FREDERICA | GEORGETTE HEYER | 1965

My first Georgette Heyer and possibly my last. I was induced to read this book from a Facebook discussion of a TIMES.CO.UK article regarding literary snobs snubbing romance novels and the notion that women read them to escape. Well that is what I was doing, escaping from a number of recent harrowing books into something lighter.

Set in the Regency period in England, that is around 1817 or so, 24 year old Frederica Merriville brings her four orphaned siblings to London to give her exquisite sister Charis an opportunity to ‘come out ‘ into society. There follows a meeting with a very distant relative 37 year old Lord Vernon Alverstoke, an extraordinarily rich, confirmed bachelor who admits he’s selfish and abhors his sisters and others who try to inveigle him into marriage or giving them money. He is smitten with the orphans and decides to help them. There’s scrapes that the boys and their dog get into, subterfuge, a few lies, glamourous balls and outings and a wild balloon ride. Lord Alverstoke is keen to help as he finds them all unaffected and fun to be around. I’ll say no more other than it is a long-winded romance that is only acknowledged in the final few pages.

So what did I think of it? At first I found the language to be as convoluted as Charles Dickens and the settings and conversations formal and predictable. I nearly put it down. Once Frederica makes an appearance she has an amusing and witty way of speaking to Lord Alverstoke that he finds refreshing, and while she is charming in her own way she is never out of touch with society norms. Her brothers and sister are all delightful too. The book is crammed with loveable characters and a few detestable ones for good measure.

As the Facebook discussion discovered, romance novels dominate the best seller charts and: Romantic novelists, 99% of whom are women, make it possible for publishers to invest in the more challenging or experimental end of literary fiction. Fine thanks they get for it: the poor romantic novelists are treated with contempt by everyone except their readers.

And that’s about it. At least I couldn’t possibly think about any recent misery tales while reading this entertaining piece of fluff.