Another new Heyer winner

This time we did hear from the winner, but Aarti has very selflessly said that she already owns the book that we are giving away and that she would like for someone else to have a turn to read it.

So, the new winner of Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer is:

Alessandra

Alessandra, if you could please send your contact details to historical_tapestry at hotmail dot com we will get your prize out to you as soon as we can.

New Heyer winner

We didn't hear from Lalie, so we had to draw a new winner for our Heyer contest. Our new winner is:


Aarti


If Aarti could please email your contact details to historical_tapestry at hotmail dot com we will get your prize (which willl be a copy of Spanish Bride) out to you as soon as we can.

Heyer Season wrap up

It seems like just a couple of weeks ago that Ana and I started talking about the possibility of having a focus of some description upon Georgette Heyer, and here we are at the end of Georgette Heyer season. I don't know about all of you out there, but we have had a total blast doing this!

We've had reviews, giveaways, guest posts, cover stories, and a whole heap of fun.

We'd really like to thank every one who has participated whether it was with a guest post, or if it was by leaving a comment, or perhaps you just lurked, but however you participated...thank you.

There's a little bit of housekeeping to do before we officially declare Heyer season closed - a small matter of a giveaway for those people who did contribute guest posts for us. The winners of a Heyer book of their choice are:

Chris
Janicu
Li

If the winners could please email their contact details to their address details to historical_tapestry at hotmail dot com we will get your prizes out to you as soon as we can. We will need both your addresses and confirmation of which Heyer book you would like to receive. The only restriction is that it must be available from either Amazon.com or The Book Depository.

Speaking of prizes, we haven't yet heard from Lalie who won one of the prizes in the first giveaway. Lalie could you please contact us at the above email address as soon as possible. If we haven't heard from you by Wednesday 18 June we will be redrawing the prize.

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated. If you were new to Historical Tapestry during the season we hope that you continue to visit us, as we have lots of great reviews coming up for you. Of course, we hope all our regular readers stick around as well!

If You Want To Know More...

... about Georgette Heyer there are 2 interesting books out there that you shouldn't miss.



One is The Private World of Georgette Heyer by Jane Aiken Hodge. Focusing not only in her books but also in her private life, even if the author admits to some lack of information as Heyer was a very private person. It's a well written biography with plenty of information for Heyer fans. If you are new to her work beware that the plots and endings of the books are mentioned and there's a detailed analysis of each one. The author is herself an well known writer and this book was sadly out of print for a while till Arrow decided to reprint it in 2006.







The other is Georgette Heyer's Regency World by Jennifer Kloester. This one reads like a reference book. Covering ever conceivable aspect of the Regency period it mentions social relations, fashion, political and military aspects, town and country life etc etc. The perfect guide for whoever wants to know more about the Regency! If you are already a Heyer fan you will like to know more about the world she set her stories in, if you don't know her work yet you will definitely want to read one of her books after reading this one.


There are also some great resources out there on the web, and here are just a few links!

GeorgetteHeyer.com
Heyer Listserv
A Book For All Reasons

Guest Post by Jane - Growing Up with Georgette Heyer

Today's guest post was written by Jane from The Colour Jane. Thanks Jane for contributing to our Season!


When I was a pre teen, we were not called that. We were? um growing children? We were thrilled to be in double digits. We were not sophisticated; we had an innocence, and perhaps even a naivety about us; yet we were eager to reach the mystical 13.

As I reached a dozen plus one years, my mother announced I was beyond children’s books and introduced me to the world of Georgette Heyer.

The first book she put into my hands was ‘These Old Shades’.(I still have no idea what the title means, in spite of quite some research …anyone care to enlighten me?

Enchanted, and intrigued from the very first, I soon fell for the Duke Avon with all the passion my young heart could muster. Indeed, this tendre* long lingered within me...

Although known by friends, and enemies alike as ‘Satanas’, I knew Justin Alastair to have the good heart he soon revealed. Was he acting on a mere whim when he bought a beaten bedraggled boy to be his page? Or did he instantly see in the red haired child a means of revenge against his enemy the Comte de Saint-Vire?

I remember being drawn deep into the story, wonder struck at the world of Paris in the 1700s and the delightful antics of the child Leon, as he interacted with his benefactorMonseigneur; all under the benign, balanced and watchful eyes of Hugh Davenant.

Soon our family went on a summer holiday to a beach in the north of New Zealand. I was not interested in the view, or the swimming, or the local culture, or anything really, other then the fact that the local general store sold copies of Georgette Heyer paperbacks. They had pink covers, showing an oval frame which contained paintings of the main characters. I read, and begged for ‘another book, just 'one more’ all summer. Thus before I was 14 I had read pretty much all works of this quintessential English woman.

A couple of years ago, whilst laid up with pneumonia, I re read all the stories. I found again, but appreciated so much more, quality research; fine skill in the manner in which the characters were drawn, and wit in the dialogue.

Certainly the stories and characters do not fit in our contemporary world; they jar against so called modern thought. However, the delightful Georgette Heyer touch has not faded. Back in my early teens my parents presented me with a copy of ‘My Lord John’. This is the unfinished book; about half of what Georgette Heyer had planned as a serious mediaeval work - possibly trilogy. Her husband did his best to finish, or at least round it off.

I recommend http://www.georgette-heyer.com as a wonderful site to visit: get to know the woman and her work even better. More than anything, I recommend her books, to all with romantic hearts, no matter what age.

*The French turned the word tendre meaning ‘tender’, into a noun -- meaning ‘the tender feelings’. They drew a map of the feelings, la carte de tendre. A beautiful country of the emotions, where you could start at ‘new friendship’ and travel through gentle pastures to the ‘tenderness of gratitude’, the ‘tenderness of affection

We have winners for our first giveaway

The first of two contests that we have going through Georgette Heyer Season was to win one of three books - either The Spanish Bride, Royal Escape or April Lady. In order to pick a winner, everyone who either commented or blogged about the season was allocated a number, and then I let the random number generator over at Random.org choose the winning numbers.

The lucky winners are:

Lalie

Ana O

Arleigh

If the winners could please send their address details to historical_tapestry at hotmail dot com we will get your prizes out to you as soon as we can.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment, or blogged about the contest for us. I hope that you continue to visit us here to find out about lots of great historical fiction!

It's not too late to join in the other contest. Full details are here

Guest Post by Sassymonkey - Discovering Georgette Heyer

Today's guest post is by Sassymonkey, who blogs about books at Sassymonkey Reads, and also at Blogher. Thanks Sassymonkey!

It was a chilly and rainy Sunday afternoon. My boyfriend was out running errands and going to church. I wandered around the new apartment determined to ignore the boxes waiting to be unpacked. It was reading time. I wanted to read something fun. Something light. Something that I knew would end well and make me laugh. I scanned the bookshelves (because of course the books are all unpacked). My eyes gravitated to the top row of the first bookcase. "Perfect," I said. I took down a book, made a pot of tea and retreated to my new sun-room with a blanket, a thick pair of socks and the cat. It was time to get lost in a Regency romance with Georgette Heyer.

About a year ago a friend asked me if I had read any of Georgette Heyer's novels. I told her that I hadn't but that I was vaguely familiar with them having seen one of two mentioned on book blogs. A few months later when I moved into a new apartment (yeah, yeah I move a lot) she send me a small selection of them as a house-warming gift. The very first one I read, my friend's favourite, was The Grand Sophy. I loved it. It was witty, had a strong-willed female protagonist and the main male character was no slouch either. It reminded me of Jane Austen but wasn't quite so serious as Austen. And unlike Austen it gave us a glimpse into the frequently amusing (at least as Heyer writes it) male mind and world.

I had some concerns because my friend said The Grand Sophy was her favourite. Would the others be as good? I picked up another one of the selections she sent me flew through it. And then another. And then I went online and ordered five more. It was official - I was nutty for Heyer. The best part about reading Heyer novels is that I know there are lots of them and that some selection of them is frequently available in libraries. And after years of being out of print they are being reissued so they are available with online booksellers and frequently at my local brick and mortar. The bad part is that I know there is a finite amount of Heyer's out there and while the existing ones will continue to be new to me, there will never be another brand spanking new Heyer.

After I started reading Heyer I started to see her pop up more frequently on book blogs thanks to those reissues I mentioned above. Fans of Jane Austen seem to particularly love Heyer's work. Vic at Jane Austen's World recently reviewed her Lady of Quality and discussed what lured her into Heyer's world.

I reveled in Georgette’s world filled with bored aristocratic gentlemen who, usually as they traveled by coach or horse to a country inn or walked the streets in London in the middle of the night, stumbled across an innocent and disarming chit who needed rescuing. This plot device was a popular one with the author. Another one of Georgette’s plots was that of the “older” beautiful, rich, and independent spinster (almost on the shelf, but not quite) who is determined to live her life as she likes it, and skirt convention when she can. Because she has independent means, she rules her roost and will brook no interference from any man.

It is true that many of Georgette Heyer's novels follow similar paths. The women and men are witty. There are daft/interfering/judgmental family members. Women often need "saving" although they also sometimes turn around and save the men. There may be a military plotline (after all, we are in the age of Napoleon here). For some the repetitiveness is part of the Heyer charm. Others, like Kim, would like to see a bit more variety. She reviewed Black Sheep at Good, Clean Reads and deducted a quarter star because it was too similar to the last Heyer she read.

Thanks to Heyer having been a prolific and popular writer in the twentieth century most libraries carry at least one Heyer book.

There are also books written about Georgette Heyer and her Regency world. One of the most recent books is by Jennifer Kloester, Georgette Heyer's Regency World. The Historical Romance UK blog snagged Ms. Kloester as a guest blogger of the month awhile back.

Now you must excuse me, I have a half finished Heyer novel calling my name.

Cover Story: Royal Escape by Georgette Heyer

Another one of Heyer's works of historical fiction Royal Escape is entitled to more discreet covers. The old ones are a bit bland but the 2 more recent covers seem really nice. Because of it's theme designers seemed to have focused more on neutral motifs and only in the recent covers we have more detailed illustrations.



Royal Escape is the story of how Charles II escaped to France after the Battle of Worcester in which the royalist forces were defeated by Cromwell.



The action takes place only two years after his father's execution in 1649. Charles II landed in Scotland in 1650 to try to regain his crown and country. He was crowned Kind of Scotland in 1651 but after Worcester he is forced to flee once more.



Heyer tells us where and how he spent those days after loosing the battle and before reaching France again. He would only return to english soil 9 years after that in 1660.





This last cover is of the Source book edition we are giving away. Which one is your favourite?

Giveaway Reminder!

Don't forget that at the moment we have two contests going as part of the Georgette Heyer Season. Entries for the first contest close in a few days, so leave a content and go into the draw to win!

There is also still time to send us a guest post, and go into the draw to win the Heyer book of your choice!

LEAVE A COMMENT BOOK GIVEAWAY

We have 3 books to offer to everyone who leaves a comment in one of the "Georgette Heyer Season" posts between May 17th and June 10th. The winners names will be announced on June 11th.

The books are:

April Lady
The Spanish Bride
Royal Escape

April Lady is an Arrow Books edition and the other two books are part of the rerelease of books from the good people at Sourcebooks.

Blog about Georgette Heyer Season and you will receive a second entry into the contest. Just leave us with a comment with a link.


GUEST BLOGGER GIVEAWAY

Write a post for us about Heyer (it could be a review of your favourite Heyer book(s), or a post about why you love to read Heyer) and we will post it here. You will be automatically entered in a contest to win a Heyer book of your choice. We have 3 more books to offer for this contest. Names will be drawn from a hat on June 14th and announced here on June 15th. The only limitation is that the book that you choose must be available from either Amazon US or The Book Depository - other than that you can choose whatever Heyer book you like!

Good luck!!

Guest Post by Li - Heyer Favourites

Today we have another guess post, this time by Li from Me and My Books. Thanks Li!

I've been a romance reader for years, yet I'm a relatively new Heyer fan.I'd always seen her books around, and sort of knew that she had a massive fan base, but I had never really been inspired to pick up any of her books.I think I'd somehow mentally categorised her books as boring and old-fashioned - gosh, was I wrong!

So what changed my mind?

I was browsing in the bookstore one day and saw her books (the then newly-released Arrow editions) taking up a couple of shelves. Needing to kill some time, I selected one at random, opened it to the first page and started reading... when I was still there ten minutes later, I figured that I should actually buy the book.

That book was The Grand Sophy and it kick-started a major Heyer glom. I was incredibly lucky that my new-found obsession with Heyer coincided with Arrow re-releasing all her books - thank you Arrow! Yes, it took a while, but now I'm pretty sure that I'm the proud owner of every single book Heyer wrote - and that includes her mysteries and a biography. Her books have intricate plotting, fascinating characters, wonderful dialogue, and beautifully-drawn settings - what more could you ask for?

Some of my favourite Heyers:

The Grand Sophy - This obviously holds a special spot in my heart because it's the first Heyer I ever read. But leaving that aside, this is a totally engrossing and fun read. Nicknamed "The Grand Sophy" for her habit of managing and organising people and events, Sophy arrives at her aunt's house for an extended stay and promptly gets involved in her cousins' madcap exploits. The romance is slow-blossoming in this one, but perfectly suited to the main characters, IMO.

These Old Shades - This is one of the few Heyers set in Georgian times. The Duke of Avon shows an unusual interest in Leon, a charming urchin he rescues from the street. I don't think it's giving much away to say it's a girl-in-disguise plot,and a story full of intrigue and drama. And I've a thing for stories set in the Georgian time period - you know, jewels, lace, high heels, and that's just the men!

Piece of trivia: These Old Shades is actually a follow-on from the first book she wrote to entertain her brother when he was sick (The Black Moth), but with the characters renamed.

The Masqueraders - Again, another cross-dressing plot, but very different from These Old Shades. Prudence and her brother are travelling in disguise to evade the authorities (following the failed Jacobite revolution), but end up drawing attention to themselves when they rescue a damsel in distress on their way to London. Heyer carries off this slightly implausible plot with panache, and as for the hero - swoon. He's neither dashing nor reckless nor rakish, instead he's a quiet capable "man-mountain" who proves that beta heroes can be wonderful.

Frederica - I know, I know, it's an obvious one, but this is probably the first Heyer I recommend when someone asks for a humorous Heyer. The eldest of the Merrivale family, Frederica begs her distant cousin, the Marquis of Alverstoke, to sponsor her sister's coming-out.The growing relationship between the irrepressible Merrivale family members and the world-weary Marquis is depicted brilliantly, and the scene with the dog never fails to make me smile.

I could go on forever! I haven't mentioned False Colours, Cotillion, Arabella, Powder and Patch, or Devil's Cub, but I think I'll let you discover them for yourselves.

An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer

This is a repost of a review that I originally wrote last year.

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!

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!

Guest Post by Janicu - Black Sheep

Today we have a guest post from Janicu from Janicu's Book Blog. Janicu is now in the draw to win a Heyer book of her choice. If you too would like to be in the draw then contact us about doing a guest post for Georgette Heyer Season.

I've been a long time lurker here at Historical Tapestry - this is a blog that has introduced me to a lot of authors and increased the size of my "to be read" pile. I'm also a fan of Ana's other group blog - "Lights, Camera...History!", so I'm really pleased to do a guest post! Especially since I just read my first ever Georgette Heyer novel this month. This guest post is a review of that book - Black Sheep which I originally put in my blog (janicu.livejournal.com) and have edited a bit for here.

I won this in a contest at the Misadventures of Super Librarian blog, and I'm glad because I'd never read a Georgette Heyer book but I kept hearing about them. Mostly about how great and well-researched they are but out of print, and how fans hoard them like treasure and reread them over and over again. I also kept hearing a comparison to Jane Austen since Heyer writes in the regency period - in fact she is considered the person who began the regency romance genre.

I agree with the Jane Austen comparison because Black Sheep was really about characters and society. There is a lot of emphasis on manners and what is considered acceptable to say and do, and the story progresses from one social outing to another, peppered with histronic relatives, town gossips, and "loose fish". The language is very formal and structured, even when characters speak with the regency equivalent of slang, there is a great deal of formality in it. There is also a great deal of subtle humor. I discovered after reading this book that Heyer did a lot of detailed research for her stories, and a lot of unusual language that she uses came from correspondence from that period which she bought. This means that a lot of the phrases I was unfamiliar with are unique to Heyer, since many of them were only ever recorded in the letters she owned. This point has been brought up as proof of plagarism - a couple of instances it was said that she came close to suing, but never actually did.

In Black Sheep, the basic premise is that the main character, Abigail (Abby) Wendover, "on the shelf" at 28, is concerned for her niece Fanny. She's heard that Fanny, who is only seventeen, has attracted the attentions of a young man, Stacy Calverleigh, who is likely after Fanny's inheritance, nothing more. Abby is put in a situation where she can't forbid Fanny to see Stacy because she fears Fanny will consider herself a martyr and run off, but she can't allow Fanny to think the family approves either. Abby meets Stacy's uncle Miles, the black sheep of the Calverleigh family, and tries to get him to help her, but while she finds someone she gets along with very well, in Miles she also meets someone completely unaffected by societal rules. If something doesn't make sense to him, he won't do it. Miles has never met Stacy and he can't be persuaded to care about what Stacy does.

I read this book for a few minutes every night and finished it off when I was on the train. For me, this was a book I had to read slowly because I wasn't used to the language - there were several points where I just didn't understand what a character just said because they used some regency phrase that isn't in use today. So I had to read carefully to absorb it and it took me a lot longer to read 20 pages in this book than in other books. In the end the read was worth it - I felt pretty satisfied with the ending. Even though there is an open ended aspect to it, there was enough for me to feel like there was one, both to what was going on with Abby and Miles but also with Fanny and Stacy and other secondary characters. And now here is someone else to read if you have already read all of Jane Austen.

I highly recommend this as a peek into the past. I was particularly taken by the strict morals that Heyer highlights - I don't think that even Austen made it as clear to me how differently actions back then were seen compared to the present day.

The Georgette Heyer novels being reprinted as trade paperbacks by Sourcebooks. I thought they all had lovely covers, and I'm pleased with the quality of the paper used (nice and thick) - these books will withstand repeated reads!

Cover Story: April Lady by Georgette Heyer

Being a regency romance April Lady has had the privilege of more revealing covers, often depicting couples seemingly in love. It's also the one we found more covers of apparently confirming the popularity of Heyer's romance novels.

















Do you know of any other April Lady covers? The last cover shown is of the Arrow Edition we are giving away. Don't forget to leave a comment to be in the draw!

You can get the full details of the two different types of give aways that we are having here

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-

Guest Post by Chris - Two Heyer reviews

We are very pleased to bring you another guest post, this time by Chris from Book-A-Rama. Thanks Chris!

Last year I discovered Georgette Heyer. I don't know how I managed to miss reading her novels. There are so many and they are a style I enjoy. I was given 2 of her books to review and she quickly became a favorite of mine. One good thing about discovering an author late is that there is the whole body of work to look forward to reading. Here are the reviews as I originally posted them on my blog, book-a-rama.

An Infamous Army

An Infamous Army is the first book I've read from Georgette Heyer, the historical novelist. First published in 1937, Heyer's novels are now being released by Sourcebooks.

The Infamous Army of the title is led by the Duke of Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo. Much of the novel revolves around Lady Barbara Childe (Bab to her friends). She can best be described as the Paris Hilton of her day. Everything she does is scandalous, but she does it with such style that the other ladies are envious of her boldness. She flirts her way through the young officers stationed in Brussels awaiting war with Napoleon. She breaks hearts until she meets Colonel Charles Audley and finds she's met her match but of course things don't go as planned.

A complete 180 from the romance and glitz of the balls is the gore and carnage of the war. On June 15, 1815 right in the middle of a party, war is declared and the ladies are left wondering if their sweethearts, sons and brothers will come back to them alive. I've read both War & Peace and Vanity Fair but neither described the battles with as much bloody realism as Heyer does. Sometimes, for my own taste, Heyer went into the description of the battle too much. I couldn't follow who was where and what manoeuvres were done when. I'm not big on war stories. But the sights and the sounds of the battlefield brought me there with Wellington and his men.

The research for this novel must have been phenomenal: the clothes, the manners, the battle, very vividly written. I had trouble with all the Lord So-and-so's and Lady Who-what's-its but figured them out eventually. Plus, all the Brits were so heroic, I had a moment of irritation with them all. But I suppose the novel is a product of it's time.

This was a big book at 485 pages but all in all I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more of her novels.

Cotillion

After reading An Infamous Army, I couldn't wait to give Georgette Heyer more of my time. Cotillion is quite a different novel than An Infamous Army. Kitty Charing, the ward of a cantankerous miser, must marry one of the old man's great-nephews or be left penniless upon his death. Kitty's choices are: the stogy Hugh, the simple minded Dolph, the dandified Freddy or the rakish Jack. Kitty can only image marrying Jack whom she's adored since childhood. Jack refuses to be pushed into marriage; it's too much fun being a sought after bachelor in London.

Kitty, desperate to get to London and out from under the thumb of 'Uncle Matthew', devises a scheme. She convinces Freddy to pose as her fiance to make Jack jealous. Sure of her plan, she drags Freddy all over London stumbling into misadventures only Jack, Chrissy and Janet could appreciate. Kitty involves herself in unlikely couples' romances and neglects her own. To know how it all turns out for Kitty, you just have to read it. I don't want to give too much away.

Cotillion is a thoroughly enjoyable novel. Kitty is adorable and warm hearted, but she never thinks through her plans. Freddy somehow manages to pull her out of her messes with a calm practicality that surprises everyone. At times, it reads like a Regency version of "Dumb and Dumber" (without the gross). Their trip to the museums was quite funny. Here is Freddy's reaction to 'treasures of ancient Greece':

"...he was called upon to admire the Three Fates, from the eastern pediment. 'Dash it, they've got no heads!' he protested.
'No but you see, Freddy, they are so very old! They have been damaged' explained Miss Charing.
'Damaged! I should rather think so! They haven't got any arms either!..."

While reading An Infamous Army, I was often overwhelmed by the painstaking detail of the battle of Waterloo. The only battles here were ones fought by ambitious Mamas but I was frustrated with Freddy's vernacular. First, he has an aversion to pronouns and also uses a tremendous amount of slang. It took me awhile to get used to it. A glossary might be helpful. Now I see that it was a device used by Heyer to convince the reader that Freddy isn't very bright.

Although it's comic, it also has a lot of heart. I really loved each of the characters. The book also emphasizes how little control a woman of that time had over her own destiny.

I definitely recommend Cotillion if you are in the mood for something light and fun as well as well written.

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

Georgette Heyer Sightings

Whilst we here have been indulging in Georgette Heyer season, there have also been couple of other interesting posts I have come across about Heyer that I thought I would share.
The first was over at Random Jottings of a Book and Opera Lover, where Elaine talks about two of the new batch of releases from Sourcebooks, Black Sheep and Lady of Quality.

As an aside, I also feel compelled to mention that there is also a giveaway at that blog of Sarah Bower's new book which is being released in the UK next month called The Book of Love. Having really enjoyed The Needle in the Blood, I am definitely looking forward to reading this book!

The second sighting was at The Good, The Bad and The Unread where author Lynne Connolly has written a post telling why she is crazy about Georgette Heyer and where she talks about Heyer's "unique and special voice" and looks at Heyer's role in creating the Regency romance subgenre.

Another aside....we reviewed one of Lynne Connolly's books, Yorkshire, and there is another review post waiting in draft for when we either have a quiet moment during the Season, or for when the Season is over and we all need to have a little rest!

Enough asides.....we hope you are enjoying Georgette Heyer Season so far, and don't forget that if you leave a comment on any of the Georgette Heyer Season posts, or blog about the Season you will be in the draw to win one of three books. Alternatively, if you are inspired to want to do a guest post for us you will go into the draw to win the Heyer book of your choice! Full details of the giveaways are here.

Cover Story: The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer

We thought it might be a fun idea to do some Cover Story posts on the books that we are giving away. Here's the first of them.







Heyer's books have been given several different covers, some of them look a bit old and dated but the more recent reprints have beautiful covers.






The Spanish Bride tells the story of Sir Harry Smith and his wife Juana, who he met during the war in the Peninsula and married when she was just 14. Heyer found information on this interesting couple when she was researching for An Infamous Army and couldn't resist telling their story.


















Which one is your favourite? Does your book have a different cover? The last cover is the book we are giving away...

Guest Post by Aarti - A Self Confessed Heyer Addict!

We are very pleased to have our first guest post from Aarti who blogs at BookLust. Don't forget if you would like to do a guest post for Heyer Season just let us know, and you will go into the draw to win the Heyer book of your choice!




First of all- thank you to Historical Tapestry for inviting me to be a guest blogger! What an honor. And to blog about my favorite author? Even better! I am thrilled with the opportunity. Georgette Heyer has been such a huge presence in my historical fiction reading life since I first started reading her that I can't really determine whether I like Heyer because I have always enjoyed historical fiction, or whether I like historical fiction because I was introduced to it by Georgette Heyer. Either way- I'm glad it's all worked out the way it has.


My first Georgette Heyer book was The Nonesuch. I was probably about seventeen when I read it. I loved Sir Waldo and his sense of humor and his charitable works. I thought Ancilla was the perfect match for him. I thought the secondary characters, all village busybodies who gossiped about anyone around them, were so fleshed out that I could imagine exactly what a conversation involving two of them would be. I loved the setting, and the descriptions of the clothing and the carriages and the horses. But, I admit... mostly, I loved Sir Waldo.

From then, I was hooked. I went to the library and got a few more Heyers. Then a few more- luckily, the local library was well-stocked. I went through a dozen, from These Old Shades to The Reluctant Widow, from The Talisman Ring to Black Sheep. I started purchasing them soon after. It is Georgette Heyer, even more than Jane Austen, that got me on my unending obsession with Georgian and Regency era England- I now purchase pretty much every non-fiction book relating to that era I come across. I went to my semester abroad in London armed with a list of sights to see, from Brighton Pavillion to Rotten Row, Bond Street, Hatchard's book store, Grosvenor Square- everywhere. I visited any sight remotely connected to the Regency era. Georgette Heyer has an entire shelf (and a little bit more) of prime space on my bookshelf devoted solely to her novels. She is one of the few authors whose books I will read and re-read, over and over. If I see one of her books at a used bookstore, I buy it, even if I already own it. I often think that, had I just lived two hundred years earlier, in an aristocratic London populated by her characters, I would never be bored.

I'm pretty much a Heyer addict, to put it mildly.

Georgette Heyer has obvious appeal for teenage readers- her books (I am focusing on the Regencies, since I have not read many of her mysteries or her novels set in non-Regency eras) are full of dashing heroes, adventure, marriageable ladies and, of course, true, pure love. But she has much to offer readers as they grow older as well. Her heroes are dashing, yes- but they often have flaws (usually excessive pride and arrogance). Her ladies are marriageable, but they are refreshingly not always beautiful or helpless- they are often witty and self-reliant and perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. And the dialogue- Heyer makes me laugh out loud. She is simply a pleasure to read. Some of her characters have so much chemistry that they literally sizzle. Charles and Sophy in The Grand Sophy are an example of this. Dominic and Mary in Devil's Cub. Some of the matchings are more mature, and based on real friendship and comfort in each other- Tristram and Sarah in The Talisman Ring, or Miles and Abby in Black Sheep. Some of the pairings help each character grow into a better person, such as happens in Sylvester, Cotillion and Friday's Child.

I would try to name a favorite, but I don't think I really can. I love all the ones for which I have name-dropped throughout my post above. I am sure I'm also forgetting some of my favorites. If you are new to Heyer- welcome. I envy anyone their first reading of The Unknown Ajax (there's another name I'm dropping!). If you have read Heyer before, I hope Historical Tapestry's focus on her novels will move you to re-read her books. I know it is doing so for me. The only trouble now is to choose which one...