meilufay’s #CBR4 review #100 An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer

An Infamous Army was the novel Georgette Heyer was most proud of.  It tells the story of a romance set during Waterloo.  Heyer is famous for her attention to detail and her research but in this book she absolutely surpassed herself in learning every detail of the the circumstances leading up to Waterloo and of the battle itself.  At one point, the book was studied at Sandringham for its excellent descriptions of the battle.  Unfortunately, this book just did not work for me.  I applaud its ambition but I found it almost interminable.  For one thing, I didn’t care very much about the couple whose love story is supposed to move the plot along.  For another, the pages and pages of descriptions of Wellington’s interactions and thoughts, of battle-scenes, did not really marry very well to the love story that’s supposed to tie this story together.  I think if Heyer had simply written a novel of Wellington and the Battle of Waterloo, this book might have been more satisfying but the different elements of this novel were not woven together well.  I think this book is worth checking out for people who love this period and hunger for well-constructed descriptions of Waterloo, otherwise, I don’t really recommend it.

meilufay’s #CBR4 review #99 The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer

The Talisman Ring is another of Georgette Heyer’s swashbuckling 18th century romances, very much in the vein of the Scarlet Pimpernel.  It’s light and fun and entertaining and forgettable.  An enjoyable read.

meilufay’s #CBR4 review #97 Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer

As some of you may have noticed, I’ve been rereading Georgette Heyer’s historical romances chronologically.  Devil’s Cub is a sequel to These Old Shades (which is one of my all-time favorite of Heyer’s novels) and has as its hero Vidal, the son of Avon and Léonie from the earlier novel.  Because the book is set a generation after These Old Shades, it can be read on its own.  While this book isn’t my favorite of Heyer’s books, it’s easily in the top ten of her best books.  It’s laugh out loud funny, moves along at a smart pace and is peopled by vivid characters.  Great fun.

meilufay’s #CBR4 review #90 The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel is the first in a series of historical romantic swashbucklers that Baroness Orczy wrote about the title character, which form the basis for countless film and television adaptations. It features a foppish aristocrat who secretly spirits aristocrats out of France, saving them from the guillotine. It was written over a hundred years ago and is totally dated in its politics and characterizations but for all that it’s a cracking good read and I would recommend it.

meilufay’s #CBR4 review #88 The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer

The Black Moth is the first novel written by legendary historical romance novelist Georgette Heyer.  It’s a swashbuckling romantic adventure in the vein of the Scarlett Pimpernel. This is the only one of Heyer’s novels available as a free download but if you’re only going to read one Georgette Heyer novel this should not be the one.  She wrote this book while she was still in her teens and it shows.  The plot, dialogue and characters have none of her accustomed sophistication.  For all that, there are signs of the greatness to come and it’s pretty astonishing that such a young person could have written with such wit and attention to detail.