This is really not one of my favourite Heyers - in fact, until I re-read it, I had confused it from memory with Black Sheep - and I'm afraid that this recent re-reading hasn't done much to change my mind!
There are some good bits: I love the duo of Mrs Floore and Ned Goring (the latter very similar to all those quiet-but-competent secretaries who appear in other novels). There is some real insight into characters and motivation in places, perhaps an indication of the more mature novels (Venetia, A Civil Contract) that are to come. And I actually (to my surprise) found the relationship between Fanny and Hector quite charming.
But... I just find all the sparring and ranting and flashing eyes and heaving bosoms a bit tiresome. It's like a cross between Much Ado and Mills & Boon, and (for me) lapses into romantic novel cliche too easily despite GH's often-excellent writing. It ended up feeling very claustrophobic, perhaps because it's one of the most domestic of Heyer's novels: there is a very restricted cast of characters, little variety in settings, and no portrayal at all of wider society. (I realise that this is partly because Serena and Fanny are in mourning and wouldn't be jauntering off to balls and rout parties all the time, but I do think the novel suffers from this close domestic focus.)
I have problems with some of the characters, too. As I started reading, Serena reminded me strongly of Emma Woodhouse in her smugness, overt snobbery and unshakeable conviction that she was always right. Heyer does put in a few references to how well she gets on with the lower orders on the estate (always an attempt to show that someone is a good egg really 
) but they don't feel very convincing this time. When Rotherham's engagement is first announced, Serena's reaction reminded me of Emma's jealousy of Harriet Smith and how it "darted through her with the speed of an arrow that Mr Knightley must marry noone but herself!" What Serena wants, she generally gets. She then sort-of redeems herself by being all noble and self-sacrificing and agreeing to marry Hector just so Rotherham can marry Emily, but even here she comes across as quite selfish in her total disregard for what Emily really wants. I find the emphasis on Serena's bodily strength and vitality a bit wearing, too: for me, she combines the worst bits of Judith (contrary behaviour to spite her guardian) and Sophy (bumptiousness and masterful behaviour) without their redeeming charms.
If you can't already tell, I don't find her one of the more sympathetic heroines, but I'd be really interested to hear another point of view here!
Rotherham doesn't really do it for me, I'm afraid but I'm more of a Hugo Darracott or Alverstoke girl myself. His masterfulness made me bridle (although he does seem to suggest that he and Serena would enjoy a sort of companionship of equals at the end) and I got very cross at his proposing to Emily simply to spite Serena (he says something to Fanny about how at least she and Hector would never make mistakes from pique, I think). Throughout, he and Serena behave as if they are the only real people and everyone else doesn't quite exist fully or have feelings, and I found that infuriating.
And Emily is just feeble and I ended up feeling very sorry for how she is manipulated by all of the other characters without having any say of her own: her mother and Serena (and even Mrs Floore) try to manipulate her into marrying Rotherham, Rotherham tries (successfully) to manipulate her into jilting him, and even Gerard manipulates her into eloping with him against her will. Yes, she's a bit of a wet-goose, but I think she deserves better.
So... anyone actually like this novel, and can show me why I should reconsider my negative opinion?
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Bath Tangle: Georgette Heyer Book Club 21
mackerella · 20/04/2013 15:25
Have come back to this thread to take my mind off the Nigella chocolate and orange cake that is currently in the oven, and I'm pleased to see some replies already!
MooncupGoddess, it's interesting that you find this novel sexually charged. Do you think it is because Serena and Rotherham spend so much time arguing with each other? After all, this sort of conflict has long been seen (in literature) as a proxy for sexual tension: the rather clunkingly obvious trope that sparks in a relationship = fireworks in the bedroom. But this makes me think: do characters in romantic novels ever have this sort of passionate relationship and not end up together (i.e. do they just dislike each other )? And is there any way to show sexual attraction other than through this sort of verbal sparring? Because I find it a bit sixth-form sometimes!
Good point about the risks involved in marrying an "untested" man, too. You'd want to be fairly sure that the spark was there, or else resign yourself to a marriage of duty and (at best) comfortable companionship and be prepared to turn a blind eye to your husband's infidelities. In fact, isn't that pretty much what A Civil Contract is about?
So how would you know that someone is The One for you? Obviously, you might be struck by love at first sight, like Nell and Crazy Jack. Or you might look for a marriage of true minds and trust that sexual compatibility will follow (like Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy). Or you might just do the sensible thing (like Charlotte Lucas - sorry to keep bringing Austen references in). Heyer seems pretty adamant that Emily is wrong to consider marrying Rotherham just for his position, even though that was actually quite a shrewd move on her part, but it's less clear what is the right thing to do and lucky for all her heroines that they don't have to choose between status and love because all of the men that they fall in love with conveniently happen to be loaded and well-born as well.
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Late coming to this thread, because although I have many thoughts, they don't hang together coherently, so I'm just going to have to give up and babble.
I must be the only one who really likes this one. I think all the characters have real depth. I adore Hector and Fanny's melodramatic renunciations (and the fact that Serena completely misses it). I think they're subtly very funny. Which is the book where Heyer plays the same situation outright for laughs? The heroine does clock and does a hilarious "I AM BETRAYED! 
" scene to wind them up.
The beginning scene in particular shows all the signs of an Austen binge, which is a good thing.
Gerald and Emily are both appalling, but they're meant to be so. I like the fact that Emily doesn't get married off at the end, but allowed to grow up a bit, but I am creeped out by the implication that Ned is going to watch her mature and then claim her when she's ready (shades of Buffy's notorious cookie dough metaphor). I like Ned, but such a plan would never allow her to grow up on her own terms - she'd be infantilised in her husband's eyes forever (like Emma Wodehouse).
Serena is great I think; flawed but well rounded, and good hearted. Her behaviour towards Emily is appalling, but she's so blinded by her own love for Rotherham that she genuinely feels that she's doing Emily a huge favour (as well as doing right by him). And the political side is great - you can see them as a fantastically successful married couple once they've irrevocably united against the world, and Rotherham, unlike Worth, genuinely doesn't give a damn about how much Serena might scandalise society.
My only big problem is Rotherham's behaviour towards Emily. Not for the proposal, but deliberately scaring her with sexual advances is just awful, unforgivable behaviour. And his utter contempt for Emily's willingness to marry a loathsome man for the sake of a title may be justified, but it doesn't make me like him. There's a running theme of the extremity of privilege in this book, and how both Serena and Ivo have let it blind them to the realities of lesser mortals' lives, but instead of learning any sort of lesson, (like Emma Woodhouse or Darcy) they simply pair up and live happily ever after, which is admirably realistic and un-novelettish. How awful would it be if Serena and Ivo vowed to reform their ways at the end?
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