Books of a Lifetime by Jennifer Kloester

Today we are pleased to have Jennifer Kloester here at Historical Tapestry to talk about her "Books of a Lifetime".

Welcome Jennifer!

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Thanks for having me on your wonderful website and for the chance to talk about books. I love books and their power to transport me to another place and time, to move me and teach me and make me laugh or cry. I am in awe of the lasting power of words and the way in which books read in childhood and adolescence have not only stayed with me for years but also enriched my experience and even shaped my life. For example, much of my love of England can be directly traced to my childhood reading. Books such as Swallows and Amazons, Winter Holiday, Pigeon Post, The Wind in the Willows, Winnie-the-Pooh, Schoolgirl Honour, The Secret Garden, Ballet Shoes, The Little White Horse, Sherlock Holmes, Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Malory Towers series and John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps each informed my youthful view of the world. As a child I loved adventure and mystery and romance and reveled in the possibility that the things done by the characters in these books were actually possible. I yearned for adventure and I found a vicarious satisfaction in the triumphs of Richard Hannay or the Fossil sisters or the Blackett children or Mole and Ratty and terrible Toad.

As I grew older I moved on to mystery and murder novels, though still with a civilized Englishness that I found reassuring. Dorothy L. Sayers' wonderful Peter Wimsey books with their literary allusions and intellectual interpolations in Latin and French captivated and intrigued me, while Agatha Christie proved to be perfect holiday reading whenever our family went camping. P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That and John Galsworthy's Forsythe Saga expanded my horizons in new directions as did the wonderful writing of Oscar Wilde, Nancy Mitford and Georgette Heyer. I love to laugh but it is a rare author who can make me laugh out loud and these three each do so in their own inimitable way. I especially love Georgette Heyer's Regency novels with their clever plots, witty dialogue and marvellous comic characters such as Jonathan Chawleigh in A Civil Contract, Augustus Fawnhope in The Grand Sophy, Ferdy in Friday's Child and Sir Nugent Fotherby in Sylvester (to name but a few).

My love of English literature and poetry enriched my childhood and sent me out into the world to seek my own adventures. I've found plenty of them and also plenty of marvellous new authors – and not just English ones either. Books like Mr Pip, The Help, The Hare with Amber Eyes, Perfume, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Elegance of the Hedgehog and The Tall Man have given me hours of reading pleasure and enriched my life in ways that are quite different to those experienced via my childhood reading – though they are no less potent. Each new book is a new adventure and, even now, I still love an adventure!


Jennifer Kloester is the author of two books about one of our favourites here at Historical Tapestry - Georgette Heyer. You can find out more about Jennifer and her books at her website.

Winner of Georgette Heyer prize pack

Congratulations to 

Meg @ A Bookish Affair 

who has won the Georgette Heyer prize pack giveaway courtesy of Sourcebooks.

Look out for an email from us soon Meg!

Happy Birthday Georgette Heyer! (includes giveaway)

Here at Historical Tapestry we are big fans of Georgette Heyer, so much so that we held our first month long season in her honour!

August 15 would have been Heyer's 110th birthday and Sourcebooks is celebrating in style! Sourcebooks have now rereleased all 52 of her novels plus a couple of books about Heyer herself. Here are just some of the ways they are celebrating:

• All Available Georgette Heyer eBooks on sale for $2.99 from Tuesday August 14th – Monday August 20th! http://www.sourcebooks.com/readers/browse-our-lists/ebook-specials/1776-happy-birthday-ms-heyer-ebooks-for-299.html
• Get 30% off any Heyer print book during the whole month of August at the Sourcebooks store by using the coupon code HEYER at checkout! http://www.sourcebooks.com/store/fiction/georgette-heyer/
• Also, check out our Georgette Heyer Facebook page where we will be having discussions, parties and giveaways! http://www.facebook.com/thecompletegeorgetteheyer

We are thrilled to be participating in the celebrations by hosting a giveaway of a Georgette Heyer prize pack of 3 novels. Each pack will include one of Heyer's mysteries, a romance and a historical fiction novel.

In order to enter, we want to know how did you discover Georgette Heyer? Did you read your mum's copies, or did a friend recommend her? What's your favourite Heyer novel? Or if you haven't read her yet, why would you like to try reading her novels.

To get things started, I thought I would share my Heyer story.

I was originally introduced to Heyer when I went to my local romance bookstore and was browsing the shelves. The assistant was talking to me about what I like to read (historical romance being one of those things) and then she asked me if I had read Heyer. When I said no, she was rather insistent that I really, really needed to do so! I therefore bought a copy of Venetia. It is no reflection on her sales skills that I haven't actually read Venetia yet. Then Sourcebooks started to rerelease her books and so I started reading them. I really liked An Infamous Army, and books like Cotillion and since then I have gone on to read a mystery or two plus more and even went to a launch of Jennifer Kloester's biography of Heyer.

There are still plenty of Heyer books for me to read, but if I had to pick an absolute favourite of what I have read so far, it would be Devil's Cub.

Now it's your turn!

Giveaway details:

- to participate, just leave a comment telling us how you discovered Georgette Heyer. Don't forget to include your email address in your comment.
- one entry per household
- open to US and Canada only
- closes 26th August midnight GMT

Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer

Murder Comes Home For Christmas

The halls of Lexham Manor were decked with holly, the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, and the old Scrooge who owned the estate was stabbed in the upstairs bedroom. For Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard 'twas the season to find whodunit. All six holiday guests had a motive to commit murder. But not one of them could have entered the locked room to do it. And Hemingway soon discovered that this time the proof wasn't in the pudding. It was a turkey of a play, a ham performer, and a plum of an inheritance...

Although I consider myself a Georgette Heyer fan the truth is that, till now, I had only read some of her Regencies and Georgian novels. This was my first mystery by her and presents a totally different style. It's a contemporary (it was first published in 1941) whodunit!

Several members of the Herriard family and their friends meet at an english country house to celebrate Christmas. While they all attend, no one seems particularly fond of the others or happy to be spending time in their company. The head-of-the family, and owner of the country house, is a tyrannical old man who doesn't seem to get along with his family members. In fact when he is found dead in a locked room it seems many of them had a reason for murder. Enter Inspector Hemingway and a few fellow policemen to interrogate everyone and solve the case.

Despite loving mysteries, and most of the other Heyer's I've read I have to confess that this was not an easy read. I had some trouble at first remembering all the characters and their relationship with each other and the dead man. Then the characters were disagreeable and quarrelsome, the servants were equally disagreeable and uninteresting and I actually had to force myself to continue reading.

I am glad that I did though because in the end I rather liked the way how Inspector Hemingway found the culprit. I am sorry though that we didn't get to spend more time with him. I like to have a main character that I may like and follow through the story and he was the prime candidate, as the one investigating, but we never get more than a glimpse of his past life.

The final twist with the book connection was quite funny though, it felt the answer was there all along and we were just too blind to see it. And that not everyone was as silly as it seemed.

I do plan to read other Heyer mysteries in the future but I do hope they will be easier reads than this one and with more interesting stories.

Grade: 3/5

Sylvester or the Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer

Rank, wealth and elegance are no match for a young lady who writes novels...


Sylvester, Duke of Salford, has exacting requirements for a bride. Then he encounters Phoebe Marlow, a young lady with literary aspirations, and suddenly life becomes very complicated. She meets none of his criteria, and even worse, she has written a novel that is sweeping through the ton and causing all kinds of gossip ... and he's the main character.

When a young woman feels slighted by a member of the ton, what else is she do but write an anonymously authored novel about how terrible he is - pompous, arrogant and dictatorial when it comes to the welfare of his young ward. She makes a thinly veiled attempt to hide the identity of the main characters - Sylvester, Duke of Salford.

Sylvester can be a bit pompous and aloof, always aware of his duty to his role and his family and particularly aware of his role as guardian of his young nephew. When he decides that he needs to find a wife, he is not looking for love and passion. He is looking for suitability more than anything, so he makes a list of the eligibile females in the ton. Running the list of names past his mother, she suggests that he speaks to his godmother, who in turn adds one more name - that of her granddaughter Phoebe Marlow.

Phoebe lives with her father and her very overbearing stepmother who thinks that she is too spirited and must be tamed. When Phoebe hears that her father is bringing Sylvester home with a view to matrimony she panics. Her stepmother insists that she will behave properly and so the Phoebe that Sylvester finds is a somewhat insipid disappointment and he is determined that he will leave as soon as he possible can. However, Phoebe is  even more determined, and with the help of her childhood friend Tom she decides to escape to her grandmother's house in London.

What follows is a series of adventures that starts with an accident that leaves Tom with a broken leg, Sylvester being snowed in at the same inn as Tom and Phoebe, and ends with Tom and Phoebe being kidnapped by Sylvester's ditsy sister in law and her new husband on a ill thought out escape to France.

Along the way, Phoebe proves to Sylvester over and over that she is anything but the insipid miss he thought she was. She is always willing to point out his faults to him but he finds himself becoming more and more intrigued by her. That is until he figures out that she is the author of the book that has the ton abuzz!

I liked Sylvester a lot! Yes, he was pomp and arrogant but I am not sure what else to expect when you have been bought up to be a duke. We did however get to see his devotion to family, and quite often he didn't realise his own faults. He didn't like having them pointed out to him, but then again, who does.

Phoebe was a harder character to pin down for me. I don't think I ever really got why it was that Phoebe felt so strongly about Sylvester that she could target him in her book. She also was quite impetuous which led her to bring both herself and her family into situations that otherwise could have been avoided.

The path to true love never runs smooth, misunderstandings abound and there were times where I wondered if our hero and heroine were ever going to realise their feelings and act upon them. Ably assisted by a vibrant set of secondary characters including Tom and Phoebe's grandmother, the reader is taken from one adventure to the next. Little do our main characters realise it is the adventure of love!

Rating 4.5/5

Click here to read Ana's thoughts about this book

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the review copy.

The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer

'I dare say it will not be so very bad, our marriage, if I can have a house in town, and perhaps a love.' 'Perhaps a WHAT?' demanded Shield, in a voice that made her jump. Neither Sir Tristram Shield nor Eustacie, his young French cousin, share the slightest inclination to marry one another. Yet it is Lord Lavenham's dying wish. For there is no one else to provide for the old man's granddaughter while Ludovic, his heir, remains a fugitive from justice...

I have been a long time fan of Georgette Heyer, I first read some of books while a teenager in translated versions and now, as an adult, I have been collecting them in the original English thanks to Arrow and Sourcebooks who made them readily available everywhere.

The Talisman Ring was one of the books that I read more recently. A mixed story, part romance / part mystery, it sees two couples searching around for a family jewel to exonerate one of the heroes from a murder charge. To make a long story short, Sir Tristam Shield and Eustacie de Vauban are ordered by their great granduncle and grandfather respectively to embark on a marriage of convenience to guarantee Eustacie’s well being and status in life after the old man dies. But Eustacie is a lively and romantic girl who finds Sir Tristam a stuffy unromantic old man and decides to run away to become a governess. On the road she finds her cousin Ludovic, her grandfather’s heir who has been on the run for the past two years after having been suspected of murdering a man on the night his favourite jewel – the talisman ring – disappeared. Ludovic is now a free trader, which seems utterly adventurous and romantic to Eustacie, and after an encounter with the excise men he is hurt and they find shelter at a nearby inn. There they find Lady Sarah Thane, a young woman who travels with her brother and seems to have an original sense of humour, and that’s where Sir Tristam eventually finds them. With Eustacie and Ludovic on their way to falling in love the four set out to find the jewel and prove his innocence.

I must admit that this is not one of my favourite Heyers. I think the story, as a mystery, loses pace because of the romance and all those secondary characters – the free traders, the excise men, the Bow Street Runners – and as a romance looses interest because so much time is devoted to finding the jewel. I think I am more used to those Heyer romances where we find sparkling and witty dialogue between the main characters, where the funny coincidences make for laugh out loud moments and where we have closure in the end. Here, although there are some funny moments they are not so sparkling and witty, and while the story ends with one couple engaged, the other doesn’t get the same king of closure, although everything indicates that they will do so too.

I did like Lady Sarah Thane and Sir Tristam Shield very much. To the point where I would have loved to have the book devoted solely to them. In a way, because they are an older couple they reminded me of Abby and Miles from The Black Sheep which I greatly enjoyed. If only we had seen more of them I am sure that we had been gifted with some witty dialogues. Eustacie seemed a bit too young and, well, silly. I have been fond of other young heroines like Horry and Leonie and I have forgiven them their silly naiveté because of their wonderful heroes but here I must confess that Ludovic was not a favourite with me either. He seemed impulsive and extravagant but oh so perfect for Eustacie who only wanted a husband to ride “ventre a terre” to her death bed.

But don’t be discouraged by my review, lots of Heyer fans seem to love this story so my advice to you is try it and see. There are a lot of farcical moments in this story and if nothing else it will definitely put you in a good mood.

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This review was written for the Heyer Celebration at Austenprose in August 2010

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

Sylvester, Duke of Salford, seeks with unconscious arrogance a bride worthy of the honour of becoming his Duchess. He journeys to Wiltshire to inspect the Hon Phoebe Marlow, unaware that he has met her before and instantly forgotten the tongue-tied girl without beauty or elegance to recommend her.

Another of Heyer's regency novels with engaging characters and witty dialogue not to mention the detailed recreation of England's society during the Regency period.

Sylvester, the duke of Salford is very much aware of his rank and consequence. When he decides to get married he makes a list of suitable young ladies and goes to his mother for advice on which one to choose. His godmother makes him add one more name to the list, her granddaughter Phoebe Marlow.

Sylvester decides to visit Phoebe's family to see if they might suit but Phoebe is less than thrilled with the prospect of becoming his wife. She briefly met him in town during her first season and having thought him arrogant made him the main character of the novel she was writing. Not realising that there is a smart young woman behind the shy and repressed young lady he meets there Sylvester starts planning how to leave without being rude but the pressure Phoebe's parents put on her finally lead her to run away to London. But on the road her carriage suffers and accident and it's Sylvester which will come to rescue forcing them to spend some days together and actually get to know each other.

Unfortunately Phoebe's book where Sylvester features as the wicked uncle (which the second title of this novel) is about to be published and the ton not only recognises him in the character but starts believing that what is written might be a bit true. Phoebe have a very angry, and public, quarrel over it with her deserting him on the ballroom floor and their relationship will go through quite a few problems before it can be saved.

There is a really interesting and colourful set of secondary characters that add to the appeal of the story. The scenes where Phoebe and her friend Tom end up being kidnapped by Lady Henry and her second husband, who are eloping to France, not to mention the scenes with little Edmund are completely hilarious. The main characters start as a very unlikely couple and it makes for a really funny journey to watch them spar. I liked Sylvester more than Phoebe because he never felt that arrogant to me and he accepts most of her criticism quite charmingly. We don't see what led Phoebe to dislike him so and in fact she gladly accepts that she didn't know him all that well. In the end one can't help but cheer for Sylvester when he finally quite clumsily blurts out his feelings for Phoebe... It was a hard road to happiness for these two but a lovely one for me.

Grade: 4.5/5

Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer

When lovely, saucy Mary Challoner had practiced her hold deception upon the hot-blooded, fiery-tempered young Marquis of Vidal substituting herself for the young wench he had thought to carry off to France–she had little notion he would grimly hold her to her part of the bargain. Now he had left her, and she was alone, a stranger in a strange land, prey to the intrigues of glittering, heartless, 18th century Paris.

Only one person could rescue her–the Marquis himself. But how could she ever trust this man? How could she even hope to overcome the contempt in which he held her? And how could even the sudden flowering of her love ever bridge the terrible

Quite honestly, I don’t think I can do this book justice. Clever humor pours all through the pages of this wonderful story. I spent last Sunday afternoon with a beatific smile plastered on my face laughing uncontrollably. My cat, who was sleeping right next to me, was awaken several times and made me well aware with some glaring looks that I was disturbing his comfortable nap.

The characters are a true delight, attaching and far from perfect, which made them even more attractive to my eyes. But it’s the dialogues that caught me completely unaware with their delicious wittiness. There are so many memorable moments that is hard to pick up a favorite.

Vidal is a true rake, not the kind that makes all the show and, at the end, is another misunderstood man who is in great need of talking about his feelings. But he is always honest with his intentions and clearly shows marriage is not in his immediate plans. The pretty and frivolous Miss Challowner caught his eye and she is convinced he will make her his marchioness.

After another scandal, Vidal needs to leave the country and intends to take his current love interest with him. But this is without counting with the young woman’s elder sister, Mary, who always knew the Marquis true intentions. Determined to ruin his plans, she decides to go in her sister’s place

I enjoyed Mary immensely! There’s sizzling chemistry between her and Vidal right from the beginning, but they both try to ignore it the best they can without many success. The shooting scene is hilarious and one of my many favorites in this book.

The constant interventions of Vidal’s family contributes to many funny moments, especially when his paternal aunt is involved (her complains about Vidal’s behavior and comparisons to her son are higly amusing) or even his mother, Léonie, the heroine of These Old Shades, who has always a peculiar talent to comfort her son.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough! Devil’s Cub is now in my comfort reads shelf forever.

Grade: 5/5

The Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer

THE KNOWING BRIDE

When dazzling Horatia Winwood married the powerful Earl of Rule, she was saving her sister from a loveless match, rescuing her family fortune, and providing herself with a life of ease. Hers was a marriage made not in heaven but in the coolly logical mind of a very self-possessed young beauty.

Not until Horatia was deep in dangerous intrigue with her husband's vengeful rival, the dashing and arrogant Lord Lethbridge, did she suddenly find -- to her own tremulous surprise -- she had fallen deeply in love with the man she had married for money. But was it too late, now that she was but a heartbeat away from betraying both him and herself?

This was one of the first books I read by Heyer and it has remained one of my favourites ever since. I reread it recently and since I had never written a review I decided to do it this time. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed it as much as the first time.

The Earl of Rule has decided it's time to marry and for his bride chooses Miss Winwood less from inclination then from her impeccable bloodline. But Miss Winwood already has a beau and the Miss Charlotte Winwood is determined not to marry so the youngest of the family - Miss Horatia Winwood decides to take matters into her own hands and offer herself as prospective bride. It is fun to see how Rule is instantly charmed by the plain, stammering Horry and not only agrees to the change of bride as to becoming the patron of Miss Winwood's beau.

Like other Heyer novels The Convenient Marriage is full of witty dialogues and interesting conversations between the characters. Horry and Rule have a big age gap and she tries to be as adult as possible, keeping out of his way and his affairs but it is quite obvious from the beginning that Rule likes her as she is and is determined to be patient and considerate with his wife.

Horatia gets herself in various degrees of trouble, especially by befriending one of Rule's old enemies, and things aren't helped by Rule's cousin trying to make mischief between them. I was also quite amused by Horry's brother Pelham, the inveterate gambler who run through the family fortune but has a high sense of propriety and can't understand why Rule doesn't have a heavier hand when dealing with his sister. And in the end it is lovely to see Rule save Horry from herself... Although she is sometime too childish and immature he is a wonderful wise hero who totally makes up for it.

This is a fun Georgian romance that I highly recommend!

Grade: 4.5/5

Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer

Whilst not technically historical fiction as it was written at the same time it was set in, that setting is the 1930s so I thought I would post it here. It was originally posted on my personal blog a couple of weeks ago.

Every family has secrets, but the Fountains are turning deadly…

On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The Girl protests her innocence, and Amberley believes her – at least until he gets drawn into mystery and the clues incriminating Shirley brown begin to add up…

In an English country house murder mystery with a twist, it’s the butler who is the victim, every clue complicates the puzzle, and the bumbling police are well-meaning but completely baffled. Fortunately, in ferreting out a desperate killer, amateur sleuth Amberley is as brilliant as he is arrogant, but this time he’s not sure he wants to know the truth…

Georgette Heyer is a name that I have always known as one of the most loved historical romance authors. I had no idea that she also wrote mysteries so when I was offered this book for review I jumped at the chance! Then I was without internet for what felt like an eternity and now I am trying to catch up with those books I have to review that I read during that time.

In this book the main character is a cocky young barrister by the name of Frank Amberley. He is on his way to visit some family members when he comes across a vehicle that is stopped in the narrow roadway with a visibly distressed young woman nearby and a dead man at the wheel. The young lady is insistent that she didn't do it and Amberley believes her. He is soon drawn into the investigation at the invitation of the local police force chief, although it is fair to say not all the police are happy about that.

What follows are a series of events that lead to more deaths, to other crimes, and to a complicated web of family relationships and servants faithfulness (or otherwise) that draws the readers into the upper class world of the English country house. Where normally the butler does it, this time it is the butler who got done, but who could possibly have wanted a butler dead, and how far will they go to protect their own identities?

In many ways this was an interesting read but it was by no means a perfect book. There is a certain irony in the fact that for me the weakest aspect of this book was the romantic subplot that just sort of happened towards the end of the book and came out of left field. Once the killer was unveiled it was also not a really surprising reason, but it was certainly an interesting journey getting to that point.

Whilst many of the secondary characters were pretty stereotypical, the main characters seemed to be overly brusque and arrogant and just generally unlikeable. The strange thing is that I can't work out whether it worked for me or not. Frank was arrogant, overly clever and patronising, and yet he also showed his family loyalties and was steadfast in his insistence that justice needed to be done. In a way Frank's characteristics kind of worked for this story, but for example I couldn't see a whole series being developed around him as a main character because he would just annoy too many readers - or this reader at least.

There was however some cracking dialogue throughout the novel, and some interesting details about life in an earlier time although I daresay if I had of been reading these books at an earlier time nearer to publication I would not have even noticed. For example, at one point there is a chase with our intrepid main character driving his car at hair raising speeds and stopping in each town to talk to the traffic policeman to ask if they had seen the car that they were chasing. Images from a time long gone!

I am glad that Sourcebooks are rereleasing so many of Heyer's books, and I am hopeful that I will continue to read more. I also really like the covers for a lot of their rereleased mysteries, some of which are show below. Thanks to Danielle from Sourcebooks for sending me this book for review.

Rating 3.5/5

The Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer

I've read Heyer's These Old Shades earlier this year (my review was a part of the Heyer Season and I loved it. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the sequel - The Devil's Cub - and now that I have I think I love it even more than TOS.


Intelligent, practical Mary Challoner knew wicked Dominic Alastair, Marquis of Vidal, wouldn''t marry her sister, despite her mother''s matchmaking schemes. So Mary coolly prepared to protect her sister by deceiving Vidal. But she certainly hadn''t expected the infuriated nobleman to kidnap her! Reluctantly awakening to his responsibility—and realizing just how serious Mary was about her virtue—Vidal proposed marriage.
But after all the carefully laid wedding plots he''d dodged, Vidal had never expected to be refused by a chit! Baffled, bewitched and frustratingly tempted, Vidal swore that Mary would be his wife. Even if it was the last thing either of them ever did…

Vidal, Avon and Leonie's son is a rake and possesses his mother fiery temper. He has a loving relationship with his mother, who is forever saying it's not his fault that he gets in trouble but the fact that he inherited her spirit, and a more distant relationship with his father, to whom he feels must prove something.

Vidal is currently very interested in a young lady of a respectable family but whose less than respectable behaviour has led him to feel he can seduce her with no honourable intentions. The young lady, however, has an older and wiser sister who decides to ruin Vidal's plans by going with him pretending to be her sister and later uncover the ruse and showing him to be the victim of a malicious joke.

Unfortunately Vidal doesn't get annoyed and send her back as she expected, in fact he gets so mad that he decides to take her along with him. If he can't have one sister he will have the other. But Mary Challoner is not a heroine who quietly accepts being ordered about or manhandled and soon Vidal realises that not only he has met his match but also that Mary is a respectable woman and marriage is the only option. Now if he could just convince her of that...

There are many fabulous scenes in this book, Heyer writes great dialog and one just can't help laughing out loud in many of them as Mary and Vidal constantly challenge each other. After their first confrontation and when Vidal decides he will marry her, Mary is forever trying to avoid him because she feels she is not good enough for him. She believes his family would be dead set against the match and she has no option but to run away leading Vidal and his immediate family on a search for her across France. The final scene at the inn was lovely, engaging and emotional. Mary is the cool, sensible one, she is smart and independent, and she instintively knows how to deal with Vidal. He is the impetuous one, agressive and domineering, used to having his own way he doesn't realise how well Mary understands his temper and with subtlety uses that knowledge.

It was nice to see Leonie all grown up and with a dignified manner, even if she hasn't lost her spirit, and Avon as a concerned and loving father, without losing any of his authocratic manners. And there's a whole lot of secondary characters from both Vidal and Mary's family who are just delightful to read about, the scene between Leonie and Mary's mother, between Vidal and his cousin, there are too many to list really so I really recommend this read to everyone.

Want a little bit of dialog as a teaser? Here you go:

He stopped short. "Where did you get that thing?" he demanded.

"Out of your coach," she answered.

"Is it loaded?"

"I don't know," said Miss Challoner, incurably truthful.

He began to laugh again, and walked forward. "Shoot then," he invited, "and we shall know. For I'm coming several steps nearer, my lady."

Miss Challoner saw that he meant it, shut her eyes, and resolutely pulled the trigger. There was a deafening report and the Marquis went staggering back. He recovered in a moment. "It was loaded," he said coolly.

Grade: A

Announcing a Georgette Heyer Season!

*****STICKY POST******

Georgette Heyer Season

Here at Historical Tapestry we are very excited to be announcing that for the next month, we are going to be having a Season devoted to Georgette Heyer!

Unlike a Season from the Regency there won't be balls, picnics, rides down Rotten Row or afternoon visits but there will be some reviews that we have already posted reposted, some new reviews, a couple of book giveaways, some guest posts, and whatever else we can think of! Click here to read details of the two ways that you can win a new book.

We will have more details up of the giveaway shortly, but in the meantime, if you are interested in participating in the Season by contributing a post, then let us know either by leaving a comment (and we'll get in contact with you as long as there is an email address in your profile) or by email to historical_tapestry at hotmail dot com. Your guest post could be a review of a favourite Heyer novel, or a post about why you love to read Heyer...anything..as long as it is Heyer related!

We will also continue to bring you posts about other Historical Fiction novels we are reading, upcoming releases and anything else that captures out attention during this time as well, so be sure to visit, and visit often!

April Lady by Georgette Heyer

When Lord Cardross marries the young Lady Helen he also finds himself coping with her father's financial disasters and the pressing gambling debts of her scapegrace brother. Many escapades must be resolved before the much-tried Earl can smooth the course of true love in his own marriage.

April Lady is, like several Heyer novels, a comedy of errors.

Lady Cardross, recently married, is very much in love with her husband but tries to hide as her mother told her on the eve of the wedding that she was merely a convenience to Cardross and his sister mentioned to her he had a mistress thus making her even more sure of his lack of love for her. Lord Cardross is madly in love with his wife but fears she only married him because he is very rich and her family of gamesters was very much in need of funds.

When the story starts Helen (Nell) has incurred in a great deal of debt not only to help her brother but also with the dress makers. Seeing her worried Cardross tells her he will pay all the debts but she forgets to give him one and after promising him she will take better care of her purchases she doesn't have the courage to ask him to pay one more. She tries to find a way to have the money needed asking for her brother's help but she finds herself unable to look her husband in the eye for fear he will discover the debt. At the same time, finding her behaviour odd Cardross starts to believe she just married him so she can pay the family's debts and feels nothing for him.

Heyer always writes fun lines and vivid characters but although I enjoyed the book I think Nell needed to sparkle a bit more, say like Leonie in These Old Shades or Horatia in The Convenient Marriage. Two books where we have a younger heroine paired up with an older man but in which they steal the scenes they appear in. Cardross also seems to lack the condescending and sometimes sarcastic and self deprecating humour those heroes had.

There are quite a few adventures involving Cardross's sister and her beloved that lead to an even bigger misunderstanding between Lord and Lady Cardross but everything gets solved in the end and I almost laughed out loud with the set down Dysart gives Cardross about him not taking care of his wife. Dysart is after all a carefree rogue always involved in new adventures and without a feather to fly with so hardly the type to be giving lectures but in this case Cardross has to accept it with grace.

Recommended for true fans of the author but if you're trying her for the first time look for Arabella or The Grand Sophy.

Grade: B-

The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer is better known for her regency novels. However she did write some medievals including this biography of William, The Conqueror.

Base-born son of Richard, Duke of Normandy, William the Bastard had to fight for his crumbling heritage, then to subjugate in battle his feudal lord, the King of France.

Spurned in love he horse-whipped the lovely Princess Matilda, then made her his bride.

Thwarted by the Saxon Earl Harold of a solemn promise of the throne of England, he sailed with his armies to a moment of destiny at Hastings.

A complex character, William had to fight for his life and his rights from early on. Born the bastard son of the Duke of Normandy it was by pure strength of will that he became one of the most powerful and respected men of his time.

The book is very detailed and follows William's life pretty closely, from battle to battle till he reaches the English crown thus giving us a rich and complex view of the day's politics and interests. To better show her views Heyer uses the character of Raoul, one of William's knights, who is fiercely loyal to him and is even entrusted with negotiating William's wedding to Matilda of Flanders (after a pretty unusual courtship).

William succeeded to his father very early in life. The Duke Robert had made his men swear his son would be his heir before going on pilgrimage and when news of his death arrived William was 8. Not willing to stand by their oath the Barons started fighting amongst themselves and tried to use the child as a pawn for their interests. Many of his guardians and presumably friends were killed trying to protect him.

At fifteen he was knighted and he was ready and determined to fight for his inheritance. Known as William the bastard he became ruthless in his pursuit of what he believed was rightfully his, first the Duchy of Normandy and then the kingdom of England.

We never get the feeling that we do know William very well, he always seems a bit cold emotionally, but she is great at describing the battle scenes and showing the charisma that made him a leader of men.

It doesn't really seem fair to compare this book to Heyer's other works as it's very different in tone and in subject matter. There's very little romance in this story unlike her other books. Although William and Matilda seem to have been happy in their marriage the books doesn't focus much on their relationship. I really enjoyed this story and I must confess that it made me want to go and look for her other medievals.

Grade: B

Spotlight On: Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer (1902 - 1974) was a very British writer who became famous for writing novels set in the Regency period. Although she also wrote historical fiction set in different periods and quite a few mysteries she is better known for her long list of regencies. They are romance novels full of witty dialogue, some a comedy of errors, all set in the high society that gathered at Almack's or White's and whose main pursuits seemed to be attending balls, go to the theatre and generally patenting an appropriate behaviour according to the period and the Almack's patronesses. Like in Jane Austen novels her heroines are hoping to find love and also to marry well (meaning rich men).

Heyer was always very detailed and tried to be as accurate as possible. It is well known that she had many reference books and indeed her novels are an example of historical accuracy. Nowadays there are many historical romances and many regency romances being published every year, not everyone knows that Heyer is considered the creator of the regency romance genre.



Bibliography

Historical fiction
The Great Roxhythe (1923)
Simon the Coldheart (1925)
Beauvallet (1929)
The Conqueror (1931)
Royal Escape (1938)
My Lord John (1975)

Romance novels
The Black Moth (1921)
Instead of the Thorn (1923)
The Transformatrion of Philip Jettan (later republished as Powder and Patch)
Helen (1928)
Pastel (1929)
Barren Corn (1930)
These Old Shades (1926)
The Masqueraders (1928)
Devil's Cub (1932)
The Convenient Marriage (1934)
Regency Buck (1935)
The Talisman Ring (1936)
An Infamous Army (1937)
The Spanish Bride (1940)
The Corinthian (1940)
Faro's Daughter (1941)
Friday's Child (1944)
The Reluctant Widow (1946)
The Foundling (1948)
Arabella (1949)
The Grand Sophy (1950)
The Quiet Gentleman (1951)
Cotillion (1953)
The Toll-Gate (1954)
Bath Tangle (1955)
Sprig Muslin (1956)
April Lady (1957)
Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle (1957)
Venetia (1958)
The Unknown Ajax (1959)
A Civil Contract (1961)
The Nonesuch (1962)
False Colours (1963)
Frederica (1965)
Black Sheep (1966)
Cousin Kate (1968)
Charity Girl (1970)
Lady of Quality (1972)

Mysteries
Footsteps in the Dark (1932)
Why Shoot a Butler? (1933)
The Unfinished Clue (1934)
Death in the Stocks (1935)
Behold, Here's Poison (1936)
They Found Him Dead (1937)
A Blunt Instrument (1938)
No Wind of Blame (1939)
Envious Casca (1941)
Penhallow (1942)
Duplicate Death (1951)
Detection Unlimited (1953)


To know more about her:

GeorgetteHeyer.com
Heyer Listserv
A Book For All Reasons

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

Under the reign of Louis XV, corruption and intrigue have been allowed to blossom in France, and Justin Alastair, the notorious Duke of Avon and proud of his soubriquet ‘Satanas’, flourishes as well. Then, from a dark Parisian back alley, he plucks Leon, a red-headed urchin with strangely familiar looks, just in time for his long over-due schemes of revenge on the Comte de St. Vire. Among the splendours of Versailles and the dignified mansions of England, Justin begins to unfold his sinister plans - until, that is, Leon becomes the ravishing beauty Leonie...

It's a compliment to Georgette Heyer that she can write a story with one of my personal pet peeves and make it work - this is a girl in pants story.

The story has a mystery, romance, friendship, a villain or two and a case of stolen identity.

The Duke of Avon is an arrogant, cynical and jaded man. He constantly refers to himself has the devil thus showing how fond he is of his bad reputation. One day while strolling on the streets of Paris he finds a young "boy" running away from a beating and decides to protect him. "He" becomes Avon's page and totally devoted to his saviour who "he" believes to be a noble and good man no matter what Avon, and everyone else, says to deny it. It is soon apparent that there is a motive for Avon's actions other than the kindness of his heart. Leon, or Leonie, will be his instrument of revenge towards an old enemy.

I love how Heyer shows the relationship between the older, jaded aristocrat and the young naive girl. He is always in control of his actions and emotions, she is very impulsive and emotional. She is always very honest, sometimes too honest in her remarks and about her situation but Heyer makes it work wonderfully. Unlike other stories with girls disguised as boys Avon immediately sees that Leonie is a girl and let's her continue the ruse to keep appearances and till he can discover more about her. Once he does he puts her in his sisters care what Leonie sees as a loss of his favour. It's clear from early on that Leonie loves Avon and that he fights what he feels for her because he feels he is too old and unworthy.

Without giving much away of the plot Leonie will be put in danger by Avon's old enemy, The Comte de Saint Vire, and it will take several adventures to rescue her and uncover the truth of Leonie's past. In the mean time we get to know a few more members of Avon's family and have some insight on his past. I liked that it had action, witty and funny dialogue, a good plot and believable characters. Heyer does a good job with portraying the Georgian atmosphere and mannerisms (the book is set circa 1756) making it a very good read.


Grade: A

An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer

IN THE SUMMER OF 1815, with Napolean Bonaparte marching down from the north, Brussels is a whirlwind of parties, balls and soirees. In the swirling social scene surrounding the Duke of Wellington and his noble aides de camp, no one attracts more attention than the beautiful, outrageous young widow Lady Barbara Childe. On their first meeting, dashing Colonel Charles Audley proposes to her, but even their betrothal doesn't calm her wild behavior. Finally, with the Battle of Waterloo raging just miles away, civilians fleeing and the wounded pouring back into the town, Lady Barbara discovers where her heart really lies, and like a true noblewoman, she rises to the occasion, and to the demands of love, life and war...

Just under a year ago I went to the local romance bookstore, and was talking to the girl who worked about authors she recommended. After going through a few different options, she asked me whether I had ever read Georgette Heyer? My response was no, but that I wasn't overly keen to try. After she gushed for about 10 minutes about how fabulous Heyer was, I ended up walking out of the store having bought Venetia. I still haven't read it.

It wasn't so much that I wasn't interested in reading Heyer's books really. It was more that there were so many that I wasn't really sure where to start, and there were so many other books that I KNEW that I wanted to read. Then I was offered An Infamous Army and I figured that it would be just the encouragement I needed to try this author, and then one way or the other I would know whether I wanted to read more or not!

Whatever it was that I was expecting when I started reading this book, it's not what I got! I will confess that I was expecting lots of bodice heaving, and purple prose, but instead what I got was a lovely romance which was set against the much larger portrayal of the Battle of Waterloo. The detail in the book about the movement of troops and the actual battles was impressive, but yet not so overdone that it became monotonous and boring. The colour and pageantry of the various parts of the army that was massing to face Napoleon was impressively depicted and the almost crazed atmosphere of the English in Brussels who seemed to be partying like there was no tomorrow was very finely tuned. The fact that there literally was no tomorrow for many of them only adds to the poignancy of the novel.

The action of the story moved from the ballroom, to the salon, to reviewing the troops and trips on picnics to the countryside adeptly, and yet with all the details about the looming battle and the actual battle, Heyer didn't forget to develop the blooming relationship between our hero and heroine.

I have to confess that at the very beginning of the book I was somewhat concerned at where the journey was going to lead. When Colonel Charles Audley, who works on the staff of the Duke of Wellington, enters into a crowded ballroom and sees the beautiful but somewhat notorious Lady Barbara Childe he instantly falls in love and before too long she is in love with him. Almost immediately, Charles proposes to Babs and she accepts, much to the shock of much of Brussels, including his sister, and to the delight of the gossip mongers, for whom Babs has long been a favourite talking point. Love at first sight....not really my cup of tea.

Babs give Charles a bit of a run around, but her true strength comes to the fore when it is needed as the battle rages. And in the end, it turns out that she is not the only one in her family who might have shocking secrets.

And yet, despite that initial reservation, gradually I found myself fascinated by all the characters, including our lovers. Many of the characters are actual historical figures who were involved in the Battle of Waterloo, and I found myself searching the web looking for websites related to the battle to try and figure out things like exactly how far out of Brussels is Waterloo. I think that if a historical novel that you are reading prompts you to go and find out more information about the events you are reading about, then it's a pretty good sign.

With lively characters, plenty of historical details and a good love story, this is one Heyer that I am definitely glad that I found time to read, and I will be reading more!

Rating 4/5


Thanks to Sourcebooks for the review copy of this book!