“This, then, was a hellfire club: a debating society for alarming ideas.” What a delightful way to end the year. I always like K.J. Charles’s books, but this one just pushed every single one of my buttons. It’s an homage to Georgette Heyer, and a romance, but I’ve not read anything quite like it before. Guy Frisby and his sister Amanda are secluded from society in their quiet country home. An old scandal involving their mother and their neighbor besmirched their names and ruined Amanda’s […]
The 1950s Were Not a Good Time. At All. Yes This is a Regency Romance.
People have been telling me that I need to read Georgette Heyer’s books for a long time now. I just never really got around to it, I’d make a mental note and then just never pick up one of her books. So, knowing that I would need something for The White Whale slot, I finally picked up one of her books. I have issues, a lot of issues. I don’t know if those issues are singular to The Grand Sophy, but I’m not really willing […]
Old-fashioned romance
I’d heard that Venetia (1958) by Georgette Heyer is a classic of the romance genre, as well as reminiscent of Jane Austen. I wasn’t sure it could live up to that kind of hype, but I was willing to give it a try. One thing that made me nervous about this novel is that it was written in the 1950’s–not exactly a banner decade for women. I was afraid the old-fashioned mindset would be reflected in the novel. Fortunately, for the most part, this was not true, […]
A Family Affair
This is one of Heyer’s later books (1965) so it is avoids some of the pitfalls of rampant sexism and casual racism of some of her early stuff. Per Amazon: Determined to secure a brilliant marriage for her beautiful sister, Frederica seeks out their distant cousin the Marquis of Alverstoke. Lovely, competent, and refreshingly straightforward, Frederica makes such a strong impression that to his own amazement, the Marquis agrees to help launch them all into society. Normally wary of his family, which includes two […]