7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 1/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 1ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer

Born Georgette Heyer

16 August 1902

Wimbledon, London, United Kingdo

Died 4 July 1974 (aged 71)

London, United Kingdom

Pen name Georgette Heyer,

Stella Martin[1]

Occupation Writer

Period 1921–74

Genres Historical romance, detective fiction

Spouse(s) George Ronald Rougier (1925–74;

death)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Georgette Heyer / ̍heɪ.ər/ (17 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was a Britishistorical romance and detective fiction novelist. Her writing career began in921, when she turned a story for her younger brother into the short story

The Blac k Moth . In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a miningengineer. The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika Territory and

Macedonia before returning to England in 1929. After her novel These Old Shades became popular despite its release during the General Strike, Heyer

etermined that publicity was not necessary for good sales. For the rest ofer life, she refused to grant interviews, telling a friend: "My private life

oncerns no one but myself and my family."[2]

Heyer essentially established the historical romance genre and its subgenreRegency romance. Her Regencies were inspired by Jane Austen, but unlikeAusten, who wrote about and for the times in which she lived, Heyer wasorced to include copious information about the period so that her readerswould understand the setting. To ensure accuracy, Heyer collected referenceworks and kept detailed notes on all aspects of Regency life. While someritics thought the novels were too detailed, others considered the level of

etail to be Heyer's greatest asset. Her meticulous nature was also evidentn her historical novels; Heyer even recreated William the Conqueror'srossing into England for her novel The Conqueror .

Beginning in 1932, Heyer released one romance novel and one thriller eachear. Her husband often provided basic outlines for the plots of her thrillers,

eaving Heyer to develop character relationships and dialogue so as to bringhe story to life. Although many critics describe Heyer's detective novels asnoriginal, others such as Nancy Wingate praise them "for their wit and

omedy as well as for their well-woven plots".[3]

Her success was sometimes clouded by problems with tax inspectors andalleged plagiarists. Heyer chose not to file lawsuits against the suspected

terary thieves, but tried multiple ways of minimizing her tax liability. Forcedo put aside the works she called her "magnum opus" (a trilogy covering theHouse of Lancaster) to write more commercially successful works, Heyereventually created a limited liability company to administer the rights to her

ovels. She was accused several times of providing an overly large salaryor herself, and in 1966 she sold the company and the rights to seventeen ofer novels to Booker-McConnell. Heyer continued writing until her death inuly 1974. At that time, 48 of her novels were still in print; her last book, My 

Lord John , was published posthumously.

Contents

1 Early years

2 Marriage

3 Regency romances

4 Thrillers

5 Financial problems

6 Imitators

7 Later years

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 2/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 2ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

8 Legacy

9 List of works

9.1 Georgian & Regency novels

9.2 Historical novels

9.3 Novels with a contemporary setting

9.4 Thrillers with a contemporary setting

9.5 Short story collections

9.6 Other short stories

10 Footnotes

11 References

12 Further reading

13 External links

Early years

Heyer was born in Wimbledon, London in 1902. She weighed only 2.6 pounds when she was born, making it remarkable

he survived. She was named after her father, George Heyer. [4] Her mother, Sylvia Watkins, studied both cello and piano was one of the top three students in her class at the Royal College of Music. Heyer's paternal grandfather had emigrated

rom Russia, while her maternal grandparents owned tugboats on the River Thames.[5]

Heyer was the eldest of three children; her brothers George Boris (known as Boris) and Frank were four and nine years

ounger than her.[4] For part of her childhood, the family lived in Paris, France, but they returned to England shortly after

World War I broke out in 1914.[6] Although the family's surname had been pronounced "higher", the advent of war led her

ather to use the pronunciation "hair" so they would not be mistaken for Germans.[7] During the war, her father served as equisitions officer for the British Army in France. After the war ended he was appointed a Member of the Order of the Brit

Empire (MBE).[8] He left the army in 1920 with the rank of captain,[9] taught at King's College London and sometimes wro

or The Granta .[4][5]

George Heyer strongly encouraged his children to read and never forbade any book. Georgette read widely and often me

with her friends Joanna Cannan and Carola Oman to discuss books.[10] Heyer and Oman later shared their works-in-progress with each other and offered criticism.[11]

When she was 17, Heyer began a serial story to amuse her brother Boris, who suffered from a form of haemophilia and woften weak. Her father enjoyed listening to her story and asked her to prepare it for publication. His agent found a publishor her book, and The Black Moth , about the adventures of a young man who took responsibility for his brother's card-

heating, was released in 1921.[10][12] According to her biographer Jane Aiken Hodge, the novel contained many of theelements that would become standard for Heyer's novels, the "saturnine male lead, the marriage in danger, the extravaga

wife, and the group of idle, entertaining young men".[13] The following year one of her contemporary short stories, "A

Proposal to Cicely", was published in Happy Magazine .[14]

Marriage

While holidaying with her family in December 1920, Heyer met George Ronald Rougier, who was two years her senior.[15

The two became regular dance partners while Rougier studied at the Royal School of Mines to become a mining engineehe spring of 1925, shortly after the publication of her fifth novel, they became engaged. One month later, Heyer's father d

of a heart attack. He left no pension, and Heyer assumed financial responsibility for her brothers, aged 19 and 14.[16] Two

months after her father's death, on 18 August, Heyer and Rougier married in a simple ceremony.[17]

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 3/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 3ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

Heyer claimed that every word

uttered by The Duke of

Wellington in her novel An 

Infamous Army was spoken or

written by him in real life.

n October 1925 Rougier was sent to work in the Caucasus Mountains, partly because he had learned Russian as a

hild.[18][19] Heyer remained at home and continued to write.[18] In 1926, she released These Old Shades , in which the Dof Avon courts his own ward. Unlike her first novel, These Old Shades focused more on personal relationships than on

adventure.[12] The book appeared in the midst of the 1926 United Kingdom general strike; as a result, the novel received

ewspaper coverage, reviews, or advertising. Nevertheless, the book sold 190,000 copies.[20] Because the lack of publiciad not harmed the novel's sales, Heyer refused for the rest of her life to promote her books, even though her publishers

often asked her to give interviews.[21] She once wrote to a friend that "as for being photographed at Work or in my Old WoGarden, that is the type of publicity which I find nauseating and quite unnecessary. My private life concerns no one but my

and my family."[2]

Rougier returned home in the summer of 1926, but within months he was sent to the East African territory of Tanganyika.

Heyer joined him there the following year.[22] They lived in a hut made of elephant grass located in the bush;[11] Heyer wa

he first white woman her servants had ever seen.[22] While in Tanganyika, Heyer wrote The Masqueraders ; set in 1745, tbook follows the romantic adventures of siblings who pretend to be of the opposite sex in order to protect their family, allormer Jacobites. Although Heyer did not have access to all of her reference material, the book contained only

one anachronism: she placed the opening of White's a year too early.[11] She also wrote an account of her adventures, tit

The Horned Beast of Africa", which was published in 1929 in the newspaper The Sphere .[23]

n 1928, Heyer followed her husband to Macedonia, where she almost died after a dentist improperly administered an

anaesthetic.[22] She insisted they return to England before starting a family. The following year Rougier left his job, makin

Heyer the primary breadwinner.

[22][24]

After a failed experiment running a gas, coke, and lighting company, Rougierpurchased a sports shop in Horsham with money they borrowed from Heyer's aunts. Heyer's brother Boris lived above the

hop and helped Rougier, while Heyer continued to provide the bulk of the family's earnings with her writing.[22]

Regency romances

Heyer's earliest works were romance novels, most set before 1800.[25] In 1935, she released Regency Buck , her first nov

et in the Regency period. This bestselling novel essentially established the genre of Regency romance.[26] Unlike otheromance novels of the period, Heyer's novels used the setting as a plot device. Many of her characters exhibited modern-ensibilities; more conventional characters in the novels would point out the heroine's eccentricities, such as wanting to m

or love.[27] The books were set almost entirely in the world of the wealthy upper class[28] and only occasionally mention

poverty, religion, or politics (another way in which her novels reflect those of Jane Austen).[29]

Although the British Regency lasted only from 1811 to 1820, Heyer's romances were sebetween 1752 and 1825. As noted by literary critic Kay Mussell, the books revolved aroa "structured social ritual — the marriage market represented by the London season"

where "all are in danger of ostracism for inappropriate behavior".[30] Her Regencyromances were inspired by the writings of Jane Austen, whose novels were set in thesame era. Austen's works, however, were contemporary novels, describing the times inwhich she lived. According to Pamela Regis in her work A Natural History of the RomanNovel , because Heyer's stories took place amidst events that had occurred over 100 yeearlier, she had to include more detail on the period in order for her readers to understa

it.[31] While Austen could ignore the "minutiae of dress and decor",[32] Heyer included

those details "to invest the novels ... with 'the tone of the time'".[33] Later reviewers, sucas Lillian Robinson, criticized Heyer's "passion for the specific fact without concern for i

significance",[34] and Marghanita Laski pointed out that "these aspects on which Heyer so dependent for her creation of atmosphere are just those which Jane Austen ... referr

to only when she wanted to show that a character was vulgar or ridiculous".[35] Others,including A. S. Byatt, believe that Heyer's "awareness of this atmosphere — both of theminute details of the social pursuits of her leisured classes and of the emotional structu

behind the fiction it produced — is her greatest asset".[36]

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 4/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 4ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

William the Conqueror, depicted

this statue on the West Front of

Lichfield Cathedral, was featured

Heyer's first novel of historical

fiction.

Determined to make her novels as accurate as possible, Heyer collected reference works and research materials to use

while writing.[37] At the time of her death she owned over 1,000 historical reference books, including Debrett's and an 180ictionary of the House of Lords. In addition to the standard historical works about the medieval and eighteenth-century

periods, her library included histories of snuff boxes, sign posts, and costumes.[38] She often clipped illustrations frommagazine articles and jotted down interesting vocabulary or facts onto note cards, but rarely recorded where she found th

nformation.[37] Her notes were sorted into categories, such as Beauty, Colours, Dress, Hats, Household, Prices, and Sho

and even included details such as the cost of candles in a particular year.[38][39] Other notebooks contained lists of phrase

overing such topics as "Food and Crockery", "Endearments", and "Forms of Address."[39] One of her publishers, Max

Reinhardt, once attempted to offer editorial suggestions about the language in one of her books but was promptly informeby a member of his staff that no one in England knew more about Regency language than Heyer.[40]

n the interests of accuracy, Heyer once purchased a letter written by the Duke of Wellington so that she could precisely

employ his style of writing.[41] She claimed that every word attributed to Wellington in An Infamous Army was actually spo

or written by him in real life.[42] Her knowledge of the period was so extensive that Heyer rarely mentioned dates explicitly

er books; instead, she situated the story by casually referring to major and minor events of the time.[43]

Thrillers

n 1931, Heyer released The Conqueror , her first novel of historical fiction to give actionalized account of real historical events. She researched the life of William the

Conqueror thoroughly, even travelling the route that William took when crossing intoEngland.[44] The following year, Heyer's writing took an even more drastic departure from

er early historical romances when she released her first thriller, Footsteps in the Dark .The novel's publication coincided with the birth of her only child, Richard George

Rougier, whom she called her "most notable (indeed peerless) work".[45] Later in her life,Heyer requested that her publishers refrain from reprinting Footsteps in the Dark , sayingThis work, published simultaneously with my son ... was the first of my thrillers and was

perpetrated while I was, as any Regency character would have said, increasing. Oneusband and two ribald brothers all had fingers in it, and I do not claim it as a Major

Work."[46]

For the next several years Heyer published one romance novel and one thriller eachear. The romances were far more popular: they usually sold 115,000 copies, while her

hrillers sold 16,000 copies.[47] According to her son, Heyer "regarded the writing ofmystery stories rather as we would regard tackling a crossword puzzle – an intellectual

iversion before the harder tasks of life have to be faced".[25] Heyer's husband wasnvolved in much of her writing. He often read the proofs of her historical romances toatch any errors that she might have missed, and served as a collaborator for herhrillers. He provided the plots of the detective stories, describing the actions of

haracters "A" and "B".[48] Heyer would then create the characters and the relationshipsbetween them and bring the plot points to life. She found it difficult at times to rely onomeone else's plots; on at least one occasion, before writing the last chapter of a book, she asked Rougier to explain on

again how the murder was really committed.[48]

Her detective stories, which, according to critic Earl F. Bargainnier, "specialize[d] in upper-class family murders", were kno

primarily for their comedy, melodrama, and romance.[49] The comedy derived not from the action but from the personalitieand dialogue of the characters.[50] In most of these novels, all set in the time they were written,[51] the focus relied primar

on the hero, with a lesser role for the heroine.[52] Her early mystery novels often featured athletic heroes; once Heyer'susband began pursuing his lifelong dream of becoming a barrister, the novels began to feature solicitors and barristers i

ead roles.[53]

n 1935, Heyer's thrillers began following a pair of detectives named Superintendent Hannasyde and Sergeant (laternspector) Hemingway. The two were never as popular as other contemporary fictional detectives such as Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot and Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey.[54] One of the books featuring Heyer's characters, Death in th

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 5/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 5ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

Stocks , was dramatized in New York City in 1937 as Merely Murder . The play focused on the comedy rather than the

mystery,[55] and it closed after three nights.[37]

According to critic Nancy Wingate, Heyer's detective novels, the last written in 1953,[56] often featured unoriginal methods

motives, and characters, with seven of them using inheritance as the motive.[3] The novels were always set in London, a

mall village, or at a houseparty.[57] Critic Erik Routley labelled many of her characters clichés, including the uneducatedpoliceman, an exotic Spanish dancer, and a country vicar with a neurotic wife. In one of her novels, the characters' surnam

were even in alphabetical order according to the order they were introduced.[58] According to Wingate, Heyer's detective

tories, like many of the others of the time, exhibited a distinct snobbery towards foreigners and the lower classes.[59] Hermiddle-class men were often crude and stupid, while the women were either incredibly practical or exhibited poor judgeme

sually using poor grammar that could become vicious.[60] Despite the stereotypes, however, Routley maintains that Heyead "a quite remarkable gift for reproducing the brittle and ironic conversation of the upper middle class Englishwoman of

age (immediately before 1940)".[58] Wingate further mentions that Heyer's thrillers were known "for their wit and comedy a

well as for their well-woven plots".[3]

Financial problems

n 1939, Rougier was called to the Bar, and the family moved first to Brighton, then to Hove, so that Rougier could easilyommute to London. The following year, they sent their son to a preparatory school, creating an additional expense for He

During World War II, her brothers served in the armed forces, alleviating one of her monetary worries. Her husband,

meanwhile, served in the Home Guard.[61] As he was new to his career, Rougier did not earn much money, and paperationing during the war caused lower sales of Heyer's books. To meet their expenses Heyer sold the Commonwealth righor These Old Shades , Devil's Cub , and Regency Buck to her publisher, Heinemann, for £750. A contact at the publishingouse, her close friend A.S. Frere, later offered to return the rights to her for the same amount of money she was paid. He

efused to accept the deal, explaining that she had given her word to transfer the rights.[62]

After having lunch with a representative from Hodder & Stoughton, who published her detective stories, Heyer felt that he

ost had patronized her. The company had an option on her next book; to make them break her contract,[63] she wrote

Penhallow , which the 1944 Book Review Digest described as "a murder story but not a mystery story".[64] Hodder &Stoughton turned the book down, thus ending their association with Heyer, and Heinemann agreed to publish it instead. Hpublisher in the United States, Doubleday, also disliked the book and ended their relationship with Heyer after its

publication.[63]

The Blitz bombing of 1940–41 disrupted train travel in Britain, prompting Heyer and her family to move to London in 1942 hat Rougier would be closer to his work. To earn more money, Heyer reviewed books for Heinemann, earning 2 guineas f

each review.[65] She also allowed her novels to be serialized in Women's Journal prior to their publication as hardcoverbooks. The appearance of a Heyer novel usually caused the magazine to sell out completely, but she complained that the

always like[d] my worst work".[21]

To minimize her tax liability, Heyer formed a limited liability company called Heron Enterprises around 1950. Royalties fromew titles would be paid to the company, which would then furnish Heyer's salary and pay directors' fees to her family. Sh

would continue to receive royalties from her previous titles, and foreign royalties – except for those from the United States

would go to her mother.[66] Within several years, however, a tax inspector found that Heyer was withdrawing too much morom the company. The inspector considered the extra funds as undisclosed dividends, meaning that she owed an additio£3,000 in taxes. To pay the tax bill, Heyer wrote two articles, "Books about the Brontës" and "How to be a Literary Writer"

hat were published in the magazine Punch .[23][67] She once wrote to a friend, "I'm getting so tired of writing books for thebenefit of the Treasury and I can't tell you how utterly I resent the squandering of my money on such fatuous things as

Education and Making Life Easy and Luxurious for So-Called Workers."[68]

n 1950, Heyer began working on what she called "the magnum opus of my latter years", a medieval trilogy intended to co

he House of Lancaster between 1393 and 1435.[69] She estimated that she would need five years to complete the worksHer impatient readers continually clamored for new books; to satisfy them and her tax liabilities, Heyer interrupted herselfwrite Regency romances. She only completed volume one of the series, My Lord John , which was published

posthumously.[69]

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 6/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 6ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

This coat of arms belonged to

John, Duke of Bedford, who

Heyer intended to feature in he"magnum opus".

The limited liability company continued to vex Heyer, and in 1966, after tax inspectors found that she owed the company£20,000, she finally fired her accountants. She then asked that the rights to her newest book, Black Sheep , be issued to h

personally.[70] Unlike her other novels, Black Sheep did not focus on members of the aristocracy. Instead, it followed "the

moneyed middle class", with finance a dominant theme in the novel.[71]

Heyer's new accountants urged her to abandon Heron Enterprises; after two years, shenally agreed to sell the company to Booker-McConnell, which already owned the rights tohe estates of novelists Ian Fleming and Agatha Christie. Booker-McConnell paid herapproximately £85,000 for the rights to the 17 Heyer titles owned by the company. Thisamount was taxed at the lower capital transfer rate, rather than the higher income tax

ate.[72]

mitators

As Heyer's popularity increased, other authors began to imitate her style. In May 1950, oneof her readers notified her that Barbara Cartland had written several novels in a styleimilar to Heyer's, reusing names, character traits and plot points and paraphrasedescriptions from her books, particularly A Hazard of Hearts , which borrowed characters

rom Friday's Child , and The Knave of Hearts which took off These Old Shades . Heyerompleted a detailed analysis of the alleged plagiarisms for her solicitors, and while the

ase never came to court and no apology was received, the copying ceased.[73] Her

awyers suggested that she leak the copying to the press. Heyer refused.[74]

n 1961, another reader wrote of similarities found in the works of Kathleen Lindsay,

particularly the novel Winsome Lass .[75] The novels borrowed plot points, characters,urnames, and plentiful Regency slang. After fans accused Heyer of "publishing shoddy stuff under a pseudonym", Heyer

wrote to the other publisher to complain.[76] When the author took exception the accusations, Heyer made a thorough list he borrowings and historical mistakes in the books. Among these were repeated use of the phrase "to make a cake ofoneself", which Heyer had discovered in a privately printed memoir unavailable to the public. In another case, the author

eferenced a historical incident that Heyer had invented in an earlier novel.[76] Heyer's lawyers recommended an injunctio

but she ultimately decided not to sue.[75]

Later years

n 1959, Rougier became a Queen's Counsel.[77] The following year, their son Richard fell in love with the estranged wife an acquaintance. Richard assisted the woman, Susanna Flint, in leaving her husband, and the couple married after her

ivorce was finalized. Heyer was shocked at the impropriety but soon came to love her daughter-in-law, later describing h

as "the daughter we never had and thought we didn't want".[78] Richard and his wife raised her two sons from her first

marriage and provided Heyer with her only biological grandchild in 1966, when their son Nicholas Rougier was born.[70]

As Heyer aged she began to suffer more frequent health problems. In June 1964, she underwent surgery to remove a kidtone. Although the doctors initially predicted a six-week recovery, after two months they predicted that it might be a year

onger before she felt completely well. The following year, she suffered a mosquito bite which turned septic, prompting the

octors to offer skin grafts.[79] In July 1973 she suffered a slight stroke and spent three weeks in a nursing home. When hbrother Boris died later that year, Heyer was too ill to travel to his funeral. She suffered another stroke in February 1974.

Three months later, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, which her biographer attributed to the 60–80 cork-tipped cigarethat Heyer smoked each day (although she claimed not to inhale). On 4 July 1974, Heyer died. Her fans learned her marr

ame for the first time from her obituaries.[80]

Legacy

Besides her success in the United Kingdom, Heyer's novels were very popular in the United States and Germany and

achieved respectable sales in Czechoslovakia.[81] A first printing of one of her novels in the Commonwealth often consiste

of 65,000–75,000 copies,[82] and her novels collectively sold over 100,000 copies in hardback each year.[81] Her paperba

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 7/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 7ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

Edmund Blair Leighton painted

"On the Threshold (of a

Proposal)". It depicts a courtsh

in Regency England, similar to

those described in Heyer's

historical romances.

sually sold over 500,000 copies each.[83] At the time of her death 48 of her books were still in print, including her first no

The Black Moth .[84]

Her books were very popular during the Great Depression and World War II. Her novels,which journalist Lesley McDowell described as containing "derring-do, dashing blades, andmaids in peril", allowed readers to escape from the mundane and difficult elements of their

ves.[26] In a letter describing her novel Friday's Child , Heyer commented, "'I think myself Iought to be shot for writing such nonsense. ... But it's unquestionably good escapist

terature and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter or recoveringrom flu."[26]

Heyer essentially invented the historical romance[85] and created the subgenre of the

Regency romance.[31] When first released as mass market paperbacks in the United

States in 1966, her novels were described as being "in the tradition of Jane Austen".[32] Asother novelists began to imitate her style and continue to develop the Regency romance,heir novels have been described as "following in the romantic tradition of Georgette

Heyer".[32] According to Kay Mussell, "virtually every Regency writer covets [that]

accolade".[86]

Despite her popularity and success, Heyer was ignored by critics. Although none of her

ovels was ever reviewed in a serious newspaper,[83] according to Duff Hart-Davis, "theabsence of long or serious reviews never worried her. What mattered was the fact that her

tories sold in ever-increasing numbers".[84] Heyer was also overlooked by theEncyclopædia Britannica . The 1974 edition of the encyclopædia, published shortly after her

eath, included entries on popular writers Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, but did not

mention Heyer.[87]

List of works

Georgian & Regency novels

The Black Moth (1921)

The Transformation of Philip Jettan (1923) (later republished as Powder and Patch ) (1930)These Old Shades (1926)

The Masqueraders (1928)

Devil's Cub (1932)

The Convenient Marriage (1934)

Regency Buck (1935)

The Talisman Ring (1936)

An Infamous Army (1937)

The Spanish Bride (1940)

The Corinthian (1940)

Faro's Daughter (1941)Friday's Child (1944)

The Reluctant Widow (1946)

The Foundling (1948)

Arabella (1949)

The Grand Sophy (1950)

The Quiet Gentleman (1951)

Cotillion (1953)

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 8/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 8ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

The Toll-Gate (1954)

Bath Tangle (1955)

Sprig Muslin (1956)

April Lady (1957)

Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle (1957)

Venetia (1958)

The Unknown Ajax (1959)

A Civil Contract (1961)

The Nonesuch (1962)

False Colours (1963)

Frederica (1965)

Black Sheep (1966)

Cousin Kate (1968)

Charity Girl (1970)

Lady of Quality (1972)

Historical novels

The Great Roxhythe (1923)

Simon the Coldheart (1925)

Beauvallet (1929)

The Conqueror (1931)

Royal Escape (1938)

My Lord John (1975)

Novels with a contemporary setting

Instead of the Thorn (1923)

Helen (1928)Pastel (1929)

Barren Corn (1930)

Thrillers with a contemporary setting

Footsteps in the Dark (1932)

Why Shoot a Butler? (1933)

The Unfinished Clue (1934)

Death in the Stocks (1935)

Behold, Here's Poison (1936)

They Found Him Dead (1937)

A Blunt Instrument (1938)

No Wind of Blame (1939)

Envious Casca (1941)

Penhallow (1942)

Duplicate Death (1951)

Detection Unlimited (1953)

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 9/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 9ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

Short story collections

Pistols for Two and other stories (1960), containing:

Pistols for Two 

A Clandestine Affair 

Bath Miss 

Pink Domino 

A Husband for Fanny To Have the Honour 

Night at the Inn 

The Duel 

Hazard 

Snowdrift 

Full Moon 

Other short stories

"A Proposal to Cicely" (1922)[88]

"The Bulldog and the Beast" (1923)[89]

"Linckes' Great Case" (1923) [90]

"Runaway Match" (1936)

"Pursuit" (1939)[91]

Footnotes

1. ^ Joseph McAleer (1999), Passion's Fortune (http://books.google.com/?id=wjS2ORhcB0UC&pg=PA43), Oxford University

Press, p. 43, ISBN 978-0-19-820455-8

2. ^ a  b Hodge (1984), p. 70.

3. ^ a 

 b 

 c 

Wingate (1976), p. 307.

4. ^ a  b  c Hodge (1984), p. 13.

5. ^ a  b Byatt (1975), p. 291.

6. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 15.

7. ^ Hodge (1984), p .14.

8. ^ The London Gazette : (Supplement) no. 31684. p. 15455 (http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/31684/supplements/154

9 December 1919. Retrieved 2008-04-10.

9. ^ The London Gazette : (Supplement) no. 31897. p. 5452 (http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/31897/supplements/5452)

May 1920. Retrieved 2008-04-10.

10. ^ a  b Hodge (1984), p. 16.

11.  ̂a  b  c Byatt (1975), p. 293.

12. ^ a  b Hughes (1993), p. 38.

13. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 17.

14. ^ Fahnestock-Thomas (2001), p. 3.

15. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 21.

16. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 22.

17. ^ Hodge (194), p. 23.

18. ^ a  b Hodge (1984), p. 27.

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 10/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 10ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

19. ^ Byatt (1975), p. 292.

20. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 25.

21. ^ a  b Hodge (1984), p. 69.

22. ^ a  b  c  d  e Hodge (1984), pp. 27–30.

23. ^ a  b Fahnestock-Thomas (2001), p. 4.

24. ^ Byatt (1975), p. 294.

25. ^ a  b Devlin (1984), p. 361.

26. ^ a  b  c McDowell, Lesley (11 January 2004), "Cads wanted for taming; Hold on to your bodices: Dorothy L. Sayers and

Georgette Heyer are making a comeback this year. Lesley McDowell can't wait." (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-

entertainment/books/features/cads-wanted-for-taming-572831.html), The Independent on Sunday (London): 17

27. ^ Regis (2003), p. 127.

28. ^ Laski (1970), p. 283.

29. ^ Laski (1970), p. 285.

30. ^ Mussell (1984), p. 413.

31. ^ a  b Regis (2003), pp. 125–126.

32. ^ a  b  c Robinson (1978), p. 322.

33. ^ Robinson (1978), p. 323.

34. ^ Robinson (1978), p. 326.

35. ^ Laski (1970), p. 284.

36. ^ Byatt (1969), p. 275.

37. ^ a  b  c Hodge (1984), pp. 43, 46.

38. ^ a  b Byatt (1975), p. 300.

39. ^ a  b Byatt (1975), p. 301.

40. ^ Byatt (1975), p. 298.

41. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 53.

42. ^ Byatt (1969), p. 276.

43.^

Hodge (1984), p. 71.44. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 31.

45. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 35.

46. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 102.

47. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 38.

48. ^ a  b Hodge (1984), p. 40.

49. ^ Bargainnier (1982), pp. 342, 343.

50. ^ Bargainnier (1982), p. 352.

51. ^ Devlin (1984), p. 360.

52. ^ Bargainnier (1982), p. 350.

53. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 36.

54. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 42.

55. ^ Devlin (1984), p. 371.

56. ^ Wingate (1976), p. 311.

57. ^ Wingate (1976), p. 308.

58. ^ a  b Routley (1972), pp. 286–287.

59. ^ Wingate (1976), p. 309.

60. ^ Robinson (1978), pp. 330–331.

  ^ 

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 11/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 11ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

. , . , , .

62. ^ Hodge (1984), pp. 61, 62.

63. ^ a  b Hodge (1984), p. 63.

64. ^ 1944 Book Review Digest, p. 374.

65. ^ Hodge (1984), pp. 66–67.

66. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 90.

67. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 106.

68. ^ Byatt (1975), p. 302.69. ^ a  b Devlin (1984), p. 390.

70. ^ a  b Hodge (1984), p. 169.

71. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 174.

72. ^ Hodge (1984), pp. 180–181.

73. ^ Kloester (2012) pp. 275-9

74. ^ Hodge (1984), p. 206.

75. ^ a  b Kloester (2012), pp. 335-336

76. ^ a  b Hodge (1984), pp. 140–141.

77. ^ The London Gazette : no. 41676. p. 2264 (http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/41676/pages/2264). 7 April 1959. Retrie

2008-04-10.78. ^ Hodge (1984), pp. 141, 151.

79. ^ Hodge (1984), pp. 163, 165.

80. ^ Hodge (1984), pp. 175, 204–206.

81. ^ a  b Hebert (1974), pp. 254–255.

82. ^ Reinhardt (1974), pp. 257–258.

83. ^ a  b Byatt (1975), p. 297.

84. ^ a  b Hart-Davis (1974), pp. 258–259.

85. ^ A historical romance is a romance novel set in the past. This is not to be confused with historical fiction that was influenced

romanticism.

86. ^ Mussell (1984), p. 412.

87. ^ Fahnestock-Thomas (2001), p. 261.

88. ^ Published in Happy Magazine 

89. ^ Published in Happy Magazine , March 1923

90. ^ Published in The Detective Magazine , 2 March 1923

91. ^ Published in The Queen's Book of the Red Cross, 1940 

References

"Georgette Heyer: Penhallow", 1944 Book Review Digest , H.W. Wilson Co, 1944

Bargainnier, Earl F. (Fall/Winter 1982), "The Dozen Mysteries of Georgette Heyer", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary,Georgette Heyer: A Critical Retrospective , Saraland, Alabama: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 341–355,

ISBN 978-0-9668005-3-1

Byatt, A. S. (August 1969), "Georgette Heyer Is a Better Novelist Than You Think", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary,

Georgette Heyer: A Critical Retrospective , Saraland, AL: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 270–277, ISBN 97

0-9668005-3-1

Byatt, A. S. (5 October 1975), "The Ferocious Reticence of Georgette Heyer", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary,

Georgette Heyer: A Critical Retrospective , Saraland, AL: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 289–303, ISBN 97

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 12/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 12ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

0-9668005-3-1

Devlin, James P. (Summer 1984), "The Mysteries of Georgette Heyer: A Janeite's Life of Crime", in Fahnestock-

Thomas, Mary, Georgette Heyer: A Critical Retrospective , Saraland, AL: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 35

394, ISBN 978-0-9668005-3-1

Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary (2001), Georgette Heyer: A Critical Retrospective , Saraland, Alabama: Prinnyworld Pre

ISBN 978-0-9668005-3-1

Hart-Davis, Duff (7 July 1974), "20th Century Jane Austen", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary, Georgette Heyer: A Crit

Retrospective , Saraland, Alabama: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 258–259, ISBN 978-0-9668005-3-1

Hebert, Hugh (6 July 1974), "Post Script", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary, Georgette Heyer: A Critical Retrospective

Saraland, Alabama: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 254–255, ISBN 978-0-9668005-3-1

Hodge, Jane Aiken (1984), The Private World of Georgette Heyer , London: The Bodley Head, ISBN 0-09-949349-7

Hughes, Helen (1993), The Historical Romance , Routledge, ISBN 0-415-05812-0

Kloester, Jennifer (2012). Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller . London: William Heinemann, ISBN 978-0-43

02071-3

Laski, Marghanita (1 October 1970), "Post The Appeal of Georgette Heyer", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary, George

Heyer: A Critical Retrospective , Saraland, AL: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 283–286, ISBN 978-0-96680

3-1

Mussell, Kay (1984), "Fantasy and Reconciliation", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary, Georgette Heyer: A Critical 

Retrospective , Saraland, Alabama: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 412–417, ISBN 978-0-9668005-3-1

Regis, Pamela (2003), A Natural History of the Romance Novel , Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Pres

ISBN 0-8122-3303-4

Reinhardt, Max (12 July 1974), "Georgette Heyer", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary, Georgette Heyer: A Critical 

Retrospective , Saraland, Alabama: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 257–258, ISBN 978-0-9668005-3-1

Robinson, Lillian S. (1978), "On Reading Trash", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary, Georgette Heyer: A Critical 

Retrospective , Saraland, Alabama: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 321–335, ISBN 978-0-9668005-3-1

Routley, Erik (1972), "The Puritan Pleasures of the Detective Story", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary, Georgette Heye

Critical Retrospective , Saraland, Alabama: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 286–287, ISBN 978-0-9668005

Wingate, Nancy (April 1976), "Georgette Heyer: a Reappraisal", in Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary, Georgette Heyer: A

Critical Retrospective , Saraland, Alabama: Prinnyworld Press (published 2001), p. 305–321, ISBN 978-0-9668005

Further reading

Chris, Teresa (1989). Georgette Heyer's Regency England . Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd, ISBN 0-283-99832-6

Kloester, Jennifer (2005). Georgette Heyer's Regency World . London: Heinemann, ISBN 0-434-01329-3

External links

Georgette Heyer website (http://www.georgette-heyer.com/)

Notes on 2009 Heyer conference (http://drbexl.co.uk/2010/09/23/georgette-heyer-is-featured-in-timeshighered/)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georgette_Heyer&oldid=579325280"

Categories: 1902 births 1974 deaths English novelists English romantic fiction writers English crime fiction writers

English historical novelists English women writers English people of Russian descent People from Wimbledon, Lond

Writers of historical fiction set in Modern Age Writers of historical romances Booker authors' division

20th-century British novelists 20th-century women writers

7/27/2019 Georgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/georgette-heyer-wikipedia-the-free-encyclopediapdf 13/13

10/29/13, 12:eorgette Heyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 13ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

This page was last modified on 29 October 2013 at 18:50.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. B

using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.