7) 12/3/11
Georgette Heyer: Friday's Child
Much better than 'These Old Shades', the last Heyer book I read, although the premise is almost as fizzy.
In a fit of pique after being rejected by the lovely Miss Milborne, the young Lord Sheringham, in need of a wife to secure his fortune before one of his trustees spends it all, vows to marry the first woman he sees. Lucky for him, then, that on the way back to London he comes face to face with Hero Wantage, a childhood friend, eight years his junior and young, innocent and naive. He persuades her to elope with him instantly. Of course it ends happily ever after because (well, because this is Georgette Heyer and...) Hero has been in love with Sherry since she was eight, but the road is not smooth. Hero, now Lady Sheringham, but only in name, becomes absorbed into Sherry's rakish world of gaming and opera dancers and because of her innocence develops an entirely natural and easy friendship with Sherry's three bachelor friends. Between the four laddish lads she doesn't get much guidance on fitting in with the 'ton' and gets herself into all manner of social scrapes before careering to near disaster. This is a coming of age novel in which both Hero and Sherry grow up, almost in spite of themselves. Light and funny, it provided a welcome relief after reading 'The Gift.' Just what I needed.
Georgette Heyer: Friday's Child
Much better than 'These Old Shades', the last Heyer book I read, although the premise is almost as fizzy.
In a fit of pique after being rejected by the lovely Miss Milborne, the young Lord Sheringham, in need of a wife to secure his fortune before one of his trustees spends it all, vows to marry the first woman he sees. Lucky for him, then, that on the way back to London he comes face to face with Hero Wantage, a childhood friend, eight years his junior and young, innocent and naive. He persuades her to elope with him instantly. Of course it ends happily ever after because (well, because this is Georgette Heyer and...) Hero has been in love with Sherry since she was eight, but the road is not smooth. Hero, now Lady Sheringham, but only in name, becomes absorbed into Sherry's rakish world of gaming and opera dancers and because of her innocence develops an entirely natural and easy friendship with Sherry's three bachelor friends. Between the four laddish lads she doesn't get much guidance on fitting in with the 'ton' and gets herself into all manner of social scrapes before careering to near disaster. This is a coming of age novel in which both Hero and Sherry grow up, almost in spite of themselves. Light and funny, it provided a welcome relief after reading 'The Gift.' Just what I needed.