In the tradition of The Scarlet Pimpernel comes Georgette Heyer's tale of romance and adventure set in Spain during the Holy Inquisition of the 1600s.

Nicholas Beauvallet, an English privateer — or perhaps we should say, pirate — takes a Spanish ship and all its treasures... including the beautiful, spirited Dona Dominica de Rada y Sylvia. Dominica is determined to hate him, but of course she cannot, and within a day of meeting her Nick is already telling her his plans to "make an Englishwoman out of her." He takes her to Spain and promises to return for her — since merely carrying her off to England would be the easy way of doing things.

Heyer is not at her best in this world. Nick's character was well enough, but Dominica was a little stereotypically, Spanishly passionate. Their love seemed more like lust to me, and Nick never thinks anything of all the men he kills along the way. It would have added more depth to his character if he had shown any kind of qualm about it, even if it was after the fact.

Several characters were enjoyable to read. I liked Joshua Dimmock, Nicholas' garrulous, self-important, and intensely loyal servant. The little cutaways where Heyer has Joshua recount the events are quite funny.

Another memorable character is Dominica's aunt, Dona Beatrice. She is a massive, handsome, indolent woman who is perfectly straightforward about the family's reasons for wanting Dominica to marry her son Don Diego. Dona Beatrice is disgusted with Diego's foolishness and never loses an opportunity of insulting him. But for all that, she still wants Dominica to marry him, and even advises the girl that once she is safely married, she can have as many lovers as she wishes. The señora's calm certainty about the match is chilling.

Heyer uses the slang and terms of the historical period in the narrative, and manages to weave them skilfully into her characters' dialogue. As the French Revolution adds the spice of danger to The Scarlet Pimpernel, the Spanish Inquisition provides a sufficiently dangerous backdrop for "Mad Nicholas" to be dashing, heroic, and endlessly resourceful.

I'm at a bit of a loss to decide what I think about this book. It certainly had a hand in spawning a genre I generally despise, the Harlequin romance, and yet it is better than most drivel published under those covers. I have adored Heyer's books Cotillion and Friday's Child, and wanted to like this one too; it is so annoying when an author you love writes something you can't quite rave about. In a way I read this book on an unspoken dare to Heyer to prove that the story was not as Harlequin romance-y as it sounded. I'm still not quite sure if it was... oh, it wasn't the soft-core porn masquerading as romance lit nowadays, you may be sure. No graphic descriptions of private moments. But there was so little depth to the relationship; it was all about the physical attraction and flirtations with danger.

I haven't read much of Heyer's work, but I don't think this is one of her best. It seems she does much better in Regency England. Eh. ( )

Not my favorite Heyer; among other things, it isn't set during the Regency or even anytime close to it but rather is Elizabethan. Nevertheless, engaging and clever to the last. ( )

Not my favorite Heyer; among other things, it isn't set during the Regency or even anytime close to it but rather is Elizabethan. Nevertheless, engaging and clever to the last. ( )

I got this book courtesy of a friend who was appalled to hear that I'd never read Heyer. She sent me a good half-dozen, and this is, I believe, the 3rd of them I've read.

Nicholas Beauvallet is a pirate--oh, okay, an English "privateer". He captures a Spanish ship that just happens to have the beautiful Doña Dominica aboard with her father. Her father is ill, and he promises to return them to Spain and then to come for her in a year to make her his bride.

I've called this "historical fiction" rather than "historical romance," because despite Heyer's reputation, there's really not much romance about it--or rather, there's nothing of falling in love about it.

Apparently, Nick likes the way Dominica looks, and she loathes him, which apparently means she's madly in love with him. I've never been fond of that sort of plot, probably because I just don't understand the emotions behind it. Mostly, in my life, if I've loathed someone, I pretty much continue loathing them. Or, to be honest, loathing takes an awful lot of energy, so unless there's a reason for me to actively loathe them, I settle down to a sort of bored dislike. It's not like there've been all that many.

Then too, I don't know anyone who hated their significant other before they fell in love. Found them annoying or irritating maybe, or not their type, but never really hated them.

So there's that. And making it worse is the fact that we don't see any actual love growing between them. Nick wants her, he vows to have her, he moves heaven and earth to get her. Dominica goes from not wanting anything to do with him to worrying that he's forgotten about her. But on both sides, it's vastly more about possession than love, even more than lust or attraction.

The swashbuckling-ness, though, is quite a lot of fun. Heyer does really have a genius for writing in the style of the era in which the book is set, and this Elizabethan-set tale is full of older words, slang, figures of speech, and constructions--the way sentences are put together. It really helps to immerse you in the setting.

Nick's determination and drive and audacity were exciting, and he made a wonderful pirate hero--I could definitely see this as an old swashbuckling movie, probably starring Errol Flynn.

Unfortunately, I couldn't really say the same for Dominica. She was really unlikeable--for me, anyway. I keep getting the feeling that she's supposed to be like one of the "heroines" of those old movies--no real personality, just a pretty ornament to give the hero something to chase after. She acts angry to show she has "spunk", and that's pretty much the extent of her character. That's the conclusion I came to, and why I didn't like her, and what kept the book from being a great read for me.

Maybe I've misunderstood her. If you have a different take on her, please let me know.
( )

Most of Heyer's novels are set in the late 18th / early 19th centuries. This pirate tale is set in the time of Elizabeth I, who appears briefly in the narrative, along with her secretary Walsingham, Sir Francis Drake and King Philip of Spain. It opens in 1586 with the pirate Beauvallet taking a Spanish girl and her father aboard his ship, after he loots the Spanish ship that was carrying them home. He promises to convey them home on his own ship. Before they leave, Beauvallet swears he will come to find Dominica in Spain, braving death at the hand of the Inquisition.

The characters are amusing, and the glimpses of real people are enjoyable. A fun read. ( )