Georgette Heyer

[Anonymous]

Am I the only one who has never heard of Georgette Heyer? How did I miss her all this time? I just read Venetia. If you like her work, which others do you recommend (or don't)? And are her mysteries any good?

[Anonymous]

She’s so amazing. My favorite’s are Devil’s Cub, Frederica, and The Unknown Ajax, but I love them all.

[Anonymous]

Looking her up...

[Anonymous]

I love georgette heyer! Yes, her mysteries are good too.

[Anonymous]

Okay - that was easy! Checked out the ebook of Devil's Cub. So many books, so little time!

[Anonymous]

Frederica is the best. My absolute favorite. Arabella might be my second fav. So sweet, but also funny and some chaotic situations!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay - that was easy! Checked out the ebook of Devil's Cub. So many books, so little time!

I envy you so much, OP. You have so much lovely reading ahead of you. Not that they’re not still great the 2nd (or 20th) time.

[Anonymous]

Don’t start with Devil’s Cub. It will be much better if you read the one about the Duke of Avon first. Blanking on the name. Then you have to read the one with about Judith and her brother Peregrine. Then the Waterloo one. They have intertwining characters! Sorry I forget the titles.

I love Georgette Heyer and have read them all many times. I agree Frederica is my favorite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t start with Devil’s Cub. It will be much better if you read the one about the Duke of Avon first. Blanking on the name. Then you have to read the one with about Judith and her brother Peregrine. Then the Waterloo one. They have intertwining characters! Sorry I forget the titles.

I love Georgette Heyer and have read them all many times. I agree Frederica is my favorite.

These are the only ones that really interleave, OP. And honestly you can read them in any order — I read devil’s cub before any of the others in this grouping and it’s still one of my favourites. But if you want to be introduced to the characters for call backs you want to read:

These Old Shades
Devil’s Cub
Regency Buck
The Spanish Bride
An Infamous Army

The mysteries likewise can be read in any order but there’s some small fun in reading them in the order they were published as the police characters recur in several of them and they are also set contemporary to when she wrote them so ranging from the the 1930s to 1950s. I would recommend skipping Penhallow though. She didn’t want to write it (forced by a publishing contract) and I feel like it shows as it’s the least positive of all her books imo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t start with Devil’s Cub. It will be much better if you read the one about the Duke of Avon first. Blanking on the name. Then you have to read the one with about Judith and her brother Peregrine. Then the Waterloo one. They have intertwining characters! Sorry I forget the titles.

I love Georgette Heyer and have read them all many times. I agree Frederica is my favorite.

These are the only ones that really interleave, OP. And honestly you can read them in any order — I read devil’s cub before any of the others in this grouping and it’s still one of my favourites. But if you want to be introduced to the characters for call backs you want to read:

These Old Shades
Devil’s Cub
Regency Buck
The Spanish Bride
An Infamous Army

The mysteries likewise can be read in any order but there’s some small fun in reading them in the order they were published as the police characters recur in several of them and they are also set contemporary to when she wrote them so ranging from the the 1930s to 1950s. I would recommend skipping Penhallow though. She didn’t want to write it (forced by a publishing contract) and I feel like it shows as it’s the least positive of all her books imo.

PP here…thank you for filling in the gaps of my memory! And yes, forgot about The Spanish Bride. It and An Infamous Army have a lot of historical information as well (about the Peninsular War and Waterloo). Harry Smith and Juana from the Spanish Bride were real people, as were many of the people in An Infamous Army.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t start with Devil’s Cub. It will be much better if you read the one about the Duke of Avon first. Blanking on the name. Then you have to read the one with about Judith and her brother Peregrine. Then the Waterloo one. They have intertwining characters! Sorry I forget the titles.

I love Georgette Heyer and have read them all many times. I agree Frederica is my favorite.

These are the only ones that really interleave, OP. And honestly you can read them in any order — I read devil’s cub before any of the others in this grouping and it’s still one of my favourites. But if you want to be introduced to the characters for call backs you want to read:

These Old Shades
Devil’s Cub
Regency Buck
The Spanish Bride
An Infamous Army

The mysteries likewise can be read in any order but there’s some small fun in reading them in the order they were published as the police characters recur in several of them and they are also set contemporary to when she wrote them so ranging from the the 1930s to 1950s. I would recommend skipping Penhallow though. She didn’t want to write it (forced by a publishing contract) and I feel like it shows as it’s the least positive of all her books imo.

PP here…thank you for filling in the gaps of my memory! And yes, forgot about The Spanish Bride. It and An Infamous Army have a lot of historical information as well (about the Peninsular War and Waterloo). Harry Smith and Juana from the Spanish Bride were real people, as were many of the people in An Infamous Army.

The Spanish Bride is one of my favorites although I have been known, depending on mood, to skim the military history and focus on the romance or vice versa.

Another less generally popular one that I particularly like is A Civil Contract. Almost a deconstruction of the genre yet still somehow very sweet.

[Anonymous]

Just a heads up that there’s some anti-Semitic stuff in The Grand Sophy. Some versions edit it out, some don’t.

Details:
https://www.themarysue.com/felicia-grossman-antisemitism-holds-no-place-in-romance/

[Anonymous]

Okay - thanks for the reading order suggestion. And the anti-semitism doesn’t surprise me. It’s always disheartening to come across those tropes in Agatha Christie as well.

[Anonymous]

Fredrica is my favorite but there are lots that I reread many times. The Talisman Ring is funny, I agree about the Devil's Cub and These Old Shades. The Masqueraders is good too.