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When I picked up False Colours by Georgette Heyer, I knew to expect a well written regency romance filled with laugh out loud humor and well developed characters. This is a fast-paced book of misunderstandings and mistaken identities that kept my interest until the last page.
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Another re-release from Georgette Heyer that was first published in 1944, “Friday’s Child” seemed to answer a public outcry for more light-hearted regency fair. As Ms. Heyer herself wrote about this novel, “I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense, but it’s questionably good escapist literature and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter, or recovering from flu. Its period detail is good; my husband says it’s witty—and without going to these lengths, I will say that it is very good fun.” (From the book “The Private World of Georgette Heyer” by Jane Aiken Hodge; Random House, APR06)
This was written during a time of deprivation and war in London and Heyer’s fans were looking for a way to escape from their tense situation. The humor and comedic banter in her novels provided them a way to retreat, at least mentally, to a happier place and enjoy the antics and bumble broths of her well-written characters.
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When I was asked to read and review Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Honestly, I don’t read a lot of regency romances, so I was intrigued and somewhat worried about reading it. Now I am glad that I have had the opportunity to read this delightful novel as I may not have ever given her novels a chance otherwise. Although this book has some very romantic moments, it is really a book about family, propriety and everything else in between. The dynamics between the characters are not only heartfelt, but humorous as well.
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Truth to tell, I’m a little discomfited to be writing a review of Georgette Heyer’s “Lady of Quality”. Heyer was, after all, the progenitor of the Regency Romance genre. What can I possibly say that hasn’t been said, and likely better, by much more facile and famous reviewers than myself? But, Quentin the taskmistress has set me to this undertaking so onward I shall go!
Did I enjoy reading this book? Indeed I did. Heyer’s style of writing draws the reader into her regency world and immerses us into this different time with wholly different standards of behavior, station, and living. Our heroine, Annis, is revealed to us as very much the deviation from the norm. But, there are no speeches or ruminations about ‘proper’ behavior and instead, we learn what makes Annis so different from others of her time and station by her actions and the ensuing reactions of others to her actions in various situations. Heyer doesn’t preach and prosy about what made those times so different from ours. She allows us to learn for ourselves throughout the progress of her story. And being me, I always enjoy authors who don’t try to bash me over the head with data like I’m an idiot!
