Georgette Heyer

[savivi]

I'd love to know what you've read! I'll have to make a list, too.

I'm so jealous -- she wrote The Black Moth when she was 15. Not fair at all.

[cosmoblue]

I have recently started False Colours and I am very excited to finally be reading a Georgette Heyer novel. I already have a bit of a crush on MR Kit Fancot.

[savivi]

Oh, I'm soo glad you like it!! Have you finished it yet?

[cosmoblue]

May 27, 2008 18:29:22 GMT -5 savivi said:

Oh, I'm soo glad you like it!! Have you finished it yet?

I have finished False Colours and I thought it was pretty good. I did not like the way it ended and I really wanted to know how everything turned out. I also did not like the way everyone seemed to use ridiculous amounts of slang and colloquialisms seeing as they were supposed to be upper class people I would have thought that Kit and Evelyn would have sounded a bit more like Mr. Darcy and Mr. Tilney than like Eliza Doolitle.

I am a little over halfway through Friday's Child and I am loving it. The use of slang is much better controlled and it is clearly "not the thing" since Sherry is always telling his Kitten not to repeat things.

[savivi]

Aaah, see this is the interesting thing, if you read a LOT of Georgette Heyer -- She used it as a character device. A lot of the slang has to do with what kind of guy you are. If you're a buck, you'll be speaking it all the time. A Corinthian would most likely only do it with his friends, never around a lady. Hardly any of the ladies used slang, unless they wanted to be one of the boys.

And goodness -- when she brings out characters who are street urchins or lower class, you can barely understand them!

And there are quite a number of heroes, especially if they're pretty straight laced, that don't use it at all unless they're making a joke.

As for colloquialisms, I assume you're talking about "ain't" -- which at first I was shocked by, too. But when I researched it, it was actually used by the upper classes during the time periods she writes in (usually in the form on an't). Don't and won't were perfectly fine.

And yes, I must admit Friday's Child is on my top top list. You might want to be prepared for a lot of ubrupt endings -- to me, they end a little like Oscar Wilde plays.

[cosmoblue]

Well as for colloquialisms I mean all of it "bang up", "fancy piece", "bit o' muslin", "ton", "not the thing", "quite the thing", "chit", "mooncalf', "pretty widgeon", "devil of a hank" you get the picture. Ain't didn't bother me since I remember it being used in JA and I figured it was appropriate. My husband is one of those people who uses a lot of slang and colloquialisms and it is not as bad as in these books and it drives crazy. I wish people would just use words than mean what they are trying to say no matter what period it is.

Well, at least I know know to expect abrupt endings.

[savivi]

I can perfectly understand that.

I guess I've just been reading her for so long, that it's become a regular part of Regency writing for me.

[cosmoblue]

Well, I finished Friday's Child and I loved it. Loved loved loved it! Hero is the absolute sweetest. Poor Mr. Tarleton. I have 4 other Georgette Heyer books that I can't wait to read. YAY!

I am starting a Georgette Heyer list in order of preference.
1. Friday's Child
2. False Colours

[cosmoblue]

Mar 5, 2008 9:51:27 GMT -5 savivi said:

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.

Should I have borrowed These Old Shades before Devil's Cub? I saw that it was one of your faves so I got it from the library without noticing your above comment.

[savivi]

Friday's Child might be my top Heyer novel on a long list of favorites. I'm sooo glad you liked it. I literally cried when she showed up carrying the bird and her clock. So touching!

I think it's fine to read Devil's Cub before These Old Shades -- it's more a generation sequel than a direct one. However, you will know how These Old Shades turned out (which you may or may not be surprised by.)

BUT -- to fully realize the emmensity of the situation, you need to go way way back.

The Black Moth was her first novel -- in which the villian is a delicious, diabolical man. Later on, she wrote These Old Shades, where the hero is/was a villian -- and almost EVERYONE is convinced it's the Duke from The Black Moth -- though names have changed from the first novel. But I still think it's him, since past events are really close.

The Devil's Cub takes place around 25 years after These Old Shades.

NOW! The Infamous Army is a semi-sequel, using another generation of These Old Shades, and Devil's Cub. It also uses the same characters in Regency Buck and the main couple in The Spanish Bride (though it's more like a large cameo).

SO, if you want to get the full timeline, read, in this order:

The Black Moth
These Old Shades
Devil's Cub
Regency Buck
The Spanish Bride
Infamous Army


I think you're familiar enough with Georgette Heyer that you'll love some books, and simply like others, but they're all worth it in some way in the end.

That said, if it doesn't matter you can read any of them in any order, since they're all complete in themselves.

I personally haven't read Spanish Bride yet, though it is on my list. And I had no idea about this whole thing until after I read a lot of the books -- I read Devil's Cub first, liked it so much that I read These Old Shades. Regency Buck was actually the very first Heyer novel I ever read.

Sorry this was so long!

[cosmoblue]

May 31, 2008 18:23:33 GMT -5 savivi said:

Friday's Child might be my top Heyer novel on a long list of favorites. I'm sooo glad you liked it. I literally cried when she showed up carrying the bird and her clock. So touching!

I think it's fine to read Devil's Cub before These Old Shades -- it's more a generation sequel than a direct one. However, you will know how These Old Shades turned out (which you may or may not be surprised by.)

BUT -- to fully realize the emmensity of the situation, you need to go way way back.

The Black Moth was her first novel -- in which the villian is a delicious, diabolical man. Later on, she wrote These Old Shades, where the hero is/was a villian -- and almost EVERYONE is convinced it's the Duke from The Black Moth -- though names have changed from the first novel. But I still think it's him, since past events are really close.

The Devil's Cub takes place around 25 years after These Old Shades.

NOW! The Infamous Army is a semi-sequel, using another generation of These Old Shades, and Devil's Cub. It also uses the same characters in Regency Buck and the main couple in The Spanish Bride (though it's more like a large cameo).

SO, if you want to get the full timeline, read, in this order:

The Black Moth
These Old Shades
Devil's Cub
Regency Buck
The Spanish Bride
Infamous Army


I think you're familiar enough with Georgette Heyer that you'll love some books, and simply like others, but they're all worth it in some way in the end.

That said, if it doesn't matter you can read any of them in any order, since they're all complete in themselves.

I personally haven't read Spanish Bride yet, though it is on my list. And I had no idea about this whole thing until after I read a lot of the books -- I read Devil's Cub first, liked it so much that I read These Old Shades. Regency Buck was actually the very first Heyer novel I ever read.

Sorry this was so long!

Thank you for the whole layout. I have no idea if I will be ale to find all of these in my local library but I may have to try. I put down Devil's Cub and am reading Black Sheep for now.

I would love to see a list of all of your Heyer novels in your order of preference.

[savivi]

Okay, you asked for it.

I put them in categories, rather than numbers, because I usually favorite in tiers, and it constantly shifts within those. Depends on my mood.

This list may change if I read some titles again. However, my absolute favorites will always stay there.

- - - - - - -

Georgette Heyer Novels I Have Read
*= books I own

Absolute Favorites
(#1) Friday's Child*
The Convenient Marriage*
The Masqueraders*
The Corinthian*
Devil's Cub*
The Nonesuch*
Arabella*
Frederica*

Really Really Good
The Black Moth*
These Old Shades*
Regency Buck*
An Infamous Army*
The Grand Sophy* (last five pages are plain bizarre)
Lady of Quality*

Good
The Talisman Ring*
Bath Tangle
Sprig Muslin*
The Foundling*
Sylvester
False Colours
Charity Girl*
Powder and Patch*
Pistols for Two
Venetia*

Good, but Wouldn’t Read Again
Black Sheep* (literally because of the last 2 pages)
(Last) Cousin Kate*


Still to read
A Civil Contract
April Lady
Beauvallet (started, never finished)
Cotillion
Faro's Daughter
My Lord John
Royal Escape
Simon the Coldheart
The Conqueror
The Great Roxhythe
The Quiet Gentleman
The Reluctant Widow
The Spanish Bride
The Toll-Gate
The Uknown Ajax


Edit: Man, I have a ways to go.

I should also add that her mysteries and her more contemporary novels are not listed.

[cosmoblue]

May 30, 2008 22:03:13 GMT -5 cosmoblue said:

Well, I finished Friday's Child and I loved it. Loved loved loved it! Hero is the absolute sweetest. Poor Mr. Tarleton. I have 4 other Georgette Heyer books that I can't wait to read. YAY!

I am starting a Georgette Heyer list in order of preference.
1. Friday's Child
2. False Colours

Well Now I have finished Black Sheep. I enjoyed it a lot.

New list
1. Friday's Child
2. Black Sheep
3. False Colours

I had a hard time deciding which of the bottom two I liked better. I thought the plot to False Colours was so much more interesting than Black Sheep, but the language in False Colours made it fairly painful to read.

[savivi]

I'm reading April Lady now -- I love it, and at the same the total fix she's gotten herself in has the tension at an almost unbearable level.

I want to scream at her: Just tell him already!

That said, it's very very similar to The Convenient Marriage, only it's Regency rather than Georgian. No complaints there, though.

[cosmoblue]

I am about 1/3 into Beauvallet. I wasn't sure I was going to like it when I started and realized that it isn't regency at all. Now I think it is decent though not much seems to be going on.

[savivi]

I started Beauvallet and thought the exact same thing. I distinctly remember farthingales, so I'm assuming it's Elizabethan. I set it down, intending to finish, but never got around to it for some reason.

[cosmoblue]

Jun 8, 2008 16:54:44 GMT -5 cosmoblue said:

May 30, 2008 22:03:13 GMT -5 cosmoblue said:

New list
1. Friday's Child
2. Black Sheep
3. False Colours

New list
1. Friday's Child
2. A Lady of Quality
3. Black Sheep
4. False Colours
5. Beauvallet

A Lady of Quality was so much Like Black sheep I kept getting the stories confused. I am pretty sure that I prefer it to Black Sheep.

Beauvallet was good, but it wasn't regency. I didn't understand the costume references and it was slow starting.

Working on Cotillion now.

[cosmoblue]

Jul 1, 2008 16:58:14 GMT -5 cosmoblue said:

New list
1. Friday's Child
2. A Lady of Quality
3. Black Sheep
4. False Colours
5. Beauvallet

A Lady of Quality was so much Like Black sheep I kept getting the stories confused. I am pretty sure that I prefer it to Black Sheep.

Beauvallet was good, but it wasn't regency. I didn't understand the costume references and it was slow starting.

Working on Cotillion now.

Finished Cotillion. Loved it! It was a lot like Friday's Child. I could not but help to love Freddy. Loved Him!

New List
1. Friday's Child
2. Cotillion
3. A Lady of Quality
4. Black Sheep
5. False Colours
6. Beauvallet

[savivi]

Haha -- I bought Cotillion, thinking I hadn't read it before. I started it, realizing that it was SO familiar -- and I even have a copy.

But yes, Cotillion is great!

I finished April Lady a while ago, and liked it -- the angst and tension really hit me.

[jeanbr]

I like "Frederica" best because it refers to innovations of the time as well as a great love story.

My new regency novel is about to be published - see www.janet.aylmer.com