Georgette Heyer (1902–1974)
Author of The Grand Sophy
About the Author
Georgette Heyer was born on August 16, 1902 at Wimbledon, London. She wrote The Black Moth as a story for her brother Boris. Her father, impressed with his daughter's imagination, suggested that she prepare it to be published, which it was by Constable in 1921. Having scored an instant success with show more The Black Moth at the age of nineteen under her own name, Georgette Heyer, she experimented with a pseudonym, Stella Martin, for her third book, published by Mills & Boon. She continued writing and in 1925 she married Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. After reasonable but not spectacular sales from her first few books the instant success of These Old Shades in 1926 brought her a solid source of income which was very necessary at the time since the family relied to a large extent on the income from Georgette Heyer's writing. She wrote over fifty books during her lifetime and created the Regency England genre of romance novels. She died on July 4, 1974 at the age of 71. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Georgette Heyer
These Old Shades + Sprig Muslin + Sylvester + The Corinthian + The Convenient Marriage (1977) 31 copies
The Early Georgette Heyer Collection: The Transformation of Philip Jettan; The Black Moth; The Great Roxhythe; Instead… (2020) 7 copies
Great Historical Romances: The Talisman Ring + The Gambling Man + The King's Pleasure (1975) 6 copies
Georgette Heyer 4 copies
Acting on Impulse [short story] 3 copies
Georgette Heyer Collection 10 Books Set (Devil's Cub, Venetia, Cotillion, The Grand Sophy, Frederica, April Lady,… (2004) 2 copies
Intrighi al castello 1 copy
Una ragazza adorabile 1 copy
Royal Escape / Black Sheep / A Blunt Instrument / Regency Buck / Envious Casca / The Corinthian (1980) 1 copy
The Quiet Gentleman / The Reluctant Widow / Sylvester / The Toll-Gate / The Unknown Ajax / Faro's Daughter / The… (1951) 1 copy
Pistols for Two + Hazard 1 copy
Fantasmas do Passado 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Heyer, Georgette
- Legal name
- Rougier, Georgette Heyer
- Other names
- Martin, Stella
- Birthdate
- 1902-08-16
- Date of death
- 1974-07-04
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Wimbledon, London, England, UK
- Place of death
- London, England, UK
- Cause of death
- lung cancer
- Places of residence
- England, UK
Wimbledon, England, UK
Paris, France
Tanganyika
Macedonia - Education
- Royal College of Music
- Occupations
- novelist
historical novelist
crime novelist - Relationships
- Oman, Carola (friend)
Rougier, George Ronald (husband)
Heyer, George (father) - Awards and honors
- Blue Plaque
- Short biography
- Georgette Heyer wrote meticulously researched historical-romance novels, specializing in the late eighteenth/early nineteenth-century, and was most famous for her Regency novels. She lived a sheltered childhood and at age 17, created a serial story to amuse her brother Boris, who was ill; their father asked her to prepare it for publication and his agent found a publisher for it -- this became The Black Moth (1921), about a disgraced young aristocrat who becomes a highwayman. According to Georgette Heyer's biographer Jane Aiken Hodge, that first novel contained many of the elements that would become standard for Heyer's works, the "saturnine male lead, the marriage in danger, the extravagant wife, and the group of idle, entertaining young men." Beginning in 1932, Heyer released one romance novel and one detective thriller each year. Her books were highly popular both in the UK and the USA and she remains an enduring international bestseller, read and loved by four generations of readers.
Members
Discussions
OT: Heyer censored in Folio Society Devotees (November 2023)
Georgette Heyer - Frederica in Folio Society Devotees (September 2023)
Found: Victorian era woman comes into her own in Name that Book (August 2021)
BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE - JUNE 2017 - HEYER & SCHAMA in 75 Books Challenge for 2017 (October 2017)
Read GEORGETTE HEYER in June in 2014 Category Challenge (July 2014)
FREDERICA - Group Read - SPOILERS POSSIBLE in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (March 2014)
Can't remember the names of these books in Name that Book (August 2013)
Bujold fan looking for a Georgette Heyer introduction in Almack's (July 2013)
Georgette Heyer in Cozy Mysteries (December 2012)
January 2012: Georgette Heyer in Monthly Author Reads (March 2012)
Fantasy casting: Frederica in Almack's (May 2010)
Heyer Discussion: [Friday's Child] in 75 Books Challenge for 2009 (February 2010)
Historicals in Almack's (January 2010)
Adaptations? in Almack's (December 2009)
Reluctant Widow film adaptation in Almack's (December 2009)
Music in Heyer in Almack's (November 2009)
Heyer, No Wind of Blame, rev. jimroberts in Reviews reviewed (September 2009)
Reviews
Lists
Books Read in 2023 (18)
British Mystery (10)
Favourite Books (4)
Five star books (2)
THE WAR ROOM (1)
French Books (1)
Ghosts (1)
Backlisted (1)
Set in the 1600s (1)
1930s (1)
A Novel Cure (1)
Christmas Books (1)
Best Beach Reads (1)
Shelf 101 (1)
1940s (1)
1950s (4)
Female Author (4)
Comfort Reads (7)
Murder Mysteries (3)
Books Read in 2016 (10)
Books Read in 2019 (11)
Comedy of Manners (11)
Books Read in 2021 (15)
Women in War (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 122
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 72,028
- Popularity
- #176
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 2,500
- ISBNs
- 2,070
- Languages
- 16
- Favorited
- 351
This was not a romance novel where I really loved any of the characters, they're all ridiculous (and pretty terrible people). It was very entertaining, however. How come Heyer does so much better at the crossdressing tropes than almost anyone in the hundred years since she wrote this? We have both forced masc AND forced fem (
Domemployer by learning to be good at being a girlThe gay subtext is bursting out of every jot and tittle. Hugh and Justin flirt, Justin's fashion is so far out that everyone else makes fun of him for it, and Rupert declares that he's not at all interested in women. That's of course leaving aside the outrageous flirting and D/s text between Justin and Leon. There's a massive power imbalance on top of the age difference, which Heyer is clearly enjoying too much to moderate.
The bad: Fanny has a slave who's mentioned in YIKES terms for all of two lines and then never appears again (small mercies....). The hero is an attempted rapist, but in a genteel kind of way where he "just" wanted to force the lady to marry him. Everyone is stratospheric levels of classist, including the author, who thinks that Blood Will Out and it's just genetics that some people are fascinated by farming and others are so smart and important and beautiful that they are able to take on the difficult but vital work of going to parties, gambling, wearing insane clothes, and torturing each other socially.
Anyway, I'm off to read some outrageous fanfic!
*
Wow, I nearly forgot about how mad I was about the "glossary of regency slang" at the back of my edition. a) it's arranged in ten(!) different sections by subject and then loosely by alphabet, so that you have to look at all ten to ensure you didn't miss the word you're looking for. b) YOU DIDN'T MISS THE WORD YOU'RE LOOKING FOR, not a single! solitary!! word!!! in the glossary!! is actually!!! in the text!!!!!!!
I noticed when I actually hit the end of the book that this was just a "sneak peek" at a glossary of regency slang someone else is publishing, and I think I might have to go rate that one star out of spite.… (more)