The other day, when I posted about my recent Heyer-a-thon, a funny thing happened in the Comments section: an impromptu discussion of Top Five Heyer novels.
Not four shall you count, not six, but five. (Sorry, Monty Python.) Why five? Perhaps because it’s so impossible to pick just one Heyer. Or, for that matter, three or four. Even picking five is tough– but upping it to ten feels like cheating.
So I thought I’d give it a go. Here, in no particular order, are my top five Heyers:
— Devil’s Cub
. Georgian, rather than Regency, this book captures the elegance and danger of an era when rakes wore ruffles and thought nothing of running a man through in the road. Vidal, the devil’s cub of the title, is a real rake, not a cutesy imitation one: mad, bad, and genuinely dangerous to know. Fortunately, the heroine, Mary Challoner, a woman of spirit and principle, is more than a match for him and refuses to give him any quarter– until he deserves it. (Side note: this book was the direct inspiration for the third in my Pink Carnation series, The Deception of the Emerald Ring, with its elopement gone wrong.)
— The Nonesuch
. This book is the archetypal Regency romance, with its country community that can’t help but make you think of the world of Pride and Prejudice
, a gentlewoman turned governess for heroine, and a top of the trees (but not toplofty) hero who turns the community upside down by dint of his appearance. (There’s even a secondary romance a la Bingley and Jane.)
— A Civil Contract
. This one, while also a Regency, is a little different from the usual madcap romp. It’s more sober than Heyer’s other Regencies. The heroine is a “cit”, a rich merchant’s daughter, with none of the graces of the usual Heyer heroine. She’s a short, stout, housewifely soul. The hero, on the other hand, is a romantic, forced to sever his connection with the woman he always believed he would marry. But he discovers, over a year of marriage, that perhaps he’s not such a romantic as he thought, and that his practical Jenny may suit him better than flighty Julia. People seem to either love or hate A Civil Contract. I fall into the “love” category. (You can read my thoughts on it by scrolling down here until you get to the essay titled A Not So Fine Romance, from way back in September 2008.) In the end, is it a love match? That’s up for debate. I think it is– but you can see for yourself.
— Arabella
. Back to the madcap, Arabella is one of the brilliantly funny Heyers, in which a parson’s daughter come-to-town decides, in a moment of pique, to pretend to be an heiress– but never imagines just how much she’ll be caught up in her own deception. The hero knows almost from the outset, but plays along, first out of annoyance, and later because he’s come to care for her too much to figure out how to tell her he knows the truth. This also falls into the “proud and wealthy hero knocked down from his pedestal and made human” category.
— Sylvester
. Speaking of proud and lofty heroes…. It takes a novelist (also a twittery sister-in-law, a fop to end all fops, and a determined small child) to crack the ducal reserve of the eponymous Sylvester, with lots of hijinks and some of my very favorite comic scenes along the way.
Honorable mentions: The Talisman Ring
, The Quiet Gentleman
, and Sprig Muslin
.
What are your top five Heyers?
Have you read Georgette Heyer’s mysteries
I’ve read one, Penhallow, which was a well-written, horrible book. She wrote it toget out of a contract with her publisher.
Penhollow is indeed, in my opinion, dreadful. But her other mysteries are delightful.
These Old Shades, my first ever Heyer, and Devil’s Cub. Other places would be taken by whatever I am rereading at the time.
Hmmm, I have a different favorite depending on when you ask. So for today, I’d say Arabella, The Reluctant Widow, Devil’s Cub, Beauvallet, and Sylvester.
Right now I’m on a Daphne du Maurier marathon…..not quite as prolific as Heyer but oh…so…good!!
So – I think my Top 5 would be:
Black Sheep – love the “older”, non-conventional love story
Devil’s Cub – Mary Challoner is a great heroine
Arabella – not one I remember from my teen years (a long, long time ago) but a new favorite
Frederica – love the family dynamics and Lufra the unrepentant dog
The Nonesuch – and his “brats”
I recently read Jane Aiken Hodge’s The Private World of Georgette Heyer…..so interesting a read!
I loved that Joan Aiken Hodge bio! Particularly the bits about Heyer getting hopped up on gin and cold medicine to power through her books….
I need to pick some of these up again! I binge-read them in high school when i dated a guy whose mom had Every. Single. One. Literally (literaturally??), an entire wall of Georgette Heyer books. Thus, they are all a blur, but Arabella sounds really familiar.
“literaturally” 😀
Best word ever.
Richard Armitage has done a wonderful audio version of Sylvester. Sadly, it’s an abridged version, but it’s fantastic nonetheless.
I agree! He was perfect as Sylvester and did a great job with all of the other characters.
I agree! Richard Armitage’s Sylvester is great! He also did Venetia and (I think) A Civil Contract.
It is so hard to pick…
Sylvester
Frederica
Arabella
Regency Buck
The Grand Sophy
1. The Corinthian
2. Frederica
3. Arabella
4. Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle
5. The Grand Sophy
You don’t have my two favorites Frederica and The Grand Sophy on your list. I’m shocked!
How have I never read “Frederica”??? Just ordered it….
You will really like it! Made me laugh!!! (out loud!!)
Oh yes! Lufra’s antics made me laugh loudly. On a train. I got some weird looks but just didn’t care
My favorites are:
These Old Shades
The Grand Sophy
Cotillion
Venetia
The Talisman Ring
But I love them all. I’m currently re-reading the mysteries. I like the way she tried to break the “golden rules” of mystery in some of her tales.
1. Sylvester
2. Spanish Bride
3.The Grand Sophy
4.Frederica
5.Flase Colours
The Grand Sophy, Frederica, The Talisman Ring, The Unknown Ajax, The Tollbooth, and, and, and. Subject to change without notice!
1. The Grand Sophy 2. Cotillion 3.The Unknown Ajax 4. Friday’s Child 5. Frederica
Toooooooo hard! The Grand Sophy, These Old Shades, Devils Cub, the Nonesuch and A Civil Contract. I adore Georgette Heyer. I discovered her books in high school and have never stopped reading her. I introduced my three daughters to her books and they love them as well.
Top 3 is easy – Sylvester, Frederica, and Cotillion.
The next two are hard and rotate – The Masqueraders (my favourite Georgian), then a toss-up between Arabella, The Reluctant Widow, and The Nonesuch. I love the ones with naughty dogs and intelligent heroines – the mad romps with cross-dressing are fun but don’t engage the heart so much.
Also – A Civil Contract is great, I think of it as the most ‘Jane Austen’ of the Heyer novels. It has some of the feel of both Mansfield Park and Persuasion about it. Particularly MP – as I want to both hit both Edmund and Adam over the head with a cricket bat.
Top Five in absolutely no order:
Sylvester
Cotillion
Arabella
The Grand Sophy
Faro’s Daughter
Bath Tangle
April Lady
Devil’s Cub
An Infamous Army
Venetia
The Reluctant Widow
False Colours
Yes, I’ve always sucked at math.
Death in the Stocks
Cotillion
The Grand Sophy
Unknown Ajax
The Quiet Genteman
The cousin thing is touchy, though.
Hands down, Devil’s Cub is the best. These Old Shades is next. The rest are kind of a blur. I need to go back and re-binge.
These Old Shades must come before The Devil’s Cub. Must, must, must. Then The Grand Sophy is just delightful.
Top 5 Heyers (today)…Arabella, Sylvester, The Masqueraders, The Black Moth, The Grand Sophy. Warning: this list is subject to change on daily basis 🙂
Oh yeah, and Regency Buck!
So fun and so hard to choose!
The Grand Sophy
An Infamous Army
Venetia
Frederica
a tie between Arabella and Sylvester
We did a series “Literary Ancestors” posts recently on my Google Group and a number of Heyer characters came up as literary ancestors of the characters in my series – not surprisingly as she was such an influence on me.
What a treat to discover Frederica, Lauren!