{"id":344,"date":"2016-04-04T11:57:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T11:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/04\/georgette-heyer-and-me\/"},"modified":"2020-10-28T16:31:15","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T16:31:15","slug":"georgette-heyer-and-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/04\/georgette-heyer-and-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgette Heyer and Me"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Georgette<\/a><\/div>\n

I am still in the midst of a rereading binge. I have (probably temporarily) moved on from Mary Stewart and currently, I am deeply committed to Georgette Heyer.<\/p>\n

I remember the first time I read a Georgette Heyer novel. \u00a0It was Friday’s Child<\/i>. \u00a0I came across it in the library, checked it out, and loved it. \u00a0I kind of smuggled into the house, I was about twelve because my mom deeply disapproved of romance novels. \u00a0She had no problem with me wandering through the adult section of the library and trying Shakespeare and Dickens and Austen but romance novels were not really acceptable. \u00a0My grandmother used to get Good Housekeeping magazine. \u00a0Is that even around anymore? \u00a0Anyway, in the back, there was always a condensed novel, usually a romance. \u00a0My grandmother used to save the magazines for me. \u00a0I loved the short stories and condensed novels, my mother didn’t. \u00a0I can see her point now that I have a ten-year-old. \u00a0She probably thought there were better things for me to be reading than sappy romances in a woman’s magazine. She was probably right but that didn’t stop me from reading them. When I found Georgette Heyer in the library I thought my mom would react to her the same way she reacted to those sappy romance stories. \u00a0Hence the sneaking her into the house. \u00a0I managed to work my way through quite a few of her novels before my mom came across her at the library, tried her for herself, and loved the books as much as I did. \u00a0As a kid, I couldn’t really see why she loved these books when she hated the other romances but I can see her point now. \u00a0These are witty and charming and well-researched and well-written. \u00a0They are not your run-of-the-mill romance novels. \u00a0Though I must admit they were a gateway drug to a lot of poorly written Regency romances in my teenage years. \u00a0I don’t read any and all Regency romances anymore, my taste obviously changed as I grew up, but I still have a deep and abiding love for Georgette Heyer.<\/p>\n

Currently, I am reading These Old Shades<\/i>. \u00a0It isn’t really one of my favorites but that means I have read it less often and therefore I can’t recite the plot point by point. \u00a0I think I am going to have to order a copy of Devil’s Cub<\/i>. \u00a0It is one of the only Heyers that I don’t own and it is connected to this book so obviously, I want to read that too. \u00a0Any excuse to buy more books.<\/p>\n

You might possibly be wondering which are my favorite Heyers. \u00a0Well, so am I. I went over to the bookshelf and started pulling off ones I particularly liked and ended up surrounded by books. \u00a0I am just going to pick three that are appealing to me today.<\/p>\n

A Civil Contract<\/i> does not seem to be universally beloved, probably because it is not a typical Heyer love story. \u00a0Adam Deveril needs to marry money in order to take care of his family. \u00a0He gives up the woman he loves in order to marry plain, prosaic, Jenny. \u00a0She brings money to the marriage, he brings social position. \u00a0It does end up being a love story, but it is a quiet love instead of a Regency romance type love. \u00a0I always enjoy it and Jenny’s father makes me laugh out loud.<\/p>\n

Cotillion<\/i> is the story of Kitty Charing. \u00a0She will inherit a large fortune if she marries one of her guardian’s nephews. \u00a0She is beset by willing and unwilling suitors and finally concocts a fake engagement in order to make the object of her affections jealous. \u00a0Chaos, drama, and true love ensue.<\/p>\n

In The Foundling<\/i> the Duke of Sale is tired of having every moment of his life and every decision that comes his way overseen by his loving but over-protective uncle. \u00a0He finally rebels and decides to vanish from his life and his responsibilities just for a little while with predictably chaotic results. \u00a0He runs into blackmailers, kidnappers, a beautiful but silly girl, and yes, of course, true love. \u00a0On the way, he discovers just how much he is capable of.<\/p>\n

I am having trouble resisting the urge to mention all my favorites. \u00a0What about The Unknown Ajax<\/i> or False Colours<\/i> or Black Sheep<\/i>? \u00a0I have a sentimental attachment to all of Heyer’s novels. \u00a0In fact, I went on Goodreads out of curiosity because I wanted to see which of her novels were the most popular. \u00a0I ended up getting annoyed with the reviews by people who didn’t love any and all of Georgette Heyer’s novels. \u00a0Slightly unreasonable? \u00a0Maybe, but that is just the way it is.<\/p>\n

Reading this over I realize that a description of Georgette Heyer’s novels does not do them justice. \u00a0They have been imitated to such a degree that they sound like clones of themselves. They are not just sappy romance novels. \u00a0If you haven’t read them, do so now and thank me later.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, I will be sitting on my couch surrounded by piles of Georgette Heyer books, spending a happy evening dipping in and out of my favorite bits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am still in the midst of a rereading binge. I have (probably temporarily) moved on from Mary Stewart and currently, I am deeply committed to Georgette Heyer. I remember the first time I read a Georgette Heyer novel. \u00a0It was Friday’s Child. \u00a0I came across it in the library, checked it out, and loved it. \u00a0I kind of smuggled into the house, I was about twelve because my mom deeply disapproved of romance novels. \u00a0She had no problem with me wandering through the adult section of the library and trying Shakespeare and Dickens and Austen but romance novels were not really acceptable. \u00a0My grandmother used to get Good Housekeeping magazine. \u00a0Is that even around anymore? \u00a0Anyway, in the back, there was always a condensed novel, usually a romance. \u00a0My grandmother used to save the magazines for me. \u00a0I loved the short stories and condensed novels, my mother didn’t. \u00a0I can see her point now that I have a ten-year-old. \u00a0She probably thought there were better things for me to be reading than sappy romances in a woman’s magazine. She was probably right but that didn’t stop me from reading them. When I found Georgette Heyer in the library I thought my mom would react to her the same way she reacted to those sappy romance stories. \u00a0Hence the sneaking her into the house. \u00a0I managed to work my way through quite a few of her novels before my mom came across her at the library, tried her for herself, and loved the books as much as I did. \u00a0As a kid, I couldn’t really see why she loved these books when she hated the other romances but I can see her point now. \u00a0These are witty and charming and well-researched and well-written. \u00a0They are not your run-of-the-mill romance novels. \u00a0Though I must admit they were a gateway drug to a lot of poorly written Regency romances in my teenage years. \u00a0I don’t read any and all Regency romances anymore, my taste obviously changed as I grew up, but I still have a deep and abiding love for Georgette Heyer. Currently, I am reading These Old Shades. \u00a0It isn’t really one of my favorites but that means I have read it less often and therefore I can’t recite the plot point by point. \u00a0I think I am going to have to order a copy of Devil’s Cub. \u00a0It is one of the only Heyers that I don’t own and it is connected to this book so obviously, I want to read that too. \u00a0Any excuse to buy more books. You might possibly be wondering which are my favorite Heyers. \u00a0Well, so am I. I went over to the bookshelf and started pulling off ones I particularly liked and ended up surrounded by books. \u00a0I am just going to pick three that are appealing to me today. A Civil Contract does not seem to be universally beloved, probably because it is not a typical Heyer love story. \u00a0Adam Deveril needs to marry money in order to take care of his family. \u00a0He gives up the woman he loves in order to marry plain, prosaic, Jenny. \u00a0She brings money to the marriage, he brings social position. \u00a0It does end up being a love story, but it is a quiet love instead of a Regency romance type love. \u00a0I always enjoy it and Jenny’s father makes me laugh out loud. Cotillion is the story of Kitty Charing. \u00a0She will inherit a large fortune if she marries one of her guardian’s nephews. \u00a0She is beset by willing and unwilling suitors and finally concocts a fake engagement in order to make the object of her affections jealous. \u00a0Chaos, drama, and true love ensue. In The Foundling the Duke of Sale is tired of having every moment of his life and every decision that comes his way overseen by his loving but over-protective uncle. \u00a0He finally rebels and decides to vanish from his life and his responsibilities just for a little while with predictably chaotic results. \u00a0He runs into blackmailers, kidnappers, a beautiful but silly girl, and yes, of course, true love. \u00a0On the way, he discovers just how much he is capable of. I am having trouble resisting the urge to mention all my favorites. \u00a0What about The Unknown Ajax or False Colours or Black Sheep? \u00a0I have a sentimental attachment to all of Heyer’s novels. \u00a0In fact, I went on Goodreads out of curiosity because I wanted to see which of her novels were the most popular. \u00a0I ended up getting annoyed with the reviews by people who didn’t love any and all of Georgette Heyer’s novels. \u00a0Slightly unreasonable? \u00a0Maybe, but that is just the way it is. Reading this over I realize that a description of Georgette Heyer’s novels does not do them justice. \u00a0They have been imitated to such a degree that they sound like clones of themselves. They are not just sappy romance novels. \u00a0If you haven’t read them, do so now and thank me later. Meanwhile, I will be sitting on my couch surrounded by piles of Georgette Heyer books, spending a happy evening dipping in and out of my favorite bits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-georgette-heyer"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2853,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions\/2853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}