Georgette Heyer - give me your top five

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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, love, love the unknown Ajax. Oh my god the scene where the old lord finally realizes Hugo can buy and sell him!

And when Lady Aurelia walks in and takes command, putting all the men in their place.

Just coming back to say I LOVE you all. What a fantastic response to a thread that I thought would get three replies! Since I started it I’ve rattled through These Old Shades and the Devil’s Cub, which were my first two back in the day, and I’m about to move on to Cotillion, after which I’m going to dive in to the several mentioned here that I realise I’ve never read.

I’m torn on her books being on screen. I’d love to see them, but also in my heart of hearts know they just couldn’t be done justice to - the language particularly - and I’d end up very cross and disappointed. I can imagine them as awful ITV dramas and me throwing things at the screen in outrage.

That’s exactly what I’d dread! Poor Darcy objectified in a wet T-shirt scene. Fitzwilliam would never do that.

I love Heyer but a decent adaptation that didn’t drift into Bridgerton or 50 Shades is hard to prevent.

Lady Aurelia with her generations of lords ranked behind her. Fantastic.

LOVE Georgette Heyer.

tops books are:

These Old Shades
Venetia
Frederica
The Grand Sophy
Friday’s Child

Oh but then The Nonesuch! Regency Buck, Faro’s Daughter ❤️, Arabella, Devil’s Cub, Masqueraders!
So much reading fun and joy!

I think Regency Buck or April Lady was my first. It was in my parents little book room and an absolute one off as my mother was a poet and blue stocking and I never knew her to read a romance at all. And I’m damned sure it was’nt my father’s pick! But I have really loved all of them and especially some of the harder nuts like The Conqueror or The Spanish Bride or A Convenient Marriage.

Also: no love for her mysteries? Envious Casca is the BOMB!

I too used to have a thing about Vidal. I didn't know this about An Infamous Army (which is one I never read). I think perhaps These Old Shades was the first I read too.

This is making me want to read them all over again.

I can't see any love for Faro's Daughter here...It's one of my faves.

And I really wanted to call my son Felix. But DH wasn't a Georgette fan unfortunately.

I think the one about the runaway might be Sprig Muslin. 17 year old Amanda runs away repeatedly, and has a nasty encounter with a handsy man who mistakes her social class or character or something. But is rescued by a respectable older man, who does not fall for her charms, opting for a much more suitable woman of his own age.

I wanted to call my DD Leonie but DH didn't like it. I'm still annoyed about it! She has red hair too!

I’m .sure that I read somewhere that there are a few books by her that I haven’t read. Has anyone read ‘ It Happened in Vauxhall Gardens’ or ‘Lilith’ and if so, any idea where to get hold of them?

@CordeliaNaismithVorkosigan I was just about to mention Lous Bujold’s Vorkisigan series here as the space opera version of a Heyer novel, for those who are open to it. How cool to meet a fellow Vorkosigan fan!

My favorite heroes are Sir Anthony in Masqueraders and Hugo in the Unknown Ajax, I guess Ive got a type. But having read the books from 12-64 I think each of them has had their moments, for me. As Ive grown my taste in Heroes gas changed.

I’m .sure that I read somewhere that there are a few books by her that I haven’t read. Has anyone read ‘ It Happened in Vauxhall Gardens’ or ‘Lilith’ and if so, any idea where to get hold of them?

They are not books by GH. They might be short stories, originally published in magazines. A couple of collections have been published, but I think there are some stories which have not been republished.

There were also some early novels which GH suppressed later because she was dissatisfied with them when she had developed as a writer. They are not available anywhere (except in the BL etc.) They are not Regencies.

@HonoriaBulstrode
Thanks. I was haunted by the prospect of novels of hers I hadn’t read! I remember seeing these titles listed in a Heyer library book I borrowed in my long ago teens.

As a teenager I loved these old shades, but I think at age of 60 there’s something slightly dodgy in it now..all that boy- girl thing and the age gap 😱 🤣🤣🤣🤣
who can’t love the grand sophy - verging on a feminist icon !!
My dear departed mum was an English teacher, studied and read all the classics…but I still have her well used Heyer collection (virtually all of them) that she’d turn to to destress . They’re beautifully written and highly under rated . They’re still my “comfort” reads !

As a teenager I loved these old shades, but I think at age of 60 there’s something slightly dodgy in it now..all that boy- girl thing and the age gap

If These Old Shades was written now, there would be a load of bollocks about gender identity & pronouns, & Leonie would probably be nonbinary

I also loved These Old Shades as a child, but on rereading it was grossed out not only by the grooming element but also by the total snobbishness and obsession with Leonie's blue blood. Fortunately GH, and wider society, moved on in subsequent years.

back in the 70s when my mum was an avid Heyer reader (she keeps saying "I'm sure i had X and Y and Z but i can't find them". Actually, mum, so sorry, i have them.) Family Circle magazine had a rag doll pattern. She made me one, and she made one for my brother. Mine was called Venetia and had 3 beautiful gowns, one for day, one for visiting and a ballgown (to wear to the Duchess of Richmond's ball in Brussels...). She also had undergarments. Actually i still have her and the one surviving dress. My brother had Captain Brady with a beautifully sewn uniform, all frogging and braid (my father was in the Household Cavalry).

Oh dear @pikkumyy77 Envious Casca was the mystery I didn’t get one with so haven’t tried any of the others. Still, if I ever get tired of re-reading the historical novels, I may give them another go.

Heyer’s biographer, Jennifer Kloester, has a lot of information on her website about the woman herself and pretty much all her writings. The biography itself is pretty good too as she had access to a lot of her letters etc. There are blog posts on the books mentioned in this thread plus some of those she later suppressed such as this one which sounds very different from anything else she wrote: https://jenniferkloester.com/instead-of-the-thorn/

I loved all the mysteries. I especially loved the one with Nigel as the hero/potential suspect and the heroine who I think wrote mysteries herself.

I have actually read Instead of the Thorn! I found a copy at an aged relatives house. Odd book, but well written (of course) and actually very memorable.

I found the couple of mysteries I read a bit odd as none of the characters actually gave a toss about people being murdered beyond the puzzle to solve or the inconvenience.

Why Shoot A Butler and Penhallow are the titles I remember having read.

Heyer herself is very laid back about murder. In The Toll Booth it’s treated as a handy outcome for all concerned. Then there’s The Reluctant Widow with a bit of fairly casual murder on the heath.

It's totally normal in Golden Age detective fiction for the victim to be someone no one gives a toss about... but I agree that it results in very superficial and artificial novels.

I've read all the GH detective novels at some point but found them very forgettable, apart from Penhallow which is nasty and weirdly homophobic.