Georgette Heyer

Sometime back, when I was searching for good books to read, I came across some reviews of Georgette Heyer’s  novels, and full of the Regency craze around that time, I decided to give it a try.

Georgette Heyer was a writer of historical fiction – basically in the romance and mystery genres (Yeah, I know you’d have got this from Wikipedia too) .Her books mostly deal with the descriptions of lives of the gentry and nobility in Regency England. The language used is a bit difficult to follow, if you aren’t used to the expressions used in those times(like I was),the descriptions get tedious and the stories themselves need adjusting to, for only when you wade through a page or two can you understand who the characters are, and even then maybe not clearly.

After reading all that negative criticism, if you’re still reading this review, then you may as well join the ranks of Georgette Heyer fans. For all that’s needed is persistence. The first book of her’s I read, was Arabella ( fortunately, for like all others I too, fall for first impressions, and some other book may have put me off). I found the protagonist ( Arabella, duh) quite fascinating, though my initial impression was that of a birdwitted beauty – _- .

Mind you, I’ve only been reading her romances, for I tried a mystery – Cousin Kate – and found it too monotonous to credit the genre( I’m an ardent fan of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle ,is that a sufficient excuse? ), but what I’ve read, I really liked. The Masqueradors, These Old Shades, Devil’s Cub, Sylvester, The Corinthian, The Nonesuch , The Unknown Ajax, The Grand Sophy, Frederica, Friday’s Child, The Talisman Ring, Lady Of Quality, Sprig Muslin, April Lady and The Reluctant Widow are some of my favourites – with intelligent characters, very humorous situations and happy endings ( What more could an aspiring romance want?) . The heroes are manly, the heroines feminine, everyone has sense, and some of the plots are truly masterpieces. The Masqueradors, especially, is an amazing story about a brother and sister who pretend to be each other (i.e a sister and brother) which I strongly recommend you to start off with.

Georgette has a sense of humour which leaves you in stitches, reading the reactions and dialogues of her characters. Altogether a very enjoyable read.