Talking About: Georgette Heyer
She was born August 16, 1902 in Wimbledon, England and published her first novel at the age of 19. Although she is mostly known for her Regency novels, she also wrote several Georgian period novels, one biography of William the Conqueror, one set during the reign of Charles II, four Post World War II novels (contemporary to her life) and many mysteries. While Jane Austen wrote about the time in which she was living, Heyer wrote from in-depth research and her love of the time. She is appreciated for the interesting wit, humor and absurdities of her characters, her twisting plots, colorful use of Regency cant and her knowledge of the customs, culture, political landscape and class distinctions of the period.
I have been a huge fan of Heyer since about 1980. I had obtained a few of her books over the years, but this year have seriously started building a collection of her work, mostly buying from Ebay and Amazon, but also making finds at flea markets, thrift stores and yard sales. I almost have a complete collection. Of her 55 novels I have at least one copy, and sometimes more, of 42 of them. This is a pretty good website for anyone who likes Heyer.
Patricia Veryan is another one of my favorites; I place her beside Heyer, neither above nor below. She has her own unique style for writing Georgian and Regency period novels. I have also started a collection of her books and will be talking about them in the future.
Clare Darcy is the only modern author of the Regency Novel that I would put directly below Heyer and Veryan. Most, and I do mean MOST, modern writers of Regency romance, do not know the period well at all. They get too many things wrong and most of the books read as if they have been thrown together. Once in a while I come across one that is pretty good, and when I do I will share it here. A trend of modern Regency authors that I truly do not like is putting in graphic scenes depicting sexual encounters. It is unnecessary. Neither Heyer, nor Veryan, nor Darcy had to do so to tell warm, romantic, funny love stories. I think most true fans of the genre agree withme.
So, this is my start of talking about books I love to read and collect. I hope I have some readers out there who will enjoy it, and I'd like to hear from you, even if you don't know or care for Heyer, or if you don't agree with anything I've said. I will probably do another entry today about the first book that Heyer wrote. For now, happy reading!
Here are some other websites readers may find interesting:
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