(no subject)

[skygiants]

So yesterday as a reward for several weeks of stress I reread Georgette Heyer's Cotillion, and even though this was the very first Heyer I ever read, it turns out that it in fact pre-dated my booklogging habit and therefore I have never written it up!

I AM FIXING THAT NOW, because Cotillion is so, so delightful. Everybody who's ever read a Heyer knows this, but there are presumably some people out there who don't! BUT NOW YOU WILL. (You're welcome!)

Cotillion starts out with our heroine Kitty being informed by her cranky old guardian that she has to marry one of his great-nephews/her fake cousins, or he's not going to leave her any money. He's summoned them all here, so she can pick which one she likes best, and that will be that!

Unfortunately, the Dashing Sexy fake cousin that she is secretly in love with and that her guardian secretly wants to leave all his money to has failed to turn up, leaving her with the option of Bachelor A, the rector who doesn't believe in fun and is only proposing because he's Very Worried About Kit's Future, and Bachelor B, the one who has a mental age of seven and is only proposing because his mother made him. Everyone involved agrees that this is very awkward -- bear in mind that they are all fake cousins and have known each other since they were kids -- but nobody really knows what to do about it!

Fortunately, while Kitty is in the process of throwing a tantrum and running away, she bumps into Bachelor C, the amiable and hapless one who is already rich and has no interest in getting married because any potential wife would probably clash with his exquisite wardrobe.

KITTY: FREDDY. Freddy! Buddy. Favorite fake cousin!
FREDDY: . . . first I've heard about being your favorite fake cousin . . .
KITTY: Sooooo Freddy, how about we get fake engaged? And then I could go hang out in London for a month and buy a lot of engagement dresses and make our Dashing Sexy cousin feel like an idiot for not turning up to get married, and then we'll break up! Is this not the greatest idea ever? :D
FREDDY: . . . not sure I'd actually use the words 'greatest idea ever . . .'
KITTY: Pleeeeeeeease Freddy! Please! I have NEVER GOTTEN TO WEAR A PRETTY DRESS EVER IN MY LIFE DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND HOW HARD THIS IS.
FREDDY: . . . you're right, that is pretty terrible. FINE. Let's do this thing.
KITTY: FREDDY YOU'RE FOR REAL MY FAVORITE :D :D :D :D

And then they go back and earnestly explain to everybody that they have been nursing a SECRET PASSION for each other for years, and then they go to London, and Freddy helps Kitty buy dresses, and Kitty drags Freddy to all the tourist traps, and they hang out and admire each other's good taste and have awesome BFF times, and, like, that's it. THAT'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE BOOK.

I mean, Sexy Dashing Cousin inevitably shows up to be a romantic interest, and Kitty gets involved in some wacky hijinks around various other cousins, but mostly IT'S ABOUT BUDDIES who then decide being buddies is so great they might as well get married for real!

This book is commentary on the romance genre in lots of ways, I think, not least because this recurring conversation:

SEXY DASHING COUSIN: Hah, yeah, this is a funny joke, but we all know you can't really like Freddy, Kitty, he's so boring and un-manly!
KITTY: Um are you kidding me, FREDDY IS THE GREATEST. He is adorable and sweet and my favorite, and really competent when it counts, and I want to hang out with him all the time! :D
SEXY DASHING COUSIN: . . . . . >:|

could easily be reframed as

ROMANCE NOVEL PUBLISHERS: Ha, yeah, this is a funny joke, but we all know no one could really like a hero like Freddy, they're so boring and un-manly . . .!

And no, actually, please, give me more Freddys. Please!

I also need to ask you guys what Heyer I should read next, since I anticipate more stressful weeks in my future and I've run out of ones that I remember having been directly recommended.

For the record, I have also read and loved: The Talisman Ring, The Unknown Ajax, Sprig Muslin, Sylvester, The Corinthian, Frederica and The Foundling

I have read and enjoyed with some caveats: The Grand Sophy, Venetia, Devil's Cub, The Convenient Marriage, The Masqueraders, and Regency Buck

I have read and did not like at all: Bath Tangle and The Spanish Bride

Comments

[troisroyaumes]

Faro's Daughter is my second favorite Heyer. The hero is alas not as great as Freddy--no one is as great as Freddy!--but the heroine gets to tie him to a chair. XD

My third favorite is The Nonesuch, because the heroine is a no-nonsense governess.

[bookblather]

HAHAHA YES and then she's super polite about kidnapping him.

[skygiants]

NO ONE IS AS GREAT AS FREDDY. This is such a depressing literary truth. ;__; But I will take no-nonsense heroines and heroes getting tied to chairs!

[bookblather]

MORE FREDDYS EVERYWHERE. FOREVER.

Try the Reluctant Widow? I think it will fall in your caveats category, but it has NICKY. And Nicky has BOUNCER. And Nicky also has HILARIOUS PERIL. Alas, Nicky is not the hero.

[skygiants]

I am okay with caveats! I still enjoy them and they are still stress-relief. :D As long as I don't stumble into another Spanish Bride I'm ALL GOOD.

[ceitfianna]

Have you read Faro's Daughter because I loved that one a lot and will add this to my to read list. Faro's Daughter is all about perception and while there's a young and silly romance, the one that counts is the two more mature characters messing with each other as they fall in love.

Your lists are also helpful as I want to read more Heyer but she has so much.

[skygiants]

Excellent, I love it when Heyer does two sets of romances!

[jothra]

DASH IT ALL, KIT.

[skygiants]

NOT THE LILAC!

[ashen_key]

I have a collection of Heyer, which has been VERY DAUNTING, and I didn't know which one to start with.

NOW I DO, THANK YOU! :D

[skygiants]

YOU'RE WELCOME. >:D I do my best to be of use!

[qian]

Cotillion was my very first Heyer. I have to say it wasn't the best one to start with, because almost every other Heyer has been kind of a disappointment in comparison. The romance is not usually as good!

[skygiants]

It was my first too! I wouldn't say every other one has been a disappointment, but it's true that very few can quite compete. And it did totally spoil me for any of The Ones With Rakes, like, I think I might have ranked Venetia quite a bit higher had I read it first . . .

[shati]

It's my only Heyer so far! I'm sad to hear that the romance is usually not as good, but I guess it's a high bar to clear. Freddy! *_*

[saramily]

FREDERICA. If you haven't read it yet, FREDERICA!

It's got siblings! And sensible romance plus watering-pot romance!

[skygiants]

Frederica is already on my list of favorites! :D I ALWAYS TRUST YOUR HEYER RECS.

[kate_nepveu]

I don't remember a damn thing about _Arabella_ other than that I enjoyed it reasonably well.

[skygiants]

Heh, THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH!

[carmarthen]

This reminds me that I need to read Cotillion.

(I actually love Masqueraders to pieces because it is basically tailor-made for my id, and am not entirely sure why everyone else seems to have issues with Anthony--I think Prue likes his authoritarian fits just fiiiiiine, and ignores them when she doesn't. Humorous, sort of domly men seem to have been Heyer's Thing, and while not to everyone's taste, I don't think they're bad, so long as their heroines enjoy them being all "masterful.")

[skygiants]

You should absolutely read Cotillion! I devoured it in a day and it was the best thing for me, I could not remember to be stressed out while I was reading it.

(Heh, I actually don't really have problems with Anthony, although I see why people do - I would start to be annoyed with him, and then someone would make a crack about Prue's large gentleman and I would start giggling uncontrollably and be overcome with affection for everyone. And obviously the cross-dressing hijinks are one hundred percent my speed. Mostly the writing style of Heyer's Georgians just doesn't tend to click for me quite as well as her Regencies, for whatever reason.)

[rushthatspeaks]

You may have caveats about Arabella, but it has a dog. Named Ulysses.

[skygiants]

Heyer does tend to do a fantastic job with dogs.

[opusculasedfera]

Freddy is the greatest! He just wants Kitty to wear a dress that doesn't clash, why is his life so hard? :(((

[skygiants]

Kitty is generally happy to wear a dress that doesn't clash, it's why they're so well-suited! Freddy's sister, on the other hand, OH GOD, MEG, WHYYYYYY.

[vass]

My favourite Heyer is A Civil Contract, but I can only recommend it with the caveat that this is a book that people either love or hate.

The love position: it's a romance in which the two protagonists behave like adults and make the best of a bad situation and like each other because they're both reasonable and kind and considerate and share life experiences and senses of humour and don't idealise each other. And the heroine is fat and plain and never becomes magically slim and beautiful, although she does learn to dress in ways that don't make everyone else in the Ton snicker behind their fans.

The hate position: the heroine is a doormat who secretly loves the hero and tries to win his love by being a good housekeeper, and he never falls in love with her back.

[skygiants]

I suspect, from what I have heard about A Civil Contract, that I will love it, but who knows! It is good to be forewarned with the caveats. :D

[fahye]

Heyer books are like rare sapphires where I live, for some reason, I can never find them anywhere! The only one I've EVER been able to read is a short book called Powder and Patch which is 100% delightful: the hero gets pissed off when the heroine rejects him because of his country ways (she loves him, but she was sort of hoping he would acquire some polish before she married him, plus he treats her like a sure thing which she doesn't approve of) and he flounces off to Paris in a huff to PROVE HER WRONG by becoming the most fashionable, dandified, awesome-at-fencing, writes-his-own-terrible-poetry darling of high society that ever existed. The heroine gets accidentally engaged to two unsuitable people at once. Everyone cares very, very deeply about their clothes. The hero has a flamboyant French valet who seems to secretly be running the universe.

[skygiants]

Oh my God, you poor woman, I had no idea you were so Heyer-deprived! I feel this is something that ought to be fixed. >.>

[sophia_sol]

I am bad at remembering my opinions of Heyers without having written reminders for myself, so I can only rec you one further Heyer as it's one I read recently enough for me to have talked about it on my dreamwidth: The Black Sheep. I love it lots and lots! And iirc it's one of the ones I have the fewest reservations about -- I mean I don't think I've ever read a Heyer WITHOUT caveats to my enjoyment, oh Heyer, but this one gets pretty close! (If you don't mind spoilers, or the fact that I talk about the hypothetical events following the book more than the book itself, you can read my post about it here)

also: yesyesyes to Freddys as romantic heroes. SO GOOD.

[skygiants]

Heh, yeah, I mean, there is always the fact of Heyer's ever-so-delightful assumptions about class and race buried in the middle of everything -- I sort of tend to switch the critical part of my brain off when I'm reading Heyer, because if I'm doing it I'm doing it for comfort junk food, but sometimes it's impossible to ignore.

Thank you for the rec! :D

[percysowner]

I'm a little late to the party, but I'm seconding or thirding A Civil Contract. It's Heyer's most adult romance. I also love Friday's Child. Basically headstrong young man can't get his inheritance unless he gets married. He ends up marrying his much younger childhood friend, who is trying to avoid being sent to become a governess. They are friends and they both need to grow up and the heroine is totally adorable and the hero is fun and does learn to grow up. I like Sylvester as well.

[happydork]

Am now reading this on the basis of this post. You didn't mention FREDDY'S PARENTS, the most delightful trolls imaginable! I'm about a third of the way in -- they've just got to London and Freddy's dad is having an amazing time watching his son Hatch A Scheme.

Lord Legerwood, in the act of raising his claret-glass to his lips, lowered it again, and regarded his son almost with awe. ‘These unsuspected depths, Frederick –! I have wronged you!’

[happydork]

Freddy is impervious to his father's sarcasm! Freddy's father wants to hear literally every word Freddy has to say about how he and Kitty and Kitty's guide book were too clever for those vile scammers otherwise known as the British Museum!