The Quiet Gentleman -- Georgette Heyer

Okay, you win.  I'm converted.

Those who told me time and time again not to miss the Georgette Heyer romances -- you were right.  Yes, I was being stupidly stubborn because of my romance genre prejudice.* 

By the end of the book, when Declarations of Love Were Made, I was hugely, sappily smiling.  I might have even sighed a little.  I might have even wished for a little MORE on the romance front.  But I'm not ready to admit to that much yet.

Word of warning, though.  If you read the 1951 Ace Star mass market paperback, don't bother reading the synopsis on the back cover -- it's TOTALLY WRONG.  For one, Drusilla Morville isn't the main character -- that would be Gervase Frant, the Earl of Erth.  Also, Gervase never suspects Drusilla of any wrongdoing, she is not his mother's companion (his mother is dead), though she is staying with his STEPmother while her parents are away, and she didn't need to do any convincing to make Gervase fall in love with her -- she never actively pursued him and she NEVER made it obvious that she was in love with him.  I thought it was more obvious on his end, actually.  And the description makes her sound dainty and winsome ('pretty little ears'), when she is most assuredly not.  Astonishing number of mistakes for a three sentence description.

Anyway, loved it.  Martin was just awful -- peeved that Gervase didn't die in the army, spoiled and petulant and bad-tempered -- and I loved every one of his scenes.  Same goes for the Dowager Lady St Erth, who reminded me of P&P's Mrs. Bennett and Lady Catherine.  (Yes, both of them.)  Drusilla's parents were very minor characters, but hilarious, as was Gervase's bossy valet. 

I had the mystery figured out from the beginning (simple application of the It-Isn't-The-Most-Obvious-Person Rule only left one other suspect), but for me it was all about the characters, dialogue and, yes, romance.

Le.  Sigh.  I just ordered The Grand Sophy.

*And yes.  I do see the irony.  I know that grousing about people with the YA prejudice or the sci-fi prejudice is a tad hypocritical.  But see?  I learned my lesson!  Bring on the romance.  As long as there aren't any horse tragedies.  The less horses the better, really.

Comments

[Margaret]

Maybe the urgers have already said this, but it was the imitator wanna-be's after Heyer (let alone the factory-produced romances like Harlequin and *their* respective imitators) that give the genre a bad name. Heyer was a Real Writer.

[Leila]

I went ahead and printed out a list of her books. I'm excited to see how many more I have to read!

[jen]

oh but there are LOTS of real writers in romance, even in series romances! Of course there are also some real duds, too--but there are duds in every genre.

If you like the Georgette Heyer, you should also look for the Eva Ibbotson romance novels that were published originally as adult romances but are being reissued in a new YA package by Puffin/Speak. A Countess Below Stairs is VERY Heyer.

[Gail]

I read masses of Heyer's Regency Romances when I was in high school and college. (I know I read The Grand Sophy.) I think they pretty much disappeared for a while, but I've been hearing about them again for the last few years. I have a couple on my TBR shelf and may try to get to one of them during the 48 Hour Book Challenge.

[Emmaco]

A Countess Below Stairs is being reissued?! Squee! (Not that I remember it as being YA, but hey, a copy is a copy).

I think Heyer has a few dud books herself, but most of them are wonderful!

[chennijen]

Just came across this entry and couldn't resist putting forth my two cents :) My favorite, favorite Heyer book is "Venetia" - and I've read upwards of 20 of her novels. There's less of a mystery factor in that one than there is in some of her others, but it does play up the personalities and relationship of the main couple much more.
Hooray for Georgette Heyer!! :D

[lili]

I like These Old Shades. And I just read Sylvester, which I quite enjoyed as well.

I do wonder why there's never been any movies, or at least a BBC miniseries. Would be much better than the endless rehashing of Austens...

[Leila]

I've noticed that the prices of the used copies on Amazon are high-ish (okay, I consider them high-ish -- $6 as opposed to $.99 -- so I'd assumed that a lot of them haven't been republished recently.

I'm hoping to read the Ibbotson books ASAP, and I'll be sure to mark Venetia, These Old Shades and Sylvester as Sooner Rather Than Later Reads on my list.

So happy.

[Gail]

I've read Sylvester, too. I don't want to get into just how long ago I was reading these books, but I will say that Heyer's historical romances seemed to disappear for a long, long time. For a while, I only heard her name in reference to mysteries, I believe set in what would have been for her contemporary times. So that may explain why you don't see film adaptations of her books.

On top of that, I don't know if she can be categorized with Jane Austen. Jane Austen wasn't writing historical novels. Some people would argue she was doing social commentary on the society of her time. I can't remember enough about Heyer's books (other than that I went through them like potato chips, sometimes reading one a night) to be able to take a stab at what she was doing beyond history and entertainment.

[Leila]

Oh, wow. I just noticed that Slyvester was also published as The Wicked Uncle. That one is DEFINITELY getting bumped up the list.

[Mara]

Look for books by Carla Kelly for a modern take on the Regency format developed so beautiful by Georgette Heyer. She pushes the Regency envelope - more sex, more intensity, more "issues" - but she has the language, humor, and history down pat. I'd start with some of her older books if you can find them, because her newest one, Beau Crusoe, is pretty graphic about a shipwreck might be like.

[hayden]

Have you read Indiscretion, by Jude Morgan? It's a recent Regency romance, and the first Regency-set non-Austen book I've read. It rules. Sort of what would happen if Jane Austen had written a book about a woman of that period who knew swear words.

[Nonanon]

Oh, I must go get this immediately. I lOVED The Grand Sophy!

[Leila]

I just noticed my 'Slyvester' typo. I think I like it better that way.

[Jen Robinson]

I love the Heyer romances. I've re-read most of them within the past five years or so. I find them tremendous comfort reading. They're funny, in the way that Jane Austen is funny, and you can count on things working out by the end. I'm glad that you're enjoying so far!

[web]

I just read a romance featuring the genre's most depressingly realistic wedding night (To Wed a Stranger by Edith Layton) and the back cover blurb is all about the incredible fabulosity of the wedding night. I think they pick the thing about the book that they're most afraid of (like, God forbid, a little realism or a non-dainty heroine) and then deliberately subvert it in the blurb thinking, I dunno, we'll be fooled or something. Along similar lines, Eloisa James' romance featuring a fat heroine had a model that must wear a size -4 on the cover.

The Quiet Gentleman has never been a favorite of mine, but I'll have to reread it again. Try Cotillion for some truly awesome genre-expectation-exploding fun.

[web]

There have been a few made-for-tv versions of Heyer, btw. I've never heard of one that was regarded as being very good, though. (I've been on the Heyer discussion list for years. A younger Alan Rickman is a popular fantasy casting choice. :-) )

[Emily]

Have there really been some adaptations of Heyer books? I heard (although it may be nonsense) that Georgette was so disgusted by a film of The Reluctant Widow in the 50s she put a ban on anyone else making a film of her novels. I believe this ban was stated in her will and her son continues to follow her wishes.

Having said that, I heard a rumour that a literary agent somewhere is trying to drum up interest in her (terrible but wonderful) mystery novels.