Georgette Heyer - give me your top five

[throwaway25]

Heyer is my go-to when I’m down in the dumps and is like lying in a massive warm bath of comfort. Just finished re-reading Sylvester, Venetia and Frederica. What are your absolute top fives for my next read? Strong, dashing hero is compulsory of course.

I love the Alastairs!

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

Now going back to read the thread…

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 :-(

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

Infamous Army
Devil's Cub
Sprig Muslin
Arabella
Sylvester

But really I love them all.

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

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.

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.

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

A Civil Contract
Black Sheep
Venetia
Devil’s Cub

The fifth changes - probably Cotillion at present.

Like others, when I first read them I was young enough to be a main character, but I would now be classed as old. That’s not a comfortable thought as she is merciless to many of her older female characters with comments like the “shady side of 40” (although there are some exceptions like Leonie & Sylvester’s mother).

Loved that analysis! Also very happy to have encountered the phrase “Heyer but gayer”, which made me snicker childishly.

The Masqueraders
The Talisman Ring
The Unknown Ajax
Faro’s Daughter
Cotillion
These Old Shades
The Reluctant Widow

I have a treat for you then (I hope), this website hosts fan fiction of all kinds and there are clearly some aspiring authors who feel the same way as you. Cotillion is my favourite by some way and I did enjoy just a little bit more of Freddie's world view 😁

You may have to create an account, but it's easy to do and there's no downside that I have seen (no spamming emails etc).

The first link is to a series of vignettes after the book ends, including the honeymoon in France and is amusing fluff you might enjoy. The second is a slightly longer piece, which I enjoyed and captures the voices of all of the characters nicely, including Lord Legerwood, who was a particular favourite of mine.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/42485586

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889020

There are lots of Georgette Heyer inspired stories for most of her novels on there, presumably because of her habit of ending her books fairly abruptly sometimes. Inevitably, the quality varies, but I have found sorting by kudos (which is basically their like system), puts the good stuff at the top of the list.

I hope you enjoy them. I did.

You can see I can’t even limit to my top five.

To answer the actual question though, my favourites are Cotillion, Venetia, Frederica, The Grand Sophie, The Quiet Gentleman, The Nonesuch, The Unknown Ajax 😊 I could probably go on. I do prefer the ones when the male lead doesn't call the female lead "my child" though, I find that a bit off-putting tbh (although obviously I power through😂)

Thank you!