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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
I probably never would have picked out this book for myself (Look at the cover! It's clearly some goopy romance.), but I got it for Christmas and it came with high recommendation (from a guy, no less), so I gave it a shot. It turns out to be the kind of goopy romance I like, the Jane Austen-esque variety where the men don't rip their shirts off so much as parade around in period outfits being polite. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
A solid romance for people who like Austin. I really enjoyed it.
Imagine an old Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn movie that’s set in Jane Austen’s time. This was my first Georgette Heyer book, and it was delightful. Great characters, zany plots, good pacing, and the dialogue is positively sparkling, darling. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it. Bonus points earned for all of the ridiculous slang that I honestly cannot tell whether or not it’s real (rumgumption! pea-goose! frippery!).
4.5 stars rounded down, only because the beginning was a little slow.
4.5 stars rounded down, only because the beginning was a little slow.
This is my second Georgette Heyer read and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Spoiler
Seeing Alverstroke fall in love with Frederica and give up all of his rules for her was adorable! Also, I loved how he slowly grew fond of Jessamy and Felix as well!
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
First read 01/2025
This was my second Georgette Heyer book, so naturally I must compare it to The Grand Sophy, and unfortunately I found it a little wanting. Sophy was so willing to get involved in everyone else's problems, not just arranging marriages but also breaking engagements, as well as trying to fix people's familial issues, that there was a delightful array of subplots that kept on rearing their heads at pace. By comparison, Frederica doesn't have quite enough material to pad out the length, particularly around the middle, and so began to feel a bit tiresome.
Once again, it ended as soon as the couple admitted their love to each other (and promptly got engaged). I can't help but think of the hard-won delights at the end of Pride and Prejudice, in which Lizzy and Darcy both know that they're just waiting for Darcy to pop the question, and getting along splendidly. Heyer concludes her novels as though she thinks her protagonists would have nothing to do together, if they didn't have the will-they-won't-they energy to sustain them. I think she's right, but a part of me wants to see this miserable shit-stirrer and his blathering wife raising her younger brothers at his country estate. I believe Heyer wrote some (unsuccessful) murder mysteries? Perhaps she could have taken a leaf from P.D. James' book, and written her very own Death Comes to Pemberley. But no matter.
Heyer remains a very funny novelist, if not necessarily a sympathetic one, and while the book doesn't have much substance it is very good fun. She has graciously kept her rabid antisemitism out of this one, and if it has more incest than ever, at least none of the couples are too closely related. (Look, it's historical. Let her have this one.)
This was my second Georgette Heyer book, so naturally I must compare it to The Grand Sophy, and unfortunately I found it a little wanting. Sophy was so willing to get involved in everyone else's problems, not just arranging marriages but also breaking engagements, as well as trying to fix people's familial issues, that there was a delightful array of subplots that kept on rearing their heads at pace. By comparison, Frederica doesn't have quite enough material to pad out the length, particularly around the middle, and so began to feel a bit tiresome.
Once again, it ended as soon as the couple admitted their love to each other (and promptly got engaged). I can't help but think of the hard-won delights at the end of Pride and Prejudice, in which Lizzy and Darcy both know that they're just waiting for Darcy to pop the question, and getting along splendidly. Heyer concludes her novels as though she thinks her protagonists would have nothing to do together, if they didn't have the will-they-won't-they energy to sustain them. I think she's right, but a part of me wants to see this miserable shit-stirrer and his blathering wife raising her younger brothers at his country estate. I believe Heyer wrote some (unsuccessful) murder mysteries? Perhaps she could have taken a leaf from P.D. James' book, and written her very own Death Comes to Pemberley. But no matter.
Heyer remains a very funny novelist, if not necessarily a sympathetic one, and while the book doesn't have much substance it is very good fun. She has graciously kept her rabid antisemitism out of this one, and if it has more incest than ever, at least none of the couples are too closely related. (Look, it's historical. Let her have this one.)
frederica, a hero for parentified eldest sisters everywhere. & alverstoke is definitely the wittiest male lead of a historical romance i’ve ever encountered. such a fun pair
This is the book (or more broadly author) to read if you love Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters, but sometimes get annoyed by the 'propriety' of the characters and find it hard to relate.
Georgette Heyer writes with satire that makes you laugh and not want to put the book down.
Would highly recommend.
Georgette Heyer writes with satire that makes you laugh and not want to put the book down.
Would highly recommend.
This is the second book I have read by Heyer, and I have to say that I enjoyed it much more than The Convenient Marriage. I'm glad I gave Heyer another try. This novel was written much later, in 1965, and takes place in the Regency Era.
Frederica is a young lady who has been taking care of her family ever since her mother died when she was young. She has four younger siblings that she looks after, and now that her younger sister is coming of age, she wants her to be able to experience coming-out in London. In order to help her accomplish this, she contacts a distant relation who she has never met, Lord Alverstoke, and asks for his help. Alverstoke is a confirmed bachelor who is bored by his life, and ends up taking on the challenge mainly to irritate his sister. He succeeds in both launching the Merrivilles into society and causing strife in his family, all of which amuses him. But he had not counted on actually beginning to care for Frederica or her younger brothers, and he must reevaluate much of his life as a result.
I just loved most of the main characters in this book, which was the main problem for me with The Convenient Marriage. Even though the Earl of Rule and Lord Alverstoke share many characteristics, Heyer made me actually like Alverstoke. And Frederica and her two younger brothers, Jessamy and Felix, are just fantastic characters. The social humor is very similar to The Convenient Marriage, and as in that book, the romance does not get resolved until the very final pages of the book. But it was well worth the wait, and a treat of a book in general.
Frederica is a young lady who has been taking care of her family ever since her mother died when she was young. She has four younger siblings that she looks after, and now that her younger sister is coming of age, she wants her to be able to experience coming-out in London. In order to help her accomplish this, she contacts a distant relation who she has never met, Lord Alverstoke, and asks for his help. Alverstoke is a confirmed bachelor who is bored by his life, and ends up taking on the challenge mainly to irritate his sister. He succeeds in both launching the Merrivilles into society and causing strife in his family, all of which amuses him. But he had not counted on actually beginning to care for Frederica or her younger brothers, and he must reevaluate much of his life as a result.
I just loved most of the main characters in this book, which was the main problem for me with The Convenient Marriage. Even though the Earl of Rule and Lord Alverstoke share many characteristics, Heyer made me actually like Alverstoke. And Frederica and her two younger brothers, Jessamy and Felix, are just fantastic characters. The social humor is very similar to The Convenient Marriage, and as in that book, the romance does not get resolved until the very final pages of the book. But it was well worth the wait, and a treat of a book in general.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Reading this book felt like reading the blueprint for all subsequent historical romance books which features the heroine’s quirky and spirited younger siblings, all whom she is responsible for (there is a surprisingly common trope).
Heyer excels in writing sparkling and humorous banter between her main romantic pair and Frederica is no exception. The story drags in places. I found the illness subplot to be dull.
Overall, a solid Heyer, but not one of my favorites.
Heyer excels in writing sparkling and humorous banter between her main romantic pair and Frederica is no exception. The story drags in places. I found the illness subplot to be dull.
Overall, a solid Heyer, but not one of my favorites.