Ruth
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
My husband and I enjoy reading together in the evening, and thanks to one of your previous answers we recently finished Cotillion. Thanks for the recommendation! How had we missed Heyer before? I would guess that her characters and comedy significantly influenced later generations of authors.
Lois McMaster Bujold
Yes, Heyer has been a huge influence on authors in several genres, Romance obviously, but also science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. For an author whose work has never been out of print for over a century (her first book was published in 1917, I believe) she is remarkably overlooked by the sort of people who make up those Important Books of the 20th Century lists. Reasons why left as an exercise for the student.
The two not necessarily mutually exclusive ideas I've seen for why a book/writer is considered great are, a) it is beloved by many people over generational time, or b) it changes how books that come after it are written. Hearts and minds, as it were. Heyer certainly hits both metrics.
Ta, L.
Yes, Heyer has been a huge influence on authors in several genres, Romance obviously, but also science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. For an author whose work has never been out of print for over a century (her first book was published in 1917, I believe) she is remarkably overlooked by the sort of people who make up those Important Books of the 20th Century lists. Reasons why left as an exercise for the student.
The two not necessarily mutually exclusive ideas I've seen for why a book/writer is considered great are, a) it is beloved by many people over generational time, or b) it changes how books that come after it are written. Hearts and minds, as it were. Heyer certainly hits both metrics.
Ta, L.
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