This romance mainly takes place in Georgian England. Philip Jettan falls in love with beautiful Cleone, but he is not sophisticated enough for her tastes, so she rejects him. Philip leaves for France and when he returns months later, he is totally transformed: He speaks French, wears the latest Parisian fashion, duels and writes poetry, and is hardly recognizable. Now that all the ladies wish to catch this fashionable man, Cleone realizes that the down to earth Philip of the old days was not so bad after all. Of course, misunderstandings, intrigues and woes of the heart ensue.

Listening to this was laborious because the story frankly was stupid to me, especially Cleone's behavior. I just wanted to shake her. The portrayal of Paris was interesting, but nearly everything in this novel felt over the top. Still, I wished to know how things developed and I enjoyed some of the dialogues, although others included a lot of harmful stereotypes about women, which was annoying.

The original title of this was The Transformation of Philip Jettan, it was republished as Powder and Patch in 1930, minus the last chapter. I was curious and read it on Project Gutenberg, but was rather disappointed because Philip and Cleone travel to Paris and Philip is portrayed as truly transformed and digging his new self. To me it would have felt more authentic if he had thrown away his wig and the couple had continued to live a quiet life in the country. I really don't get the message of this, if there is any. ( )

Very fun historical romance. After his love rejects him for his plain spoken manners and lack of fashion Philip goes to France. He comes back as a man of the height of fashion. Will Cleone want the man he has become or the man he was?
The copy I had included Chapter 20 which was left out of later version. I can see why it was viewed as unnecessary, but it made a cute epigraph. ( )

paperback

This one got me through Election Week 2020 as I read a few pages each night/early morning in the brief period between when I tried to unwind from the news-deluge and when I crashed to sleep. So I'm grateful to it for that, and there are a few excellent set pieces (the bit about hiring a French chef had me in stitches). But this isn't nearly as good as much of the other Heyer tales I've enjoyed. ( )

I'm reading (listening to) Heyer more or less in chronological order and catching up on ones I missed. P&P is a slight contribution. I tired long ago of the simpering heroine and the masterful man meme, but Heyer can still amuse. The best characters are secondary, Lady Marma-something and the like. I look forward to the relative subtleties of the later novels! *** ( )