Frederica

A few days ago, I finished the most recent book in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. (Expect a post soon - but I don't want to give away the ending to the book clubbers who may not have finished the first book!) I was at a loss for reading material until I remembered the book my friend had given me for my birthday a short while ago.

She, knowing my love of Jane Austen and the regency period, had recommended the author Georgette Heyer. I found her books in the library. I read Arabella and loved it immediately. My next foray into Heyer, with The Spanish Bride, had not gone so well and I soon put Heyer aside in order to reread the Mary Russell series and Jasper Fforde. However, I think Frederica has cemented the start of a beautiful relationship and the possibility of a new series I shall have to collect.

Frederica is the story of a young woman who has been acting as guardian to her younger siblings: Harry, Charis, Jessamy, and Felix. Frederica brings her siblings to London in order to give her extremely beautiful sister Charis a London season and a greater chance of a good marriage than she would have in rural England. Frederica asks for the assistance of a distant cousin, the Marquis of Alverstoke, to help her sister. Much to his surprise, the Marquis agrees and becomes involved in the exploits of Jessamy and Felix and further embroiled with the family.

I won't spoil the ending by giving it away, but suffice it to say that it is a happy ending. Frederica, like Arabella, has reaffirmed my appreciation for Georgette Heyer's Regency novels. They are like Jane Austen's work in that they involve young single woman and the quest for marriage (the only appropriate career for women at that time) but there's a little more detail. The same wit and sparkle are there, but Heyer's works are more gossipy, more detailed with descriptions of clothing and places. However, Heyer's characters are just as endearing as Jane Austen's creations and speak the same witty banter. Heyer's understanding of and research into the Regency period is remarkable. Her books were written in the 1900's, yet would stand up to Regency period work.

Now that I own Frederica, I may begin collecting the rest of Heyer's Regency work. Her novels are being republished by Sourcebooks Casablanca. Just take a look at some of the beautiful covers:

I love books with portraits of people in historical dress on the front cover. In fact, I get rather annoyed if I grab a book from the library shelf with a lovely old-fashioned portrait on the cover and it's a book about modern life. That's a bait and switch! At any rate, the books will make a charming edition to my library, and I have a new collection to begin (and probably a new bookshelf to buy).

Heyer also writes historical fiction about other time periods and locations, such as The Spanish Bride, which is set in the same Regency period, but on the Spanish peninsula during the Napoleonic wars. Maybe due to the fact that it is set during the wars, I did not find that it had the same charm and sparkle as Arabella or Frederica and I couldn't get into the book or the characters. My next Heyer, which I got out from the library, is The Masqueraders. This is set after the Jacobite rebellion and involves a brother and sister and a very Shakespearean disguise!

Heyer also writes mysteries set in the 1920's and 1930's - similar in some respects to Agatha Christie. I did try to read one of her mysteries, but found myself waiting for Poirot to come in and solve the mystery and save the day. I think I'll stick with my Christies for mysteries and my Heyer for Regency romance.