by Georgette Heyer
ages: 13+
First sentence: “Sir Tristram Shield, arriving at Lavenham Court in the wintry dusk, was informed at the door that his great-uncle was very weak, not expected to live many more days out.
For about a year now, I’ve seen reviews of Georgette Heyer’s books floating around the book blogs, and I’ve thought to myself that I ought to give one a whirl. But it wasn’t until Becky’s review of this book that I hit upon the perfect Heyer book to start with.
Think of Heyer this way: one part Jane Austen, one part P.G. Wodehouse, and one part Oscar Wilde, with some Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Alexandre Dumas thrown in for good measure (and adventure). In short: absolutely delightful.
There’s an incredibly complex plot and a huge cast of characters, but all you really need to know is there are three cousins: Sir Tristram, severe and definately unromantic; Eustacie, young, French, silly, and desiring of an Adventure; and Ludovic, the heir to the Lavenham’s fortune, yet wrongly exiled for a murder he didn’t commit. Everyone at some point or other ends up at an inn where they meet Sir Hugh and Miss Sarah Thane, there is many Adventures (daring and otherwise), they flush out the Real Bad Guy and everyone lives Happily Ever After.
The real charm is in the sheer silliness of the novel. It’s a book about some of the silliest people I’ve ever “met”, which (of course) makes it absolutely hilarious and charming and plain fun to read. It’s not high literature by any means, but it’s definately worth the time.
Of course that means I’m going to go find another book of Heyer’s to read. Any suggestions?
Buy it at: Amazon, Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.
The Book Nut 
I've heard so much about Georgette Heyer in the last couple months, I really must check her out. Especially with the Austen/Wodehouse/Wilde/Doyle/Dumas combo you outline up there. That sounds fabulous!
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I've read two: Regency Buck and Charity Girl. I would recommend Regency Buck of the two. I would definitely like to read more Heyer. Good fun!
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I'm not widely read in Heyer's books, but Cotillion was my favorite of the ones I've read so far. Her regencies are great when you want a feel-good read!
Lezlie
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I love Heyer's books, too. They're some of my favorite comfort reading. I especially like Venetia, Arabella, and Frederica.
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Jen, I remember you mentioning that once. 🙂 I can see how they would be very good comfort reads. I'm going to put all those on my TBR list… now to choose which one to read first!
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I enjoyed this one too: I read it last month! My favourite (I think I've read 4 or 5) is Friday's Child. I listened to it on CD and it was SO cute and funny. A bit less silly than this one.
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Like you, I've seen Heyer's work mentioned all around the place but I have yet to read her! Your review really makes me want too, though, and I'll think I will begin with this one! Thanks for that great review! 😀
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