he was bad at everything! A far cry from her usual smoldering characters. And what I thought was really amazing about the book is that you did get to see the characters grow up. Sherry's a bit of an ass, but always turns around at just the right time.

---

I just ordered Black Sheep -- I accidently got The Talisman Ring from a seller in the UK who doesn't like to bother replying to my emails... so I have a feeling it will be a very long time before I get that one.

[catecalloway]

Oh, I agree! Friday's Child is so, so good! From beginning to end-- it's perfect! I've been trying to think of ones that would be good to recommend for a first-time reader, and that's definitely one of the best ones.

I don't think I've ever read The Talisman Ring-- I need to do an inventory and see what I still have to read!