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Available
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Publication
London Sydney Toronto, The Bodley Head, 1984
Description
As a bestselling phenomenon & queen of the Regency Romance, Georgette Heyer is one of the most beloved historical novelists. With this biography we catch a glimpse into Georgette Heyer's world, & that of her most memorable characters.
Media reviews
Georgette Heyer is remembered chiefly as a writer of detective stories and popular historical novels, notably for her Regency romances. These, with titles such as The convenient marriage, Regency buck, and The Spanish bride, pretty, pouting heroines and dashing rakes of heroes, are perhaps not
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regarded very seriously as examples of their genre; so it may come as a surprise to learn from Jane Aiken Hodge's biography that Heyer's historical research and recording were scrupulous. When Heyer planned a historical biography of John, Duke of Bedford, 'She began to collect information ... for the years of John's life, 1389 to 1435. Three card indexes cover this period, itemized by year, month and day', as well as 'a card index of biographies, running from the dukes of Alencon to Richard, Duke of York', and files 'thick with information of every kind'. Clearly, the instincts of an indexer lay within the writer of romances. We may recognize too her glee in discovering errors when proof-reading: 'I had given the same name to Mrs Underhill's housekeeper and Sir Waldo's valet ... I went through the proofs of Carola Oman's new book and don't seem to have missed a thing'. Indeed, for her friend Carola Oman, a more serious historical writer, Georgette Heyer compiled a back-of-the-book index: to Oman's Britain against Napoleon. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
It's an interesting look at the life of the woman who founded the Regency Romance genre. All others in the genre owe a lot to this woman who did some serious research to ensure she had her details correct in the stories. I would have loved to see her library before it was dispersed.
This looks
She also wrote well, and had such a passion for the era that it showed. This book looks at some of the minor errors she comitted but is also lavishly illustrated with some of her sketches in her notebook. I would have loved to know who the imitators/plagarists alluded to in the book were.
All in all a very interesting biography that rekindled my enthuaism for re-reading the stories by this interesting woman. My experience was only marred by the over-enthuastic editing done by a previous reader some of which was thankfully tippexed out. I was also amused to note that Stephen Fry regards Georgette Heyer as a guilty pleasure.
Don't bother with the new edition if you want the illustrations as well as the text. The illustrations are poorly reproduced as compared to the original.
This looks
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behind the scenes at the life of this intensely private woman, a woman who supported her family and ensured that her husband was enabled to study and become, eventually, a judge, but also a woman who hated paperwork, disliked change, had a lot of impatience with others of her gender and disliked stupidity of all sorts.She also wrote well, and had such a passion for the era that it showed. This book looks at some of the minor errors she comitted but is also lavishly illustrated with some of her sketches in her notebook. I would have loved to know who the imitators/plagarists alluded to in the book were.
All in all a very interesting biography that rekindled my enthuaism for re-reading the stories by this interesting woman. My experience was only marred by the over-enthuastic editing done by a previous reader some of which was thankfully tippexed out. I was also amused to note that Stephen Fry regards Georgette Heyer as a guilty pleasure.
Don't bother with the new edition if you want the illustrations as well as the text. The illustrations are poorly reproduced as compared to the original.
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LibraryThing member lavi5676
From my amazon review:
I have read Heyer off and on growing up and rediscovered them a while ago. Surfing the local library catalogue, I bumped into this book and found it fascinating. The world Heyer built was charming and perfect, where manners and propriety is must and wit is romance. Its the
It is well written and exposes Heyer only as much as she herself might have allowed. I thought it a novel way to write about an author who put so much of herself (essence of herself rather) in her books. Through out the book, you see Heyer herself evolving, as you see her family grow and surround her.
I would recommend this book - in fact go so far as to say it is a must - for any Heyer fan. The other author it made me think of is Edgar Wallace. In fact, I found a curious reference to him in the book - his daughter was Mrs.Frere, a close friend of Heyer.
I have read Heyer off and on growing up and rediscovered them a while ago. Surfing the local library catalogue, I bumped into this book and found it fascinating. The world Heyer built was charming and perfect, where manners and propriety is must and wit is romance. Its the
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world I like to escape into and Hodge does homage to both the creator and the works respectful of Heyer's sentiments. Her style of analysing and studying the books chronologically makes a splendid approach to following Heyer's life and work as an author. However, while doing so she does not reveal much about the plot itself, but definitely does let you in on what it must have taken - research and otherwise - for Heyer to have produced it. It is well written and exposes Heyer only as much as she herself might have allowed. I thought it a novel way to write about an author who put so much of herself (essence of herself rather) in her books. Through out the book, you see Heyer herself evolving, as you see her family grow and surround her.
I would recommend this book - in fact go so far as to say it is a must - for any Heyer fan. The other author it made me think of is Edgar Wallace. In fact, I found a curious reference to him in the book - his daughter was Mrs.Frere, a close friend of Heyer.
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LibraryThing member NeverStopTrying
The Private World of Georgette Heyer can best be described as an "authorized" biography. In the words of the author: "I hope to trace the thread of this development of her writing ... with the known facts of her life sketched in simply, as background to her work. I think that is what that very
On the other hand, I did gain a lot of information I did not have before about the trajectory of her writing career, some of what she thought about her work, and the bare bones about her personal life. I am glad I read it, I will be referring back to it as I read through my Challenge selections, and I do recommend it to other fans. It is inclusive as an overview, it is decently written and it will provide insight into the differences among her novels. I do agree with much of what Hodge says about her works. Validation is always satisfying.
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private lady would have wished" (from the Foreward). As a result, the book includes not much in the way of messy details, little or no psychological insights, no discussion of what it might have meant to be partially Russian in England at that point in time. I would have enjoyed that kind of detail and did miss it. On the other hand, I did gain a lot of information I did not have before about the trajectory of her writing career, some of what she thought about her work, and the bare bones about her personal life. I am glad I read it, I will be referring back to it as I read through my Challenge selections, and I do recommend it to other fans. It is inclusive as an overview, it is decently written and it will provide insight into the differences among her novels. I do agree with much of what Hodge says about her works. Validation is always satisfying.
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LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
I really enjoyed this. She was a lovely person, as well as a wonderful author.
I didn't always agree with Hodge's ratings of the books. Of course, I just love ALL Heyer's regnency romances. Now I have a better understanding of why I love hers, and can't stand reading others. I'll just have to keep
I didn't always agree with Hodge's ratings of the books. Of course, I just love ALL Heyer's regnency romances. Now I have a better understanding of why I love hers, and can't stand reading others. I'll just have to keep
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rereading my pile of Heyer, won't I? Show Less
LibraryThing member philippa58
I enjoyed this so much I then reread my Gerorgette Heyer collection in the order she had written them...a most joyous reading experience...in which I learnt to appreciate her crime writing as well
LibraryThing member LyzzyBee
Borrowed from Heather
A nice, proper, old-fashioned biography of the popular writer of Regency novels. We all know that a lot of work goes into something that's deceptively light, and Heyer's notebooks were amazing. The author clearly loves her subject and her novels, respecting rather than being in
A nice, proper, old-fashioned biography of the popular writer of Regency novels. We all know that a lot of work goes into something that's deceptively light, and Heyer's notebooks were amazing. The author clearly loves her subject and her novels, respecting rather than being in
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awe of this formidable lady, and giving a fair as well as a fascinating portrayal. Makes me want to go back to all the books, as a good literary biography will! Show Less
LibraryThing member laura1814
Jane Aiken Hodge’s 1984 biography of Georgette Heyer, reissued this month by Sourcebooks, was until very recently the only one available. Published ten years after Heyer’s death, it describes her life primarily from her letters to her publisher. An intensely private person, Heyer eschewed
A lot of the criticism of this biography has focused on either errors Hodge made about the novels themselves, or some kind of personal disappointment the reader feels from finding Heyer “unlikeable.” I personally find whatever errors Hodge made to be minor and forgivable, and find Heyer herself to be witty, strong-willed, and very likeable. Her personality comes forth in her letters, and makes me want to read more of them. Coupled with her friends’ descriptions of her immense style and charm, they make me wish I could have known her.
Her private nature prevented her from discussing her books with her friends. She would talk about everything else in the world with them, but when the conversation came around to her work, she would remain silent on it, leaving any discussion to her husband, or changing the subject. It is hard to tell from this remove (of both time and culture), but it seems to me that this was, at its core, a very large dose of British reticence and self-deprecation. The idea of self-promotion was simply repugnant to her, and since her first novel, written as a serial to amuse a sick brother when she was 17 and published before she was twenty, had sold well, and a later novel had come out during a general strike with no publicity and yet sold 190,000 copies, she was convinced that she had no need to promote her work. She referred requesters of interviews back to her work. Hodge reports that she would say: You will find me in my work.
So this biography focuses on her work, and how it informs us about the author. And in that regard, it is particularly interesting to writers. There is advice to new authors (she sometimes read other people’s manuscripts for her publisher) and there is the long incubation and development and experimentation of her own style and settings before she settled into the Regency period. It took her twenty years, and twenty-four novels, before she did so. For many years she wrote a historical novel and a thriller every year. It was an intense pace. And her meticulous research is always highlighted.
I was surprised by the size of the Sourcebooks edition, which was smaller and thinner than I had expected. The comparative sizes of this trade-paperback-sized edition and the original hardcover edition is deceptive, however. The new edition runs to 242 pages while the original is only 216. The new edition has a new sentence at the end of the Acknowledgements stating that some new material has been incorporated into the text. While I did not make a word-for-word comparison of the two editions, I did not find any additions or corrections. The most significant difference between the editions appears to be the lack of color illustrations in the new one, and the omission of as many as half of the illustrations that were in the original. The hardcover edition is one of the best-illustrated books about the Regency anywhere, full of large color and black and white plates of photographs, portraits, caricatures, fashion plates, and paintings, something on nearly every page. Many, perhaps most, of these are missing in the new edition, and of course the smaller format and plain paper reduces the beauty, and even the utility, of many of those that remain. It is still well-illustrated, just no longer exceptionally so. This is the only thing that restrains what would otherwise be an enthusiastic recommendation of this book to all Heyer and Regency fans. Even so, it is still well worth reading for anyone who enjoys Heyer or who is interested in the development of a successful author’s career.
Note: I wrote this review for Austenprose, where it was published 14 August 2011.
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publicity, never giving an interview, and not keeping her papers. Thus a biographer has relatively little material available. Hodge interviewed Heyer’s editors, surviving family members, and a very few friends (all of whom loved or respected her), and then wove a narrative around the books themselves, using them to illustrate her life, and vice versa.A lot of the criticism of this biography has focused on either errors Hodge made about the novels themselves, or some kind of personal disappointment the reader feels from finding Heyer “unlikeable.” I personally find whatever errors Hodge made to be minor and forgivable, and find Heyer herself to be witty, strong-willed, and very likeable. Her personality comes forth in her letters, and makes me want to read more of them. Coupled with her friends’ descriptions of her immense style and charm, they make me wish I could have known her.
Her private nature prevented her from discussing her books with her friends. She would talk about everything else in the world with them, but when the conversation came around to her work, she would remain silent on it, leaving any discussion to her husband, or changing the subject. It is hard to tell from this remove (of both time and culture), but it seems to me that this was, at its core, a very large dose of British reticence and self-deprecation. The idea of self-promotion was simply repugnant to her, and since her first novel, written as a serial to amuse a sick brother when she was 17 and published before she was twenty, had sold well, and a later novel had come out during a general strike with no publicity and yet sold 190,000 copies, she was convinced that she had no need to promote her work. She referred requesters of interviews back to her work. Hodge reports that she would say: You will find me in my work.
So this biography focuses on her work, and how it informs us about the author. And in that regard, it is particularly interesting to writers. There is advice to new authors (she sometimes read other people’s manuscripts for her publisher) and there is the long incubation and development and experimentation of her own style and settings before she settled into the Regency period. It took her twenty years, and twenty-four novels, before she did so. For many years she wrote a historical novel and a thriller every year. It was an intense pace. And her meticulous research is always highlighted.
I was surprised by the size of the Sourcebooks edition, which was smaller and thinner than I had expected. The comparative sizes of this trade-paperback-sized edition and the original hardcover edition is deceptive, however. The new edition runs to 242 pages while the original is only 216. The new edition has a new sentence at the end of the Acknowledgements stating that some new material has been incorporated into the text. While I did not make a word-for-word comparison of the two editions, I did not find any additions or corrections. The most significant difference between the editions appears to be the lack of color illustrations in the new one, and the omission of as many as half of the illustrations that were in the original. The hardcover edition is one of the best-illustrated books about the Regency anywhere, full of large color and black and white plates of photographs, portraits, caricatures, fashion plates, and paintings, something on nearly every page. Many, perhaps most, of these are missing in the new edition, and of course the smaller format and plain paper reduces the beauty, and even the utility, of many of those that remain. It is still well-illustrated, just no longer exceptionally so. This is the only thing that restrains what would otherwise be an enthusiastic recommendation of this book to all Heyer and Regency fans. Even so, it is still well worth reading for anyone who enjoys Heyer or who is interested in the development of a successful author’s career.
Note: I wrote this review for Austenprose, where it was published 14 August 2011.
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LibraryThing member SueinCyprus
Interesting insights into the life of novelist Georgette Heyer, who wrote some of my favourite historical fiction, mostly based in Regency times. She was a private person who evidently had a great sense of humour; Jane Aiken Hodge - a historical novelist herself - has written this book with great
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sensitivity, giving a clear picture of this fascinating woman. Recommended to anyone who would like to know more about Heyer and some of the background to her novels. Show Less
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
An in-depth look at the life of Georgette Heyer, writer of a prodigious number of historical romances. Heyer was a well-read, stylish, very private woman who enjoyed a small but close circle of friends and family and researched her books meticulously.
LibraryThing member annbury
Georgette Heyer was a wonderful writer, but she was also an intensely private person, who loathed publicity and refused over and over to be interviewed. That makes it tough to write a biography. Ms. Hodge, however, is up to the challenge, providing a detailed history of Heyer's life and a
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convincing portrait of her character. I especially enjoyed the degree to which Ms. Hodge brought Heyer's books into the story, setting each one in the context of Heyer's life when it was written, her relationships with her publishers, and her overall body of work. Heyer comes across as a less forbidding personage than she does in Jennifer Kloester's biography. For that reason I prefer Ms. Hodge's book, but both of them are excellent and carefully researched biographies. Show Less
LibraryThing member SandyAMcPherson
This readable biography was a pleasant surprise. Hodge created an accurate and sympathetic view of the historical fiction written over the decades by Georgette Heyer. The prose never descended into maudlin praise or esoteric speculation about the very private person that was ‘Miss Heyer’.
It was especially astonishing to read about her difficulties with the British income tax assessments. One now can understand why many citizens became British ex-pats in order to survive. It was also very refreshing to have Heyer’s work revealed as highly capable and well-researched narratives that men apparently read as well as women. It was increasingly evident as Heyer’s research came to light that she was a notable expert in military strategy of the Napoleanic and Peninsular war histories. Highly recommended biography.
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Remarks and quotes throughout about the development of most of her novels added an excellent insight into Heyer’s way of writing. At one point, Hodge details very succinctly that people who sneer at Heyer's work clearly haven't read any. I loved her passages on this topic because it shows how thoroughly the inner workings of Heyer's writing was analyzed.It was especially astonishing to read about her difficulties with the British income tax assessments. One now can understand why many citizens became British ex-pats in order to survive. It was also very refreshing to have Heyer’s work revealed as highly capable and well-researched narratives that men apparently read as well as women. It was increasingly evident as Heyer’s research came to light that she was a notable expert in military strategy of the Napoleanic and Peninsular war histories. Highly recommended biography.
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Language
Original publication date
1984
ISBN
0370305086 / 9780370305080
DDC/MDS
| Fic Historical |