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.

Penhallow and why shoot a butler are awful. But some of the others, though very dated and classist are fun as period pieces.

I’ve tried some of the mysteries but never got very far.

I was listening to Charity Girl this week - I’d forgotten that Simon Carrington called Hetta ‘sound as a trout’!

How sound are trouts?

I adore the Vorkosigan books. The end of Shards of Honour owes a lot to the end of Venetia, which is on my shortlist of favourite Heyers.

Yes me too. Interesting book.

Yep, the scene in the summer house...fabulous stuff!

Oh wow @JoanOgdenand @TeaAndStrumpets, I feel mildly envious. I think I should start making a determined push to hunt down and read all of GH’s works other than the historical ones. Some of them must be hiding in secondhand bookshops and libraries.
Also, @throwaway25 thank you so much for starting this thread. There have been GH threads on mumsnet in the past but none as enjoyable as this one with so many fans giving their views of their favourite books.

This thread inspired me to read them again and I started with These Old Shades (finished) and Devil's Cub (currently), same as @throwaway25. As I was reading, I also thought that no actors could possibly get these characters right. If they ever were adapted, I'd avoid the adaptations like the plague, to preserve the originals in my head. The stories are full of melodrama and farce which normally wouldn't appeal to me at all but you just have to enter into the spirit of things.

I had forgotten exactly how the Duke of Avon gets his revenge on M. Saint-Vires. 😮And him calling Leonie 'infant' throughout! She even signs using that name when she writes a letter to Justin before running away!

BTW the Open Library at the Internet Archive has a copy of Instead of the Thorn to read online, as well as the biography mentioned upthread. You can sign up for free but they always appreciate donations.

Sadly there was a big court case involving the Archive recently which has forced it to withdraw access to many books. due to copyright issues. They still have some amazing stuff though, including a scan of the little book about neck cloth styles often referred to in the Heyer books....so you can learn how to achieve these wonderful creations!

Also, for Bujold fans, they have scans of all the Vorkosigan novels. LMB always released her ebooks for free as I recall. (I do have some signed hardbacks, though, sad old fan that I am!)

Edited as wrong book mentioned. I believed they had Helen but can't see it.

Bujold dedicates A Civil Campaign to Jane, Charlotte, Georgette and Dorothy, and although I can see the influence of them all, I always think of it as Heyer in Space because it is the most perfect Georgettian comedy of manners.

I hadn’t thought of the end of Shards of Honour being Venetia, @CordeliaNaismithVorkosiganbut you are absolutely correct. I must read them both again to be sure…

My favourite hero is Giles in The Foundling, even though it’s nowhere near my favourite book overall. Then Freddie Standen (of course).

Envious Casca
Behold Here’s Poison
No Wind of Blame
Detection Unlimited
Duplicate Death

These Old shades, Devil's Cub, The Spanish Bride, The one with Judith and Worth - starts with the boxing match, An Infamous Army.

I've no idea which of the crime ones they're in but I remember the words 'Darling serpent Randall'.

‘Behold, Here’s Poison’ I think it is.

Regency Buck is the one with the boxing match.

Regency Buck is one of my least favourite. Worth was too Alpha for my taste when I read it.

Of the detective novels, I think Duplicate Death is my favourite. Beulah is very like Harriet, but Timothy is nothing like Lord Peter.

This is a great thread. I’ve just finished a re-read of Sylvester and think I’ll move onto Cotillion. Couldn’t resist another encounter with Freddie’s father regarding him with fascinated awe

I've just re-read Bath Tangle in honour of this thread. Not the best, but fun enough.

I've finished my third novel off the back of this thread (These Old Shades, Devil's Cub and Sylvester). The latter is laugh-out-loud funny.

Oh yes, Phoebe!

There are some audio versions on YouTube - I started listening to The Transformation of Philip Jettan but only got through about 5 mins because it sounded so weird. All in one flat tone & with some odd pronunciations. I think it was AI.

I think you may be right but having read all of JA and lots of GH , there is something about her style that i prefer.

The first one I read was The Convenient Marriage, when I was about 13. I was hooked. My mum had a huge collection - sadly all thrown out (not by me).

They are all, essentially, the same story and characters, but they are so entertaining and well written I would happily read them all.

It's interesting watching her style evolve , occasionally in dialogue with Jane Austen. Regency Buck is trying very consciously to be Jane Austen, and is a bit stiff in places: later on her mature style still owes a lot to Austen but is much more natural, except when she gets carried away with Regency slang - Charity Girl is terrible for that.

Judith reads a Jane Austen (possibly Sense and Sensibility?) at one point in Regency Buck. Jenny in A Civil Contract also reads and likes Jane Austen (as opposed to Julia who is addicted to poetry - shades of Persuasion and the first clue that she really wouldn't do for Adam in the long run and Jenny is the much better bet). I'm sure there are others.