Georgette Heyer - give me your top five

I am quite in the way of running off to France with Rupert
(oh, her name's Alastair too)

Must George be vulgar?

...I have got a soul. It has had a bath and is now asleep.
God help it!
I am not sure of my cue. Do I say Amen, or retire cursing?

Miss Thane found that she had underestimated her opponent.

I had the pleasure of meeting the highwayman, of course, but I was not aware that Pomeroy's great-aunt had interested herself in the affair.
She hadn't, she's dead.

I own, I should have preferred not to feature in your mind as The Man With Mumps, but so, I perceive, it is!

I have it on excellent authority that nothing would persuade Miss Charlotte to marry me.

You mean you have never heard of the Tallant fortune?

He should first, of course, have got rid of the livestock

Adding that I used to love The Grand Sophy - and still find the ending wonderful, especially the stray ducklings - but can't unsee the anti-Semitism in it now.

Mine would be: The Reluctant Widow; False Colours; The Unknown Ajax; The Foundling; Cotillion.

KJ Charles (author of MM romances, including some Regency-set) has a post about The Reluctant Widow where she talks about the romance not working (there are spoilers). I don't agree, but she makes some interesting points.

I listen on BorrowBox too, & they’ve got the Phyllida Nash reading of Cotillion.

Infamous Army
Devil's Cub
Sprig Muslin
Arabella
Sylvester

But really I love them all.

I must re read False Colours and the Bath ones - I think the Unknown Ajax and The Corinthian are probably my final two.

my tastes have changed as I aged. I thought Regency Buck and Arabella were the best of all - OH - Faro’s Daughter is very good! Maybe beats the Corinthian. But now the calmer ones with more humour and less drama are the ones I go to. All wonderful though.

Depressingly the Phyllida Nash and Cornelius Garrett readings have been replaced on Audible - the Reluctant Widow is like listening to AI - horrendous. The new recording of the Unknown Ajax is sublime though. Totally brilliant narrator.

I think my favourite relationship in the Alastair books is the one between Leonie and Rupert.

Lots of people have mentioned it subsequently but yes, I was surprised no one had up till then. If it wasn’t my very first Heyer it was definitely one of the first and anything else had a hard time living up to it!

I think a Spanish Bride is my favorite but civil contract and Fredrica are close behind.

All the love for Sylvester on this thread has inspired me to read it again - and luckily it was one of the cheap kindle deals recently so I don’t even have to go and hunt for my paperback copy!

i grew up with a dad in the military and a keen interest in military history. I have, over the years, grown up on tales of capturing Napoleonic eagles and so on. I have read a LOT of books about Waterloo. An Infamous Army really really gives such good background and what was going on around the battle. Stunning piece of work

The bit in Cotillion where the Fish is quoting poetry & Freddie says that Young Lochinvar sounds like a dashed loose screw, & the part where they’re looking at the Elgin Marbles.

And the Baluchistan hound in Frederica.

I like it when Heyer writes from the servants’ POVs too.

Reluctant Widow I feel is a let down. Brilliant plot device to start but it just gets weaker. Finished in a rush. Debts to be paid.
Toll Gate is carefully written and each character given their full value. Another brilliant plot.
Cousin Kate is nearly a novel, very good. Would make a film.

I am Spanish and I have been reading the Heyer books for years! My favourites are the Regency books. Such pleasure and fun, we don't have anything like them here.

Have you read The Spanish Bride? Set during the Peninsular War, based on the true story of Harry Smith and his Spanish wife Juana. Should be read before An Infamous Army.

Unfortunately I read them in such quick succession and so many of them I can't remember the plots!

So when you read them again it'll be like reading them for the first time!

Glad to see plenty of Civil Contract love. The one time I did NaNoWriMo I wrote a sequel to it set in 1829 with a young adult Giles as the hero. It was very hard not to make him a twat though. Writing a middle-aged Jenny was a breeze though, she’s such a great character.

Although when dd read it she said the whole age gap thing was “gross”…I’m not sure any of the Heyers will work for the current generation of teens…which is so sad :-(

A Civil Contract, Cotillion, Venetia, Friday’s Child and The Grand Sophy, in that order.

Now going back to read the thread…

I love the Alastairs!

Ooh must read more!! The Black Moth will always be my total favourite though

Finally someone mentions These Old Shades…favourite of all!!!

I read my way through book after book during my third year at university (I was quite stressed,) and loved them. Unfortunately I read them in such quick succession and so many of them I can't remember the plots! However The Grand Sophy is the one I remember best 😁

A Civil Contract is my absolute favourite. After that hard to choose, but today:

Venetia
Frederica
Cotillion
TheToll-Gate

It is a lowering reflection, though, that I’m now older than most of the young lovers’ parents. I agree that she’s great at secondary characters- in Cotillion Freddy’s father only makes a few short appearances but I so want to see more of him.

I think the drunken discussion of the brooch is in The Convenient Marriage.

I haven't had the opportunity for a re-read yet, but I remember thinking that Devil's Cub, An Infamous Army, Bath Tangle, A Civil Contract and The Nonsuch would all be good to go back to. They would do well if one was in the throes of a bad cold and needed something amusing but not so light as to turn one totally hen-witted.

Has Sprigged Muslim been mentioned? That was one of the (possibly the) first I ever read. That and Arabella.

i also enjoy re-reading Powder and Patch. Love the fashion details as it is set slightly earlier. Philip’s clocked stockings!

I think you are right - must dig it out and read it !