Georgette Heyer Fans discussion

Watch the new book trailers, listen to a sample, and immerse yourself in the world of An Independent Heart:

https://www.goodreads.com/videos/list...

My Mum says An Independent Heart is a nice, cosy read for a winter day, and winter is still with us! If you’d like to know what less biased readers thought, read the comments below or check out the reviews here: An Independent Heart

Read the first four chapters here: https://elsiegrant.blogspot.com/searc....

Discover my blog here: https://elsiegrant.blogspot.com

There’s quite a bit of music in the book, so don’t miss the Independent Heart Soundtrack on YouTube, featuring all the pieces that come up in the story: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

An Independent Heart is available in paperback and e-book format with Amazon, Books on Demand, and in bookstores near you:
http://tinyurl.com/4bknkh7k (Amazon)
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I loved this book and have already ordered my paper copy of the second edition. Highly recommended for Georgette Heyer fans! It’s not as frothy but just as good.

Abigail wrote: "I loved this book and have already ordered my paper copy of the second edition. Highly recommended for Georgette Heyer fans! It’s not as frothy but just as good."

Am I allowed to comment here? If I am, I'd like to say that you're a wee star, Abigail!

(The type of comment I've just made always reminds me of Venetia's silly aunt and her "Never would I tell you that...", "It is far from my mind to divulge...". I've often wondered if there's a name for this device. Is there? Something fancy, in Greek?)

Sure you are allowed to comment here, Elizabeth! This is your thread!

You’re too kind, E! In the words of Elizabeth Bennet (I think), “I speak as I find.” And I would love to know the Greek term for that rhetorical device!

I wish there was a way to be notified anytime someone starts a new thread in this group. I forget to go to the group home and see if anything is new and I miss posts that way.

any book highly recommended for Heyer fans is one I want to try, so thank you!

If only Goodreads were working more effectively—you ought to get a notification for every new thread!

Abigail wrote: "You’re too kind, E! In the words of Elizabeth Bennet (I think), “I speak as I find.” And I would love to know the Greek term for that rhetorical device!"

could you mean: Litotes?

Conceivably so, Sabagrey. Thanks!

sabagrey wrote: "Abigail wrote: And I would love to know the Greek term for that rhetorical device!" Could you mean: Litotes?"

Thanks, Sabagrey! I've finally looked it up, and it seems it's called apophasis. Litotes is slightly different, it's using a negative to imply something positive, or vice versa. For instance, if Abigail now replied "Not bad at all", I think that would be a litotes. And if you replied to me that you would never say that I'm a pedantic so-and-so, that would be apophasis!

Wow, I'm glad to have got this sorted! Not bad at all, eh?

Elizabeth wrote: "I've finally looked it up, and it seems it's called apophasis. "

thank you, brilliant! - your examples help a lot & get it exactly right. done my bit of learning for today ;-)

sabagrey wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "I've finally looked it up, and it seems it's called apophasis. "

thank you, brilliant! - your examples help a lot & get it exactly right. done my bit of learning for today ;-)"

That's so kind of you, Sabagrey, thank you! In one of those two-o-clock-in-the-morning moments of lucidity I suddenly remembered the term we learned in school, too: paralepsis. Your mention of litotes must have stimulated the right synapses ;-).

Best wishes, and take care!

Dear Elizabeth,

I've just finished reading "An Independent Heart" and liked it very much (I will rate and review it on GR, a little later).

What I liked particularly was the presence of some of the socio-economic and political realities of the time: Enclosure, the rotten electoral system, the impending problems of the after-war period, or the importance of wheat prices. Congratulations on binding them smoothly into the story! - (while I can read GH for the pleasure of it, the amount of socio-historical facts that she neglects, or at best ridicules, is staggering and, of course, highly ideological)

Thank you also for pointing me to Drayton - I was first made aware of him by Georgette Heyer (Venetia) and am now exploring his poetry a bit more in-depth. (view spoiler)[... and stumbled on the changes you made in the lines you quote from him. Coming from scientific research, such "misquotations" rankle with me - are they legitimate in fiction? (hide spoiler)]

I also have a question on the plot. (view spoiler)[I don't really see Lyster's motive for organising the assault on Sumner - did he really think he could cow Sumner into being pro-enclosure, while Sumner wasn't even decided against it? Would a wannabe-politician resort to such crude measures? (hide spoiler)] - But I don't exclude that maybe I have overlooked something there in my haste to get on with reading.

sabagrey wrote: "Dear Elizabeth,

I've just finished reading "An Independent Heart" and liked it very much (I will rate and review it on GR, a little later)

Thank you, Sabagrey, how kind!

I'm so glad you enjoyed the story, and that it led you to Drayton. (view spoiler)[That's a very good point about tampering with his text. I think it's alright if you're open about what you're doing – I've used my blog to explain what's going on. I was in quite a quandary there: originally I'd referenced a poet I called Matthew G. Sumners and quoted these lines: "You can't control an independent heart / or tear the one you love apart." If you're a Sting fan you'll recognize this as being part of the lyrics of "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" from his album The Dream of the Blue Turtles, and you'll know that he's really called Gordon Matthew Sumners. I'd acknowledged the debt in the Author's Note, but I was advised quite strongly to change that in the second edition. Apparently you can be sued down into the ground if you quote song lyrics in fiction! Hence my "improvements" on Drayton. (hide spoiler)]

You may well have spotted a weakness in the plot – plot is not my strong point, I'm afraid. If I remember correctly, (view spoiler)[Lyster's plan was to keep Justin from attending the meeting at the Bird-in-Hand and bonding with his people. I think the idea was to make him feel they aren't worth troubling about, and to stop him getting more involved in local politics. So it was less about cowing him than about making him angry. (hide spoiler)] Does that make sense? (view spoiler)[I see Lyster as cold-blooded rather than crude. (hide spoiler)] But again, my plotting may be at fault! Thank you for saying it may have been your feeling of suspense that did it, elegantly turning criticism into compliment . . .

Yours,
Elsie