Unquestionably powerful librarian Nancy Pearl (I mean, dude, she has her own Action Figure!) has a new article up at NPR of her recommendations for carry-on books that make traveling and waiting a marvelous escape. Says Pearl, “You want a book — either fiction or nonfiction — that’s complex enough to smother your annoyance when the guy in the row ahead reclines his seat into your lap, but not so intellectually challenging that it demands a dictionary.” Oh, hell to the yes, ma’am.
And ho, there, what awesome sauce through yonder linkage breaks? It is the Heyer, and she is on the list! Heyer’s An Infamous Army is among the books recommended as perfect for carry-on reading, to which I say, “Carry on, Ms. Pearl, for verily thou art rocking my socks.”
But wait, there’s more! We’ll sell you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge! Sourcebooks, which has reissued many of Heyer’s books with absolutely scrumptiously opulent covers (if they were pastries they’d be moist cupcakes with four inches of perfect icing), is offering 10 books to Smart Bitch readers.
We have three copies of An Infamous Army, plus one each of Friday’s Child, Cotillion, Royal Escape, False Colours, Lady of Quality, Black Sheep, and Faro’s Daughter. Ten books for ten winners!
So leave a comment, and tell us your favorite Heyer scene, character, or just book in general. I’m not eligible, but I will say with no fear that I can reread over and over the scene in Devil’s Cub where
Kate
Mary (sorry!) begins to sniffle in front of Vidal, and he realizes due to her graceless snurfle she’s not at all like her silly sister, oh, no no no.
I’ll pick 10 winners at random, and you’ll get yourself some Heyer if you win. You have 24 hours. Carry on!
ETA: Heyer, Heyer everwhere! GalleyCat is hosting a GalleyLOLCat contest, wherein the winner gets some Heyer, too. Bitchery reader Mandy’s cat is in the running: seems Tiny likes Julia Quinn. Tiny, says I, has good taste.
I’ve never read the Heyers, though I did see these new covers in the Barnes Noble today. Shall I be slapped into Stupidom for not ever having cracked the pages of what seems, from the generously dole out excerpts above, like crack? I have heard she’s a classic, but I must ask, what is the appeal of them? Srsly, I just do not know as I’ve never read her.
enough74: As in, no, do not buy/borrow a Heyers, you have at least 74 in your TBR pile as it is, ya fool. Enough!
*sticks up hand* could I have a copy of Friday’s Child for all of Freddy Standen’s neckties? Or his general smushable adorableness and integrity and slightly below average IQ? That is, if Sourcebook is posting to the UK…
I have also never read any Heyer, but she’s been on my list foreeever and I would love to win a copy.
How fabulous that there are so many Heyer fans! I have read and re-read all the ones I can get my hands on numerous times, but I have to say my favorites are the following:
The Grand Sophy
Bath Tangle – especially the confrontation between Ivo and Mrs. Floore; priceless!
Lady of Quality
The Nonesuch
Please pick me!!! I’m completely in luurve with the new Sourcebooks editions!
Darn it, now I have to reread The Talisman Ring. I didn’t even remember that I’d read it.
(I really should begin again with the keeping of a list of everything I’ve read. Author, title, amount of pages and date of reading, minimum, but also definitely some kind of ranking/grading. It would help with book recommendations. After two decades of binge reading, I’m noticing that I am no longer clear about the details of books. I used to be able to state when and where I read something, whether it was a library book, borrowed, bought second hand or new or it it was a gift. I could picture the cover in my mind. Now, shockingly, in a few instances I’ve been half way through a book or nearly at the end when I’ve realized that I know what’s going to happen next! Quelle shock! *The horror of wondering wether Alzheimer’s is around the corner.*)
SBSarah – how about doing a piece on how you keep ‘score’ of your reads? And how other people do it…
lost98- No, I haven’t lost my mind yet. Just pieces of it since ‘98.
E-GAD! In my work-avoidance this afternoon, I have come across (via http://www.georgette-heyer.com) The Black Moth, full text, available on-line:
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/heyer/moth/moth.html
This would be the first one she wrote, at age 16, which was sort of the pre-cursor of These Old Shades.
So, for those of us who don’t win a copy, and can’t wait if we did, and whose local libraries have long since purged their copious Heyer collections (oh, I could weep!), or just don’t know what the fuss is about, enjoy!
(If the link doesn’t work, get there via georgette-heyer.com, click on Romances, Historicals under Novels, and then click on (Full Text) after Black Moth in the listing.)
I haven’t read any Heyer yet, but love historical fiction, and will almost always try something recommended by Nancy Pearl (how can you say no to an action figure?).
Arabella sounds familiar also. Maybe.
I think part of the problem is that I’ve read some of my Heyer translated, which is why I can’t recognize or remember titles. *Praying that this is the reason for those ominous holes in my memory*
I love the scene in The Black Moth in the garden, where Jack says he has to go away because if a ruined man proposed it would be the act of a blackguard, and Diana says “Have you asked the lady?”
LOVE.
Yes – he totally had her number. The bit when her bosom is heaving with indignation (he’s said something to set her off, possibly something about her heaving bosom) and she says, “oh, if only I were a man -!” and he says, ‘that’s the stupidest thing you’ve said yet,” and I know I should be annoyed, but I just loved it.
Oh, and A Convenient Marriage – heroine with a stutter who isn’t magically cured. I really liked this one too, probably because the heroine (though she didn’t know it) had her cool, handsome husband totally wrapped around her finger.
HQN is also re-releasing some Heyers. These Old Shades is out now, Devil’s Cub is coming out in August.
Wow, I’m starting to sound a little obsessed. Maybe I should shut down and concentrate on work… Nah.
Cotillion
I first read Heyer at our public library. It was a revelation and led me to seek out all the others. One of my favorites is “A Convenient Marriage.” I love how Heyrer depicts the hero’s reluctance to love his new wealthy bride, (“a vulgar Cit”) and his gradual realization that this marriage promises a lifetime of quiet happiness as opposed to the flash and shallowness of his previous love. I covet the new editions of her works and would love to hve them replace my tattered paperbacks.
Um, Suze, I love you for that link.
The appeal is multifaceted:
She’s a master story teller (she also wrote great mysteries).
Her dialogue is beyond witty. It’s THE best dialogue you’re ever going to find. Period. Waterboarding couldn’t change my opinion.
Her characters are originals, distinct, and highly entertaining (if they feel too familiar to you, it’s cause 99% of the Regency romance writers on the planet have riffed on them at one point or another; she basically invented the genre). And her secondary characters are an art unto themselves.
The only people I know who don’t find Heyer crack-tastic also find Austen too slow and too dense to get through. The openings of the books can be a little on the slow side for modern readers who are used to the “open with a bang†school of modern genre fiction. But if you give yourself enough time to get a couple of chapters in, you’ll be hooked. Just look at the ‘splosion of mad Heyer-love here.
Indeed, indeed. In fact, the reason I don’t really like Regencies is because I’ve pretty much read the Heyer backlist and there aren’t many writers in the same league (Loretta Chase comes close with her dialogue and characters etc).
I’m so glad I found Heyer before I was a fully conditioned romance reader – sometimes I wonder if I would be willing to pick up a book now if I knew it wouldn’t have all the things I expect in a romance (… the bangs, so to speak…)
My “list” is pretty much Julia Ross, Candice Hern and Pam Rosenthal. I’ll throw in Tracy Grant too, though she writes Regency-set romantic suspense, not “romance”.
My Visa card thanks you…I just ordered a bunch of Heyer books via Amazon. Love me some witty dialogue and great writing. I see a lot of backordering in the future. LOL
i’ve only read “cotillion” and “the masqueraders,” but i love the scene in the beginning when the UBERSTAID cousin’s all “i know you don’t wish to become extravagant” and the heroine breaks in with a wishful “oh, how i’d LOVE to be extravagant.” and of course freddie’s sarcastic parents who are well aware of how…well, *freddie* he is, and are stunned when he proves to be sufficiently competent to handle the situation he finds himself in. and of course all this goes over freddie’s head.
I remember loving Heyer, and read a lot of her, back in the 80s, when I was nursing my grandparents through their last illnesses – but I haven’t read her in years, I think. It would be a lot of fun to pick up one again, I bet.
My favorite? Maybe The Grand Sophy, though I also loved The Corinthian and False Colors, if I remember correctly.
The points Kalen has made above are absolutely spot-on. Heyer is hilariously funny, really laugh-out-loud funny, specialising in witty dialogue and in amazing, sometimes almost farcical denouement scenes (she sometimes reminds me a little, in her set-piece final scenes, of P.G. Wodehouse at his very best). She also had an amazing facility for summarising a character in a few sentences, a kind of verbal thumbnail sketch, in which every word counts. Her characters are memorable and utterly likeable and convincing, her heroines are determined and confident, her heroes swooningly arrogant alpha males with appealingly soft centres.
She single-handedly created the ‘Regency romance’ genre, and although she did make some mistakes (who doesn’t?), she took historical research very seriously indeed and worked hard at it. As Kalen has said, if anything seems familiar when you read a Heyer, it’s always because she did it first, and usually, best, and more recent writers have often based plots, characters and style on hers.
Those unfamiliar with Heyer should remember when she was writing – between the mid-1920s (These Old Shades was her first big seller in 1926, if I recall rightly) and the 1960s. So we have the Georgian, and later, the Regency, period, seen through the perceptions of a writer who was born in the Edwardian era and lived through to the social and sexual revolutions of the post-War period. There is no overt sex in her books (that was illegal prior to 1960 in the UK, and I don’t think the USA was that different), but oh, there was sexual tension in bucketloads! It is not at all difficult to imagine Venetia and Damerel burning up the sheets once they had sorted out all the obstacles.
Favourite scenes – far, far too many to list. Favourite titles: well, Venetia, The Grand Sophy, Frederica, Black Sheep, The Nonesuch, Lady of Quality, Cotillion, Regency Buck, Faro’s Daughter, The Uncommon Ajax, These Old Shades, Devil’s Cub, Bath Tangle … oh, they are all so good!
Don’t enter me for the contest: I am already on my third paperbacks of many Heyer titles, because they wear out and fall apart, but I have them all. Also as Kalen said, her short list of classic 1930s murder mysteries (I think about 11 in all) are good, too.
I, like Lori have never read a Heyer.
But would be more than happy to start with a freebie!
I’m so glad I found Heyer before I was a fully conditioned romance reader – sometimes I wonder if I would be willing to pick up a book now if I knew it wouldn’t have all the things I expect in a romance
That’s the feeling I was talking about a couple months ago, discovering Heyer after having read many imitators. But it didn’t detract from my enjoyment. Some of the Heyers I’ve read have felt very fresh, especially knowing that she came first. If you and others hadn’t steered me toward her, I’d never have tried her.
The scene in Arabella in which Arabella tearfully confesses to have been pretending to be rich, and Mr. Beaumaris cheerfully tells her he knew all along. Best resolution to a Big Mis ever!
I love Heyer too and have read all of her Regencies. (BTW, I highly recommend that Heyer fans pick up a copy of The Private World of Georgette Heyer by Jane Aiken Hodge, which is not only a biography but also includes some information about how particular books came to be written.) The only Heyers I have had some trouble with are the ones with a lot of cant in them, for example, The Toll Gate.
Picking one favorite is too hard – I think A Civil Contract is probably best in terms of deep characterization but I’m also very fond of Venetia, Sprig Muslin, and The Nonesuch. However, for pure scene picking, it’s hard to beat The Grand Sophy. I seriously, seriously wish that someone would make a film out of it: I think it would adapt really easily.
So many scenes to choose from: the mad drive in Sophy’s phaeton when Miss Wraxton has intimated that her credit would be enough to carry off what might be seen as imprudent in others; the scene with the kids and the monkey; Sophy’s driving the horse that Charles has forbidden her to ride; her breaking up of a touching tearful scene by explaining to Charles that she can cry on cue; but my all-time favorite is the lunatic scene towards the end, where people keep arriving at a run-down house in the rain, Sophy’s indolent Spanish stepmother is wandering in and out preparing dinner and muttering about Lope de Vega, Cecilia’s ducklings have escaped, the poet is wandering around with a candle so he can go off and write an inspired poem, and Sophy actually shoots Lord Charlbury to make Cecilia more sympathetic towards him!
Believe it or not, I have read hundreds of romance novels but never a Heyer. I need to correct that, so I need to win one of these books! 😉
I’ve never read a Heyer book before, but I keep on hearing about how great they are here. I would love to start reading her now 😉
As a poor college student anything free is good!
Arabella was made into a movie, but wasn’t true to the story (or even the spirit of the story), and Heyer hated it. I remember reading somewhere that she was adamantly against any of her stories ever being made into a movie again. Maybe she put something in her will…
Don’t want to be entered into the draw: I’ve all the books, some of them twice.
Cotillion – definitely, just for the hero.
April Lady – I know it’s a really slight book, but I always like it – the scene at the end, where Cardross is furious at Nell:
“Tell me, my sweet life, at what figure do you set your beauty, your dutiful submission, your admirable discretion, and your unfailing politeness?”
– and then she leaves, and he calls after her that he didn’t mean it… *sigh*
Or Friday’s child, for the inanity – our hero, Sherry, learns his friend’s theory about the deus ex machina that’s driving the plot:
‘“What the devil is all this about a dashed Greek?” demanded Sherry. “George was trying to tell me about him, but I’m hanged if I could make head or tail of it! All I know is, I’m not acquainted with any Greeks, and what’s more, I don’t want to be!”
“It ain’t a thing you’re acquainted with, dear old boy. Duke knows what it is. Comes up behind a fellow when he ain’t expecting it. Thought it was after me, but it turns out to be Monty. Good thing,”
“Yes, but what is it?”
Mr Tartelon said, with a quiver of amusement in his voice: “I fancy he means Nemesis.”
“That’s it!” Ferdy said, looking at him with respect. “Nemesis! You know him too?”
“Well, it’s more than I do!” declared Sherry. “What’s more, whoever he is, he had nothing to do with my coming to Bath!”
I could do this for hours.
How to pick, how to pick. Favorite male character: Hugo from The Unknown Ajax. He’s big and he’s funny. Come to think of it, I may have married him. Favorite female character” Prudence from The Masquaraders. She’s also big, utterly brave and absolutely imperturbable. I’ve only managed the first part.
The first favorite scene that comes to mind is Friday’s Child, Hero running away from her husband and telling her friend that she brought the mantelpiece clock because she couldn’t leave it behind. He is utterly bewildered but politely responds that of course she had to bring it, it’s a very handsome timepiece.
OK, I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve never read a Georgette Heyer book *hangs head in shame* Obviouly, this needs to be rectified. Would I cause a ruckus if I asked which book I should start with?
orannia
Marianne – oh, yes! I remember that. I borrowed Friday’s Child from the library and kept it for a year (very bad).
I loved Sherry and Hero, such a cute, hapless couple – again, sort of anti-heroes compared to the secondary romance (can’t remember the names!), who were all dramatic and beautiful and passionate like a ‘typical’ romantic couple.
As rfp says in her post:
RfP, how many Heyer’s have you got through?! Do you really think Cotillion is one of the best?
(I love this post)
According to IMDB, the Reluctant Widow was also made into a movie:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382207/
I just checked the description, and the character names have been changed, which is never a good sign. Apparently the heroine is now French.
I never win anything, but this has yet to stop me from trying.
I have also, sadly, not read any Heyer yet. This contest could (possibly) kill two birds with one book.
I devoured Heyer when I should have been studying for very important exams that would change the direction of my life forever in England. I also read a ton of Hemingway at the same time, and haven’t re-read either, altho I remember my favorite is The Rake Also Rises.
But the very first one I read was Regency Buck which I remember had a scene where Prinny groped the heroine and Beau Brummel had a guest appearance (tho not simultaneously. I really can’t remember the others much but I loved them.
There’s also one very pervy one where a brother and a sister dress up in drag and quite seriously court a man and a woman (who are not in drag), yet somehow everything gets resolved. Anyone know which one that is?
I have never read Heyer…I feel the sad lack of Heyer in my life…in fact, I think giving me a free copy of a Georgette Heyer book as a public service, whattya say? Help a bitch out?
I’ve only read The Nonesuch and loved it. Ever since then, I’ve been followed by a “must read more Heyer!” feeling. Especially those new covers. They’re so beautiful I want to make a bouquet of them and stick them in a vase by my bed.
Marianne: Thanks for that snippet from Friday’s Child and providing me with a giggle for today. That definitely should be in the running for Best Dialogue!
@Janet Mullany: Thanks for mentioning Beau Brummel! I almost forgot that little scene where Judith (?) is talking to this quiet, dapper guy about what a loud ass Brummel is. And, of course, the quiet guy *is* Brummel. Fortunately he doesn’t hold it against her. Not as good as the “guess who I secretly am” scene from Devil’s Cub, but still pretty good.
And I like A Civil Contract, even though I’m still not convinced of the awfulness of Julia. She was immature and selfish, but I still secretly think she had True Love for the hero. That speech she gave about “I could withstand any sacrifice, as long as the two of us were together”… I believe her.
(Also: winning a book would be okay by me.)
Janet, that’s The Masqueraders, one of her early ones. With Prudence and her “mountain” and Jack (I think?!), who makes a better woman than his sister. I love it when Prudence’s love interest forces her to try to drink him under the table, and then forces her to admit to the masquerade. Hmm.