Regency Buck: Georgette Heyer Book Club Part 4

[DilysPrice]

In which Judith nearly becomes Queen of England, Bernard is putting something nasty in the snuff, and Peregrine has his cock squeezed.

There are some good bits in this one - I love the race to Brighton and Beau Brummell, and I enjoy the way she integrates the Royal Dukes as full-blown characters in a way she tends not to in later Regency novels. I had an enlightening time on this read going through Clarence's Wikipedia page and belatedly realising that the history of the UK might have been rather different if Judith had accepted him - no Queen Victoria for a start.

To my mind the big weakness it is that everything hinges on the big twist, so that it doesn't really stand up to re-reading - the devices that she uses to misdirect us are so laboured, and become more so on a re-read.

And Worth doesn't quite fly for me as a hero. I think I buy Judith falling in love with him - that's quite convincingly done, but I don't buy him falling for her.

What do you think of Worth? What does happen to Bernard in the end? Do you think this one is enhanced by such a full-on use of historical characters? Would Judith have been a good queen? And what do you reckon to the gender politics? Judith is the first Heyer heroine who is really kicking against the restraints of Regency womanhood in classic style (Leonie's defiance of convention doesn't count, because she's a child, and forrin) but can her marriage really be a partnership of equals?

The Masqueraders does improve but it isn't one of my favourites. There are a lot of loose threads to be tied up...

It's worth finishing The Masqueraders, Leonie - it is very silly, though, so don't feel bad about a bit of skim-reading!

I love the denouement of The Masqueraders. It's ridiculous but a giggle. I think she allowed herself much more freedom with her plots in the 18th century.

I have only just found you lot - I can't believe that I missed out on all of the excitement to date.

I haven't re-read Regency Buck but it's not a top tier imo. Judith is too brattish to be endearing in her headstrongness. For me, its because she's actually intensely conventional but trying to be eccentric just to make a point. Arabella does that so much better.

I wonder if Worth marries her because she amuses him. He sees straight through all the pretenses. I suspect he went for her cash and her looks. Although their relationship in IA seems a bit more balanced and equal that one would expect if this was the main reason for his proposal.

I agree that the strength of this book is in the supporting cast. Charles & Brummell are lovely, Peregrine amuses me no end and I like the batty companion too. Its one of her strengths as a novelist that her minor characters have such life and depth.

I'm enjoying it too, Leonie (well, the introduction anyway, work has meant I haven't had time to get properly stuck into it). Were you surprised by how thick it is? I was expecting something along the lines of the GH biography!

The kissing a strange girl on the road thing was reused in Venetia when Damerel found Venetia picking blackberries, but that scene was more believable, so presumably better written. I don't have the books to hand at the moment, but i believe D also used a nickname for V, along the same lines as Clorinda.

I wonder how many other reused scenes we can spot...

will add the Brummel to my Amazon wishlist, but sadly fear I may have to actually buy it myself .

Julia fainting when she sees Adam and Jenny saying it's the heat / someone else fainting because Prinny is perving, and the hero pretending it's the heat.

Actually, is that Judith/Worth in Brighton, that second one? Kindle is downstairs so I can't check and am relying on shit memory.

With all those stays there was probably a lot of swooning in the heat, but some seem more prone than others.

IShall, my Brummell book was £3 secondhand on Amazon and it looks brand new.

I don't think Damerel has a nickname for Venetia, at least not a disparaging one in the way that Clorinda is for Judith. They quote a few bits of poetry/Shakespeare to each other in that scene but afair, that's it.

The swooning when Prinny tries to kiss her is definitely Judith at the Brighton Pavillion but I think Prinny blamed it on the heat to justify it to Worth and Worth agreed because it wouldn't have been prudent to lay any blame at Prinny's door, regardless of the fact he knew the truth. The Pavillion was notoriously over heated because of Prinny's fear of illness and the line is something about For the first time in her life Judith quietly fainted away so she isn't a fainter in normal circumstances.

Julia is more of the type to be a swooning miss as she's such a drama queen but in the main I don't think GH really wrote any heroines who were prone to falling into distempered freaks.

And after Judith's first trip to the Pavilion she's light headed from the heat and has a terrible headache. So the heat is part of it and his utter revoltingness is as well.

I have swooned in extreme heat, Fwiw. I was in a particularly incensey Anglo-Catholic church service and slumped dramatically on to my vicar friend. Fortunately he wasn't actually taking the service at the time.

Trying to think of other recurrent scenes. In a corpus of however many books over however many years it's perhaps inevitable, and we should maybe be impressed at how few repeats there are...

Worth in Regency Buck is not one of Heyer's most successful masterful types, is he? Much better in Infamous Army. I look forward to the curling of livers when Oliver Carleton is the subject of discussion!

Kelly's book on Brummell most enjoyable - apart from the graphic descriptions of the results of mercury treatment. Had to skip past that bit sharpish.

Finished I A - what are we reading next? Is it Masqueraders?

Just found this thread I was one of the mad participants in the GH thread years ago which is now in Mumsnet Classics, I think. My FAVOURITE thread if anyone wants to resurrect ....I was quite mad, former Barque of Frailty with a tendency to say Lawks if I recall ...anyway I am *here8 purely to confess that I named DD1 Venetia and DD2 Arabella....... (and I wanted Leonie but DH said no ) x

Are we skipping Powder and Patch then?

I'm ploughing through Masqueraders at the moment as it's a new one for me but it's hard going!

BCBG, why did he veto Leonie? I'd say that was less unusual than Venetia.

Not sure, I think I may have stamped my pretty foot and flounced by then...

Is Powder and Patch the Philip one?

I'll read what I'm told to read. Kindle awaits ...

It is, afaik. I haven't read it so I'll need to get going if that's the decision.

Will do. Is that after Infamous Army or have we all given up on it...?

IA
P&P
Masqueraders

Just stumbled on this thread. I have read all GHs historical books over the years some more than once. When you get to it The Spanish Bride has historical character links to an infamous Army and I have since read that the Character of Harry was based on an actual person. I loved Venetia and Cousin Kate is extremely good, more of an historical detective story. Must go and hunt out my old GH books and re read some of them There are a small percentage of her books that I didn't like but on the whole I really enjoyed them.