A Fan's Playground

I think I may have read this book once before, long long ago, but could not remember what I thought of it so had to make a second go at it. And, well, this will never count among my favourite Heyers and in fact didn't find it worth reading.

It's Heyer at her most Heyerish: an ingenuous 17 year old female lead, a masterful 35 year old male lead, a lot of unnecessary hijinks involving secondary characters who are very foolish, and not a lot of proof that the leads could have a successful happy relationship between people who like each other.

Which is too bad, because I'm usually there for romances involving a marriage of convenience! This just....isn't much of a romance.

Yes, more Heyer again. And oh dear, this one was even more stressful than Friday's Child. A romance where the marriage happens before the beginning of the book, this one features two people who fell in love at first sight and got married while believing that the other doesn't love them back. And then Nell finds out second-hand fairly early on that actually her husband does love her back! But she feels she can't make her love clear to him until she deals with a money situation she's in, because she doesn't want him to think she's pretending to love him for pecuniary reasons. And then the whole rest of the book (other than the parts focused on the b-romance) is about Nell trying to figure out how to get the money she needs to pay a large bill without talking to her very rich husband who loves her. OKAY Georgette Heyer, you can write a romance novel like that if you want to, but I must own it's not very satisfying to me as a romance!

Also it's just not comfortable to read a book so (uncritically) focused on the gender dynamics wherein a married woman is wholly dependent on an allowance from her husband for money.

Also there's a Jewish moneylender. He doesn't appear in person so it's not as bad as in The Grand Sophy, but it's still not great.

I skimmed much of the second half of the book because it was too stressful and not fun for me. Why do I do this to myself.

It's been a while since I've read any of Georgette Heyer's historical romances, and oh dear, Heyer sure is Heyer, isn't she. I mean. This book is readable, light, fun, and well put together. But also kind of exhausting in its frothiness and also Heyer has ISSUES. The particular issues on display in this book: Heyer's love of masterful men and the consent issues that can often go along with that; fatphobia; slut-shaming but of course with different standards for men; the way it's apparently not a big deal that every single person in Venetia's life is selfish; Venetia's total lack of friends beyond her love interest....I could go on.

For all that I think I'd count this among the better Heyers, because I actually had feelings about the main characters at one point, and also Heyer deigns to have one of the few mostly-positively-portrayed characters in the book be someone who's visibly disabled and annoyed about the ableism he experiences. Also the plot doesn't entail stressful misunderstandings. Also I actually believe that the leads like each other and have a tolerable chance of having a successful marriage.

A ridiculous piece of fun, as Heyer's books tend to be. Featuring: crossdressing, duels, pretend highwaymen, masked balls, and so forth. You get the idea of the sort of book it is.

( Read more... )

I was in the mood for some Heyer so I chose to reread this one because it's extremely charming. It's Heyer, with all the flaws and virtues that implies, but it's a very good Heyer, which means the flaws are fairly toned down and the virtues particularly good. But that doesn't mean it's not still flawed. Oh Heyer. I love you but you're problematic.

(the best bits: ooh ooh a regency romance that acknowledges that TECHNOLOGY EXISTS AND IS PROGRESSING! And Frederica herself is a delight forever. Also gosh an important secondary character is a person who actually has to work for a living. Also I am never over ( minor spoiler )

Briefly there I was doing really well at posting promptly after each book I read. Yeah, not so much for the last little while. So here's the last five books I read!

( The Unknown Ajax, by Georgette Heyer )

( A Civil Contract, by Georgette Heyer )

( Folk Tales from Korea, by Zŏng In-Sŏb )

( General Winston's Daughter, by Sharon Shinn )

( A Rare Benedictine, by Ellis Peters )

Lunchtime post again! A book review, this time, of a book I read back in...June? *headdesk*

Faro's Daughter, by Georgette Heyer

I really like this book! DEB DEB DEB ILU. Except! ( In which I elaborate on the thing I didn't like )

My computer has been returned to me! O frabjous day! In celebration, another book post. And then my computer turns off in just a few minutes and I will GO TO BED because I have not had enough sleep this week.


The Black Sheep, by Georgette Heyer

I was inspired to reread this one after sholio and I had a conversation in the comments to the last Heyer I read, about enjoying the Heyer books that have characters that skirt closer to the edges of society. And this one? HAS THAT. I love it SO MUCH.

I mean, still not perfect or anything! But!

( Cut for spoilers )