On the eve of the Battle of Waterloo Brussels is a flurry of soirees, salons and balls. Amidst the turmoil of the build up to Napoleon's famous defeat, two unlikely people will fall in love. Georgette Heyer's Regency novel, An Infamous Army has much to recommend it. I hesitate to call it a Regency "Romance", since there is little about it that is fluffy (which is not to say that all romances are necessarily fluffy either, but you know what I mean?). There is as much war in the novel as there is love. As a matter of fact, if the short bibliography at the end of the novel is any indication of the amount of research Heyer must have poured into the writing of this novel, she appears to have been quite a historian really.
Lady Barbara Childe's impetuous reputation precedes her everywhere she goes. She has been widowed at a very young age. Married off to a much older man she did not love, she vows not to marry again, but to be a "dashing widow". Lovely, and young, and much too bored, she is petulant and flirtatious. Not only does she paint her face, she gilds her toenails. Truly shocking to the proper Society matrons. The tongues wag whenever she enters a room! Unfortunately her determination to stay single will crumble soon after meeting dashing Colonel Charles Audley, the Duke of Wellington's aide-de-camp. If Babs is a flirt, Charles is supremely level headed--not one to play games. He falls as instantly for Barbara as she does for him. Soon they are engaged to be married, much to the chagrin and surprise of both their families.
A series of misunderstandings will split the lovers in two just as Charles is off to do battle with the French army. And it is a bloody, intense battle. Heyer describes it in almost minute detail. I sort of wished as I read it that I had a map spread out before me with little figurines so I could follow the various troop movements. Many of the characters in this novel had real life counterparts. I have little doubt that the descriptions of the battle were accurate:
"The brigade, coming up behind the infantry lines from their comparatively quiet position on the left flank, could see no sign of victory in the desolation which surrounded them. Dead and dying men lay all over the ground; mutilated horses wandered about in aimless circles; cannonballs were tossing up the trampled earth in great gashes; and a pall of smoke hung over all."
Can you imagine war in a time of no field hospitals, no pain killers or antibiotics? When all was said and done over 22,000 allied troops and over 25,000 French troops died. All this on June 18, 1815. I've glossed a bit over the romance aspect of the novel as I hate to give away too much of the story. It's not exactly a passionate love affair, more of a coming to terms with what it means to truly love someone and the realities of war, which is not to say it was not a wholly satisfactory love story as well. Definitely a love story of a different sort, serious not silly. And no need to worry about the battle scenes if you're squeamish. Although they are fairly descriptive, I didn't think they were overly graphic. You do indeed get a sense of what it must have been like, however.
This was my first Heyer novel, but it will not be my last. She's a first rate historical novelist. Many thanks to the folks at Sourcebooks for bringing Georgette Heyer's novels back into print. For more on Heyer's books, check out Sassymonkey's recent Heyer reading extravaganza! Also check out Marg's review of this novel as well.