It's time for a little Georgette Heyer, I think. Actually I was offered a choice of review copies from Sourcebooks of some of their spring and summer reprints of Heyer's novels, which they have slowly been reissuing. I requested three different titles thinking I might luck out and get one, but somehow ended up getting all three choices. One has arrived, but the other two are not due to be printed until next month (and released soon thereafter), so I'll have a little breathing room. First up I'll be reading The Talisman Ring. The story concerns two couples, one set young and impetuous, and the other older and more worldly wise. I was drawn to this story as it involves a stolen ring, a band of smugglers and a false accusation of murder. Sounds like fun, no? It should be a nice alternative from her regular straightforward Regency romances--a few little twists thrown in for variety.
I'll also be reading The Corinthian and Cousin Kate. The Corinthian has a nice Shakespearean slant to it as the heroine dresses as a boy (doesn't that sound familiar?). Once again there are thieves and murder in the story as well. Cousin Kate is different from the rest of her novels as well. This time it is a Gothic Regency romance. I love Gothic, so this should be interesting as it appears much darker than her usual fare. I always assumed Heyer's novels followed a fairly similar pattern, all somewhat formulaic, so I can't wait to dive into these books and see a different side to her writing.
Heyer seems to be a little bit of an enigma. I have a feeling that she's written off a little too easily by some critics, so I decided now is the perfect time to pick up Jane Aiken Hodge's biography of her, The Private World of Georgette Heyer, as I've now read a handful of her books and will be reading some other more varied stories. I started reading it this weekend and I think it's going to be an engrossing read. Heyer was an intensely private woman. She never made public appearances or gave interviews. She said she could be found found in the pages of her books. It sounds as though when Aiken Hodge planned to write about Heyer, she initially believed she would only have enough biographical material for the introduction and would only write about her work. In the end she found there was more to her than met the eye; letters to her publisher and friends revealed "her as shy on the surface, but a formidable, positive person underneath, with strong views and a great sense of style."
She reminds me a little bit of Daphne du Maurier, though they wrote very different types of books. Both wanted to be more respected for their work than the acknowledgement they received while they were living. In the case of Heyer, she did not at the time receive any critical acclaim for her novels, but they were immensely popular. When she died in 1974 she had over 50 titles in print and they had been translated into multiple languages. It probably didn't help that some of her more "vociferous fans tended to like the wrong books for the wrong reasons." They wanted swashbuckling romance when she was writing "neat romantic comedy in the vein of Congreve and Sheridan." Aiken Hodge writes that it is no wonder she turned away from publicity. Heyer self-deprecatingly wrote:
"I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense, but it's unquestionably good escapist literature, and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter, or recovering from flu. It's period detail is good; my husband says it's witty--and without going to these lengths, I will say that it is very good fun."
For the biography Aiken Hodge read Heyer's entire oeuvre in chronological order, which must have been quite an undertaking. There were/are (?) several books that Heyer suppressed later, which make me curious how autobiographical they are.
"There is a clear line of development in her work, from the early stories of romantic adventure through the light-hearted comedy of her middle years to a warmer and graver type of book towards the end of her life. The emphasis shifts a little, too, from the dominating hero to the interesting heroine, and hero and heroine alike grow a little older with a younger couple often introduced to keep the balance."
I don't know if I would ever try and read all of Heyer's books (though will certainly continue to read a smattering here and there of those that appeal to me the most), but it will be fun to read about them in this biography. Aiken Hodge concentrates on her work and fills in the rest of Heyer's life in the background. It should be an illuminating read; one I will certainly write about more as I go.