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Georgette Heyer: A Critical Retrospective
Fully indexed collection of articles on the popular author's works, addressing such subjects as "'What Fun!' Detection as Diversion"; "Georgette Heyer and the Uses of Regency"; "Cross-Dressing in Wartime: Georgette Heyer's THE CORINTHIAN in its 1940 Context"; "Gendering Places: Georgette Heyer's Cultural Topography," to name only a few.
544 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2001
146 people want to read
About the author
Mary Fahnestock-Thomas
1 book1 followerThe author of Georgette Heyer, A Critical Retrospective holds degrees in German and Comparative Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 11, 2019
I was delighted to get hold of a copy of this book. It was self/vanity published in 2001 in the States and I would think very few copies made it to New Zealand. But lo & behold, a copy turned up on TradeMe and I snapped it up.
I was disappointed almost immediately. M F-T is very defensive about her love for Heyer. But this was about the time when I was reading Mills & Boon & I certainly got very sick of even random strangers thinking they had the right to criticise my reading tastes!
Everything published in this book was originally published in the States and the UK. There were definitely reviews written in Australia but I guess the author made a conscious decision not to go too far afield and end up with a 1000 page book. And internet research wouldn't have been so easy then. But I would have preferred a truly international book with just the better quality reviews as some of these add nothing to my understanding of GH's works.
I'll divide the review up into the divisions M F-T used. This read took me two months &, as usual, I didn't take notes, although my book is stuffed with bookmarks. Please bear with me. 😊
(i) Her Short Published Pieces
Implies that these were the only published shorts (other than those in Pistols for Two) that Heyer wrote. Thanks to a new collection Acting on Impulse – Contemporary Short Stories by Georgette Heyer (which includes A Proposal to Cicely, one of the short stories in this book) we know that is not the case. I've read all 3 of the short stories before - & they are not GH's best work. On the other hand, The Horned Beast of Africa is the only known writing from GH's time in Africa (her husband was a mining engineer at the time.) There is no point overlaying 21st sensibilities on this one (about the hunting and killing of an unusual rhino.)
Books about the Brontës is quite wonderfully witty.
The essay How to be a Literary Critic was full of snark – it does confirm my belief that GH would have hated Goodreads.
(ii) Reviews of her Books
All review writers on Goodreads should pat themselves on the back – it is hard to believe these critics were, in a lot of cases, paid for these pieces, which for the most part are boring, spoiler filled – or both.
The shining exception is 3 (M F-T has thoughtfully numbered the reviews) by I. W. L. from The Boston Evening Transcript, 1921. I should look him or her up. This review of The Black Moth was so good and funny that I am jealous of the unknown writer!
A lot of the reviews were of GH's detective works – because a lot of reviewers were men. E.R. Punshon & Nicholas Blake are being read again. I want to read these authors myself even more now & I did enjoy their thoughtful reviews. Phoebe Adams from The Atlantic Monthly (March 1962) proves you don't need to read a book before reviewing it (now she would love GR!)
I'm sneering like the Duke of Avon after reading that one!
I can only think that most reviewers of the posthumously published My Lord John didn't want to speak ill of the dead. Thank Heavens for PLA from The Atlantic Monthly who was honest enough to call GH's second worst book “a terrible bore.”
My reading advice for this section – other than I.W. L.'s Black Moth review- skip it. My advice for M F-T if she ever decides to republish this book – move this section to the back – just before the even more boring (vi) film and theatre reviews. (I only skimmed these - all the actor names were unfamiliar to me.) I've talked to more than one reader who never finished this book because of the tedious reviews - & that is a pity, as there is much better reading ahead!
(iv) Reference Works
M F-T does some brief research & analysis here. Interesting to see GH appearing in reference books & getting some respect. I have put A Catalogue of Crime: Being a Reader's Guide to the Literature of Mystery, Detection, and Related Genres on one of my to-read lists.
(v) Other Articles and Books
As you would expect, these are a mixed bag.
For me some of the articles were absolutely outstanding!
Top of the list were the two articles by A.S. Byatt -in particular the interview with GH's husband Sir Ronald Rougier. Sir Ronald comes across as ever bit as private and reserved as his late wife – but he also seemed really sweet.
Also invaluable to the GH fanatic is Cassandra Jardine's piece about GH's son Sir Richard Rougier. GH was very proud of him – and it is quite obvious that the feeling was mutual. I will make the most improper observation that Sir Richard was very easy on the eye.
Here is a family portrait - with an actual painting of GH behind!
Next time I read The Corinthian I will want Kathleen Bell's thoughtful Crossdressing in Wartime: Georgette Heyer's The Corinthian in its 1940 Context on the side table beside me. I'll get a lot out of a parallel read, I think.
Now for the not so good. I've been trying to get a copy of Teresa Chris's Georgette Heyer's Regency England for quite some time. This very bland extract has made me decide to settle for a library copy.
Ugh. Germaine Greer's extract from The Female Eunuch. What contempt Greer shows for romance readers and women in general when her research involves just grabbing Regency Buck and a Barbara Cartland from a supermarket. Clearly no further research is needed into the tastes of the empty headed little women who are waiting to be set free by Greer's superior wisdom. *sarcasm*
But my real loathing is for Marghanita Laski . Given the opportunity to interview a well loved authoress, who by then was old and sick and had previously always refused to do interviews, what did Laski do with it? A hatchet job, that's what! If (like me) you didn't go to university & read GH Regencies you must be simple. (I think Laski is using simple in the sense of not too bright rather than mentally handicapped) My late father would have been surprised to learn that men didn't read GH at all. My father was an accountant and far from simple. She has no explanation on how an educated woman can read them. You can feel the contempt.
I remembered vaguely who Laski was, but I'm consoled by the fact she is fading into obscurity whereas GH is as popular as she ever was. I know some of Laski's works have been picked up by the well regarded Persephone Press, but I won't be reading them after this bitter, jealous and mean spirited piece!
For me this book in spite of its flaws is an absolute keeper and I know I will refer to it often!
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
I was disappointed almost immediately. M F-T is very defensive about her love for Heyer. But this was about the time when I was reading Mills & Boon & I certainly got very sick of even random strangers thinking they had the right to criticise my reading tastes!
Everything published in this book was originally published in the States and the UK. There were definitely reviews written in Australia but I guess the author made a conscious decision not to go too far afield and end up with a 1000 page book. And internet research wouldn't have been so easy then. But I would have preferred a truly international book with just the better quality reviews as some of these add nothing to my understanding of GH's works.
I'll divide the review up into the divisions M F-T used. This read took me two months &, as usual, I didn't take notes, although my book is stuffed with bookmarks. Please bear with me. 😊
(i) Her Short Published Pieces
Implies that these were the only published shorts (other than those in Pistols for Two) that Heyer wrote. Thanks to a new collection Acting on Impulse – Contemporary Short Stories by Georgette Heyer (which includes A Proposal to Cicely, one of the short stories in this book) we know that is not the case. I've read all 3 of the short stories before - & they are not GH's best work. On the other hand, The Horned Beast of Africa is the only known writing from GH's time in Africa (her husband was a mining engineer at the time.) There is no point overlaying 21st sensibilities on this one (about the hunting and killing of an unusual rhino.)
Books about the Brontës is quite wonderfully witty.
The essay How to be a Literary Critic was full of snark – it does confirm my belief that GH would have hated Goodreads.
"...Reflect that you could have written the book so much better yourself, if only you had the time and the inclination for the task; and that the literate won't be listening, if you're speaking on air, or doing more than glance at your review, if it appears in print; and go right ahead! There will be no reprisals. If the author is young and struggling, he won't dare to expose your pretensions; and if he is well established he won't think it worth while to do so."
(ii) Reviews of her Books
All review writers on Goodreads should pat themselves on the back – it is hard to believe these critics were, in a lot of cases, paid for these pieces, which for the most part are boring, spoiler filled – or both.
The shining exception is 3 (M F-T has thoughtfully numbered the reviews) by I. W. L. from The Boston Evening Transcript, 1921. I should look him or her up. This review of The Black Moth was so good and funny that I am jealous of the unknown writer!
A lot of the reviews were of GH's detective works – because a lot of reviewers were men. E.R. Punshon & Nicholas Blake are being read again. I want to read these authors myself even more now & I did enjoy their thoughtful reviews. Phoebe Adams from The Atlantic Monthly (March 1962) proves you don't need to read a book before reviewing it (now she would love GR!)
"Readers who recall that Georgette Heyer once wrote exceptionally amusing and puzzling murder mysteries may be tempted by opening hints of hanky-panky in the hunting field, to essay her latest novel. They will be disappointed. It is woman's-magazine pastry with an elaborate Regency setting. Togetherness in a curricle, you might say."
I'm sneering like the Duke of Avon after reading that one!
I can only think that most reviewers of the posthumously published My Lord John didn't want to speak ill of the dead. Thank Heavens for PLA from The Atlantic Monthly who was honest enough to call GH's second worst book “a terrible bore.”
My reading advice for this section – other than I.W. L.'s Black Moth review- skip it. My advice for M F-T if she ever decides to republish this book – move this section to the back – just before the even more boring (vi) film and theatre reviews. (I only skimmed these - all the actor names were unfamiliar to me.) I've talked to more than one reader who never finished this book because of the tedious reviews - & that is a pity, as there is much better reading ahead!
(iv) Reference Works
M F-T does some brief research & analysis here. Interesting to see GH appearing in reference books & getting some respect. I have put A Catalogue of Crime: Being a Reader's Guide to the Literature of Mystery, Detection, and Related Genres on one of my to-read lists.
(v) Other Articles and Books
As you would expect, these are a mixed bag.
For me some of the articles were absolutely outstanding!
Top of the list were the two articles by A.S. Byatt -in particular the interview with GH's husband Sir Ronald Rougier. Sir Ronald comes across as ever bit as private and reserved as his late wife – but he also seemed really sweet.
Also invaluable to the GH fanatic is Cassandra Jardine's piece about GH's son Sir Richard Rougier. GH was very proud of him – and it is quite obvious that the feeling was mutual. I will make the most improper observation that Sir Richard was very easy on the eye.
Here is a family portrait - with an actual painting of GH behind!
Next time I read The Corinthian I will want Kathleen Bell's thoughtful Crossdressing in Wartime: Georgette Heyer's The Corinthian in its 1940 Context on the side table beside me. I'll get a lot out of a parallel read, I think.
Now for the not so good. I've been trying to get a copy of Teresa Chris's Georgette Heyer's Regency England for quite some time. This very bland extract has made me decide to settle for a library copy.
Ugh. Germaine Greer's extract from The Female Eunuch. What contempt Greer shows for romance readers and women in general when her research involves just grabbing Regency Buck and a Barbara Cartland from a supermarket. Clearly no further research is needed into the tastes of the empty headed little women who are waiting to be set free by Greer's superior wisdom. *sarcasm*
But my real loathing is for Marghanita Laski . Given the opportunity to interview a well loved authoress, who by then was old and sick and had previously always refused to do interviews, what did Laski do with it? A hatchet job, that's what! If (like me) you didn't go to university & read GH Regencies you must be simple. (I think Laski is using simple in the sense of not too bright rather than mentally handicapped) My late father would have been surprised to learn that men didn't read GH at all. My father was an accountant and far from simple. She has no explanation on how an educated woman can read them. You can feel the contempt.
I remembered vaguely who Laski was, but I'm consoled by the fact she is fading into obscurity whereas GH is as popular as she ever was. I know some of Laski's works have been picked up by the well regarded Persephone Press, but I won't be reading them after this bitter, jealous and mean spirited piece!
For me this book in spite of its flaws is an absolute keeper and I know I will refer to it often!
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
August 19, 2019
This made fairly interesting reading.
I suppose the representative sample was evenly distributed between enthusiastic and dismissive.
Lots of people, who are happy to enter Heyer's imaginary world, love her escapist froth.
I can see why. Heyer creates a polished and beguiling fantasy world, introducing humour and romance. Many readers become totally addicted.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying escapist nonsense; but confusing it with historical reality is a different matter, and I am sorry to say that a fair number of Heyer fans do.
In a way, I wish I could get past those High Tory assumptions she has and join them in just simply enjoying her works. Somehow, I can't.
I thought that US reviews were rather over represented in this book - that is odd, when Heyer became well known across the Atlantic considerably later than here in the UK. But reviews before the internet were by nature transitory.
The problem is, that it is notoriously difficult for a US based critic or reader to fully comprehend the influence of the workings of the British class system both in literature and the depiction of history.
The upper class bias of Heyer's writing - so often missed in reviews- was trenchantly addressed in a couple of the extracts. That she created a socially exclusive, consensus based version of 'The Regency', which was indeed a highly artificial construct - seems to escape many Heyer fans. But the late Georgian era was a revolutionary age; a little later on,the government felt compelled to force the 'Six Acts' through parliament, muzzling effective expression of popular discontent following the protests that led to the Peterloo Massacre of 1819.
Through writing those historical romances through the night, tanked up on dexedrine and gin, Heyer managed to finance her son through Marlborough and Oxbridge.
I gather she didn't enjoy it. She wanted to write serious historical novels, but couldn't afford it, with so many hopeless men in her family. Every time she tried to write something which veered from what her fan base wanted, sales dropped drastically.
But that made for many happy fans...Heyer was a talented and polished writer and created an original, and highly beguiling, artificial construct in her depiction of the late Georgian age.
I do think the massive influence on Heyer of Perce Egan's 1923 'Life in London' on 'Corinthian Tom' and his 'Coz Jerry' might have been investigated more. It really can't be overestimated. I'd say Heyer was also strongly influenced by the Victorian and Edwardian best selling author Charles Garvice. However, unlike him, she had a sense of humour and wrote historical novels.
By the by, the paperback version is badly bound. I had to buy a second hand copy which is now falling to pieces - not because I re-read it so many times - but because unlike the parting between Cassisus and Brutus, it wasn't well made.
I suppose the representative sample was evenly distributed between enthusiastic and dismissive.
Lots of people, who are happy to enter Heyer's imaginary world, love her escapist froth.
I can see why. Heyer creates a polished and beguiling fantasy world, introducing humour and romance. Many readers become totally addicted.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying escapist nonsense; but confusing it with historical reality is a different matter, and I am sorry to say that a fair number of Heyer fans do.
In a way, I wish I could get past those High Tory assumptions she has and join them in just simply enjoying her works. Somehow, I can't.
I thought that US reviews were rather over represented in this book - that is odd, when Heyer became well known across the Atlantic considerably later than here in the UK. But reviews before the internet were by nature transitory.
The problem is, that it is notoriously difficult for a US based critic or reader to fully comprehend the influence of the workings of the British class system both in literature and the depiction of history.
The upper class bias of Heyer's writing - so often missed in reviews- was trenchantly addressed in a couple of the extracts. That she created a socially exclusive, consensus based version of 'The Regency', which was indeed a highly artificial construct - seems to escape many Heyer fans. But the late Georgian era was a revolutionary age; a little later on,the government felt compelled to force the 'Six Acts' through parliament, muzzling effective expression of popular discontent following the protests that led to the Peterloo Massacre of 1819.
Through writing those historical romances through the night, tanked up on dexedrine and gin, Heyer managed to finance her son through Marlborough and Oxbridge.
I gather she didn't enjoy it. She wanted to write serious historical novels, but couldn't afford it, with so many hopeless men in her family. Every time she tried to write something which veered from what her fan base wanted, sales dropped drastically.
But that made for many happy fans...Heyer was a talented and polished writer and created an original, and highly beguiling, artificial construct in her depiction of the late Georgian age.
I do think the massive influence on Heyer of Perce Egan's 1923 'Life in London' on 'Corinthian Tom' and his 'Coz Jerry' might have been investigated more. It really can't be overestimated. I'd say Heyer was also strongly influenced by the Victorian and Edwardian best selling author Charles Garvice. However, unlike him, she had a sense of humour and wrote historical novels.
By the by, the paperback version is badly bound. I had to buy a second hand copy which is now falling to pieces - not because I re-read it so many times - but because unlike the parting between Cassisus and Brutus, it wasn't well made.
June 2, 2025
It is normally a sine qua non of reviewing, and one that I have hitherto scrupulously observed, that one should have read a book before reviewing it. However, I found myself skimming large chunks of the present book, and I write to warn you that you may find yourself doing so too.
This is in no way a criticism of the editor; indeed, she seems to have done a painstaking and meticulous job, and just getting all the necessary copyright clearances must have been a nightmare. But more drivel has probably been written about Georgette Heyer than any other author*, and collecting it all together simply doesn’t make rewarding reading. What is not imperceptive, illiterate or merely vacuous quickly become repetitive. There may be new insights here, but if so they have escaped my attention.
This is not to say that nothing in this book is worth reading; there are certainly entertaining moments. But if you have read the novels and want to know more about Georgette Heyer herself, rather than what was said about her, then I would recommend Jane Aiken Hodge’s biography instead.
Of course, if your interest is in literary criticism instead, then you may find this book ideal.
*When I wrote this, I was forgetting about J.R.R. Tolkien.
This is in no way a criticism of the editor; indeed, she seems to have done a painstaking and meticulous job, and just getting all the necessary copyright clearances must have been a nightmare. But more drivel has probably been written about Georgette Heyer than any other author*, and collecting it all together simply doesn’t make rewarding reading. What is not imperceptive, illiterate or merely vacuous quickly become repetitive. There may be new insights here, but if so they have escaped my attention.
This is not to say that nothing in this book is worth reading; there are certainly entertaining moments. But if you have read the novels and want to know more about Georgette Heyer herself, rather than what was said about her, then I would recommend Jane Aiken Hodge’s biography instead.
Of course, if your interest is in literary criticism instead, then you may find this book ideal.
*When I wrote this, I was forgetting about J.R.R. Tolkien.
January 6, 2013
THIS BOOK SAVED MY LIFE!! Seriously, I wrote about Georgette Heyer for my MA dissertation and I just couldn't have done it without this book. It's basically a compilation of all the articles written about Heyer's fiction, as well as contemporary reviews (which make for a good chuckle) and tons of other really useful information. Whilst I couldn't have done without it, it's probably a book for people on the more avid side of fans!
July 14, 2010
This is for the fan with an academic bent. The reader who can't get enough of reading about the work in addition to reading the work itself. It was fascinating (and occasionally frustrating) to read these reviews and analysis of Heyer's work.
December 1, 2017
This turned out to be not quite what I was expecting. It contains (broadly speaking):
- some early short stories and magazine pieces, along the lines of those new ones recently published in "Snowdrift and Other Stories". These were fun to read.
- (many, many) articles about and reviews of her novels, presented without comment and in the order they (and not the novels) were completed. These were of very varying quality and accuracy. The most interesting ones revealed the plots of early novels which Heyer went on to suppress.
- more general essays and articles about Heyer's writing generally. These were probably more worth reading, but I had had enough by this stage. Maybe I will return to them another time.
- some early short stories and magazine pieces, along the lines of those new ones recently published in "Snowdrift and Other Stories". These were fun to read.
- (many, many) articles about and reviews of her novels, presented without comment and in the order they (and not the novels) were completed. These were of very varying quality and accuracy. The most interesting ones revealed the plots of early novels which Heyer went on to suppress.
- more general essays and articles about Heyer's writing generally. These were probably more worth reading, but I had had enough by this stage. Maybe I will return to them another time.
March 1, 2023
Fully indexed collection of articles on the popular author's works, addressing such subjects as "'What Fun!' Detection as Diversion"; "Georgette Heyer and the Uses of Regency"; "Cross-Dressing in Wartime: Georgette Heyer's THE CORINTHIAN in its 1940 Context"; "Gendering Places: Georgette Heyer's Cultural Topography," to name only a few.
October 19, 2025
Not a book I could read straight through, but I took Carol She's So Novel's review to heart and read it slowly and intermittently, or skipped around when the reviews got to be too much.
I enjoyed the Dramatization section more than she did, and more than I expected to. I had read reviews on the movie before and knew it wasn't much, but I was both delighted and dismayed to discover that there were two play dramatizations of two of my favorite Heyer novels running in Chicago after we moved close enough that's a day trip, both of them apparently pretty good, and I missed them.
I enjoyed the Dramatization section more than she did, and more than I expected to. I had read reviews on the movie before and knew it wasn't much, but I was both delighted and dismayed to discover that there were two play dramatizations of two of my favorite Heyer novels running in Chicago after we moved close enough that's a day trip, both of them apparently pretty good, and I missed them.
October 27, 2014
I am glad that there were reprints of her two short stories, Runaway Match and Pursuit; the latter being somewhat similar to another short story of hers. I would have liked more essays critiquing her writing. The reviews of her books varied in interest; some were very short, others were simply a summary of the plot. Nonetheless, I learned a lot about the reception of her books and particularly her role in the development of romance novels in the 1900's,
September 9, 2016
A birthday gift from my fella... excellent nighttime reading. This text has 3 unpublished short stories and one essay. Although I think by reading this, my obsession has moved into the unhealthy column.
July 10, 2008
This is primarily a collection of articles and reviews of Heyer's work but does include several short stories that are not well known.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews