The Historical Romance
The Historical Romance explores the ways in which romance authors have sought to represent our fantasies of love since the first “cloak and dagger” tales captured the popular fiction market in the 1930s. The book explores how, with the social upheavals of war, these swashbucklers gave way to the female-oriented romances of Georgette Heyer and her successors, their qualities of fantasy and credibility and exaggerated romantic motifs representing the symbolic expression of women’s concerns. Hughes’ study leads to the present day by exploring how authors as diverse as Conan Doyle and Barbara Cartland treat the question of female independence and how established attitudes about love, marriage, and women’s sexuality have both been challenged and reaffirmed by more recent texts. Other themes include the abducted heroine and the disguised wounded hero; the romantic treatment of popular and revolutionary movements; and “Englishness,” national identity and the First World War. The author also charts the ways in which the marketing of romance has developed since the beginning of the century, culminating in the explosion of the mass market. The Historical Romance unravels the formulaic and mythical nature of historical romance to provide a fascinating study of a highly popular genre.

They Found Him Dead
One heir after another turns up dead… Silas Kane’s sixtieth birthday party is marred by argument and dissension amongst his family, and then the next morning, Kane is found dead. The coroner’s verdict of death by misadventure would seem to confirm that Silas accidentally lost his way in the fog. But then his heir is shot, and threats are made against the next in line to inherit his fortune. The redoubtable Superintendent Hannasyde is called in to investigate. All clues point to an apparently innocuous eighty-year-old woman, but as the Inspector delves further into the case, he discovers that nothing is quite as it seems…***PRAISE FOR THEY FOUND HIM DEAD: “Ranks alongside such incomparable whodunit authors as Christie, Marsh, Tey, and Allingham.” San Francisco Chronicle”The author introduces us to enough lively and interesting people to make the book attractive even without its ingenious detective plot.” The Times Literary Supplement”Miss Heyer’s characters and dialogue are an abiding delight to me… I have seldom met people to whom I have taken so violent a fancy from the word ‘Go’.” Dorothy L. Sayers***More Praise for Miss Heyer:”Our Georgette Heyer display of the Sourcebooks reprints has been a huge success, not only to those early fans like myself, but to many new readers who appreciate her style and wit.”Nancy Olson, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC”Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen.” Publishers Weekly”Wonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic. Georgette Heyer achieves what the rest of us only aspire to.” Katie Fforde
They Found Him Dead

The Unknown Ajax
A Georgette Heyer Regency romance that takes a close look at the smuggling trade of the period, full of humor, and with a scene of family bonding and theatrics that readers will remember forever. When a Yorkshire cousin becomes heir to the noble Darracott name and fortune, he pretends to be the country bumpkin they’re all expecting. Then a family crisis thrusts Hugo into the role of an unlikely savior, and the family farce begins to unravel. But not before Hugo establishes himself as the undisputed head of the family, and his beautiful cousin Anthea discovers she’s met her match.
The Unknown Ajax

False Colours
“Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen.”—Publishers WeeklyA missing twinSomething is very wrong, and the Honourable Christopher “Kit” Fancot can sense it. Kit returns to London on leave from the diplomatic service to find that his twin brother Evelyn has disappeared and his extravagant mother’s debts have mounted alarmingly. A quick-minded heiressThe Fancot family’s fortunes are riding on Evelyn’s marriage to the self-possessed Cressy Stavely, and her formidable grandmother’s approval of the match. If Evelyn fails to meet the Dowager Lady Stavely in a few days as planned, the betrothal could be off. A fortune in the balanceWhen the incorrigible Lady Fancot persuades her son to impersonate his twin (just for one night, she promises) the masquerade sets off a tangled sequence of events that engage Kit’s heart far more deeply than he’d ever anticipated with his brother’s fiancée—who might know much more about what’s going on than she cares to reveal…“A writer of great wit and style… I’ve read her books to ragged shreds.” —Kate Fenton, Daily TelegraphGeorgette Heyer (1902–1974) wrote over fifty novels, including Regency romances, mysteries, and historical fiction. She was known as the Queen of Regency romance, and was legendary for her research, historical accuracy, and her extraordinary plots and characterizations.
False Colours

I mean, I do read her but her older works I think, because even though it’s still gothic and usually mysteries, but I don’t think there’s any sex involved. Intriguing.

I don’t know about her mysteries, I haven’t read any of them yet — but I’ve read 21 of her romances so far. There’s never actual sex in them, but they’re actually surprisingly racy.

…is this a real thing?

It is!

Copyright 1958. Awesome, huh?

She looked at Damarel. “Well, my dear friend?”

“Well, my dear delight?” he returned, a glint in his eyes.

“Do you think you will make me unhappy?”

“I don’t — but I will offer you no promises!”

“No, pray don’t!” she said seriously. “As soon as one promises not to do something it becomes the one thing above all others that one most wishes to do!” She turned her head towards her uncle again. “You mean to warn me that he may continue to have mistresses, and orgies and — and so-on, don’t you sir?”

“Particularly so-on!” interpolated Damerel.

“Well, how should I know all the shocking things you do? The thing is, uncle, that I don’t think I ever should know.”

“You’d know about my orgies!” objected Damerel.

“Yes, but I shouldn’t care about them, once in a while. After all, it would be quite unreasonable to wish you to change all your habits, and I can always retire to bed, can’t I?”

“Oh, won’t you preside over them?” he said, much disappointed.

“Yes, love, if you wish me to,” she replied, smiling at him. “Should I enjoy them?”

He stretched out his hand, and when she laid her own in it, held it very tightly. “You shall have a splendid orgy, my dear delight, and you will enjoy it very much indeed!”

Fortunately, since the much-tried Mr. Hendrid was showing alarming signs of having reached the end of his endurance, the door opened at that moment, and Imber came in with the tea-tray.

(ALL THOSE YEARS I SPENT RE-READING JANE AUSTEN WHEN I COULD HAVE BEEN READING GEORGETTE HEYER)

This was my first Georgette Heyer novel, and I admit I expected to be slightly bored as regency romances are not precisely my cup of tea. However, I’ve been trying to expand my reading horizons lately so I plunged into The Reluctant Widow. At the outset, the plot seemed rather silly and contrived. But as I continued with the story it got progressively more interesting and intriguing in every sense of the word. What really drew me in were the characters though. The heroine was snarky, sarcastic, and while she was somewhat typical in her inability to act without a man she didn’t lack for decision and a certain understated independence. The hero was also compelling, and while he was masterful, he also was eminently practical and well-spoken.

I liked and enjoyed the protagonists of Heyer’s story, but I admired how she dealt with the villains/antagonists. None of the antagonists were flat, and they were all varied in their types and degrees of villainy. Most interestingly however was the antagonist who turned out to be working towards the same goal as the protagonists (avoiding scandal and preventing treason) but remained a generally not-nice guy. He was a thoroughly dangerous, unlikeable, rather creepy character…but in the end you couldn’t hate him either.

In the end, I expected to take several days working my way through this book and instead I finished it in one sitting.