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Georgette Heyer, bestselling Queen of Regency Romance, invites readers to an extraordinary Gothic tale of love, mystery, and intrigue.
A surprising invitation Kate Malvern is rescued from penury by her aunt Minerva, who brings her to stay at Staplewood. But the household is strange and strainedâ??Kate's uncle lives in his own private wing, and her handsome, moody cousin Torquil lives in another.
A dark family secret As bizarre events unfold and Kate begins to question the reasons for her aunt's unexpected generosity, she has no one to confide in but her cousin Philip. Sympathetic though he may appear, will he tell her what she most needs to know... before it's too late?
Praise for Cousin Kate: "Miss Heyer serves up a very different sort of tale in the same period setting, nothing less than a full-fledged Gothic. And a very expert job she does of it, too, complete with a remote and forbidding country house, screams in the night, dark hints of something best left unmentioned... nicely leavened with wit, romance, and wonderful period slang."â??Publishers Weekl… (more)
Penniless Kate Malvern is invited to visit her rich relations at Staplewood, a sprawling ancestral estate. But does Aunt Minerva have an ulterior motive in hosting Kate? And does something hidden lurk behind Cousin Torquil's handsome face?
Cousin Kate is Georgette Heyer's attempt to write a Gothic novel chockablock full of locked doors, mutilated animals, and mad relatives. It lacks any of the daft characters or screwball humor from Heyer's earlier Regencies; instead, it is Very Very Serious. But after sacrificing her comedic strengths, Heyer doesn't do enough to embrace the absurd props typical of a Gothic novel. Cousin Kate has murders and madness, but the book presents them with an inescapable sense of restraint and taste -- which is fatal to a Gothic novel. I want more mutilated animals, god dammit!
But even viewed as a novel, rather than a specimen of genre, Cousin Kate is not a success. Nothing very much happens in the novel, so the plot must constantly regurgitate itself as protagonist Kate reviews plot points the audience still remembers from twenty pages ago. And Kate herself feels caught in traction. She begins the novel as a feisty and independent woman, but as soon as she gets to Staplewood, she begins transforming into a helpless and indecisive figure. People keep telling her to leave Staplewood, but she keeps hesitating, because if she left Staplewood, the novel would end. Reading the book feels like being stuck in limbo with Kate: she keeps discovering the same dread secrets and making the same half-hearted denials. Instead of ratcheting up the atmosphere of dread and horror, Cousin Kate placidly treads water.
Torquil -- young, mercurial, and violent -- is the most interesting character in the novel, but even though Kate spends her time wringing her hands ineffectually over Torquil's sad fate, Heyer presents him with a distant and uncompassionate eye. (This is typical for Heyer novels, which you shouldn't read for their generosity of spirit.)
So, is this the worst Heyer book I've read? Maybe. Powder and Patch was dire, but at least it had swashbuckling and a light heart. Cousin Kate is just dull. ( )
I am not fond of horror nor of any book in which any animal is killed to advance the plot. This Heyer novel is a departure from her usual Regency romance with a gothic touch which I am not fond of. That being said, she does not dwell or over egg the pudding of violence and gets over hard ground with a light touch. Another really interesting heroine.
When young and beautiful governess Kate Malvern finds herself unemployed in Regency England, she is surprised and grateful to receive an invitation to live with a distant aunt. She has never met her Aunt Minerva Broome, and hardly knows what to expect at majestic country home of Staplewood. Her aunt, uncle, and cousin welcome her to their estate, buy her new clothes, and provide all the amenities a young lady of quality should have.
Soon, Kate begins noticing strange things about the manor. Though the guests are few, even family dinners are formal. Unexplained noises and events occur in the night.
Surrounded by her domineering Aunt, handsome but moody cousin Torquil, and cousin Philip, who appears to have taken her in instant dislike, Staplewood soon turns from an inviting stately house to a cold and gloomy mansion ( )
A darker but very satisfying story about an orphan who is suddenly invited by distant family to come to their estate for "a visit". The sinister theme underlying this story is done in a subtle manner. I thoroughly enjoyed this read. ( )
Cousin Kate, originally published in 1968, is described as "one of only two Heyer Gothic Regency romances." The Regency romance subgenre, in the tradition of this book's author Georgette Heyer, was popular in the 1960s. This book is also described as Gothic because of its elements of suspense and horror.  All genres I don't particularly care for. ( )
At no time during the twenty-four hours was the Bull and Mouth Inn a place of quiet or repose, and by ten o'clock in the morning, when the stage-coach from Wisbech, turning top-heavily out of Aldersgate, lumbered into its yard, it seemed, to one weary and downcast passenger at least, to be crowded with vehicles of every descripton, from a yellow-bodied post-chaise to a wagon, with its shafts cocked up and the various packages and bundles it carried strewn over the yard.
Quotations
Last words
"We shall eat our dinner, and after that I shall challenge you to a rubber of Piquet."
Georgette Heyer, bestselling Queen of Regency Romance, invites readers to an extraordinary Gothic tale of love, mystery, and intrigue.
A surprising invitation Kate Malvern is rescued from penury by her aunt Minerva, who brings her to stay at Staplewood. But the household is strange and strainedâ??Kate's uncle lives in his own private wing, and her handsome, moody cousin Torquil lives in another.
A dark family secret As bizarre events unfold and Kate begins to question the reasons for her aunt's unexpected generosity, she has no one to confide in but her cousin Philip. Sympathetic though he may appear, will he tell her what she most needs to know... before it's too late?
Praise for Cousin Kate: "Miss Heyer serves up a very different sort of tale in the same period setting, nothing less than a full-fledged Gothic. And a very expert job she does of it, too, complete with a remote and forbidding country house, screams in the night, dark hints of something best left unmentioned... nicely leavened with wit, romance, and wonderful period slang."â??Publishers Weekl
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Book description
When young and beautiful governess Kate Malvern finds herself unemployed in Regency England, is surprised to receive an invitation to live with a distant aunt, Minerva Broome, who she has never met. Rescued from penury by her aunt Minerva, hardly knows what to expect at majestic country home of Staplewood, a Elizabethan manor. Her aunt, uncle, and cousin welcome her to their estate, buy her new clothes, and provide all the amenities a Young lady of quality should have. The life in the grand household is so very different from a life spent following the drum in the Peninsular! But surely, other households are more homelike? Kate's uncle lives in one wing, handsome, moody cousin Torquil in another; cousin Philip appears to have taken her in instant dislike; thought the guests are few, even family dinners are formal.
However, things are not as they seem: strange things start to happen in the manor and Staplewood soon turns from an inviting stately house to a cold and gloomy mansion with a dreadful secret! Slowly, however, as strange events unfold, Kate begins to realize that her aunt's apparent benevolence hides an ulterior motive. To assure succession of the title, her aunt intends Kate to marry her cousin Torquil, until his increasingly bizarre behavior culminates in violence and tragedy. And, when Kate begins to suspect the shocking reason for Minerva's generousity, she has no-one to confide.
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Cousin Kate is Georgette Heyer's attempt to write a Gothic novel chockablock full of locked doors, mutilated animals, and mad relatives. It lacks any of the daft characters or screwball humor from Heyer's earlier Regencies; instead, it is Very Very Serious. But after sacrificing her comedic strengths, Heyer doesn't do enough to embrace the absurd props typical of a Gothic novel. Cousin Kate has murders and madness, but the book presents them with an inescapable sense of restraint and taste -- which is fatal to a Gothic novel. I want more mutilated animals, god dammit!
But even viewed as a novel, rather than a specimen of genre, Cousin Kate is not a success. Nothing very much happens in the novel, so the plot must constantly regurgitate itself as protagonist Kate reviews plot points the audience still remembers from twenty pages ago. And Kate herself feels caught in traction. She begins the novel as a feisty and independent woman, but as soon as she gets to Staplewood, she begins transforming into a helpless and indecisive figure. People keep telling her to leave Staplewood, but she keeps hesitating, because if she left Staplewood, the novel would end. Reading the book feels like being stuck in limbo with Kate: she keeps discovering the same dread secrets and making the same half-hearted denials. Instead of ratcheting up the atmosphere of dread and horror, Cousin Kate placidly treads water.
Torquil -- young, mercurial, and violent -- is the most interesting character in the novel, but even though Kate spends her time wringing her hands ineffectually over Torquil's sad fate, Heyer presents him with a distant and uncompassionate eye. (This is typical for Heyer novels, which you shouldn't read for their generosity of spirit.)
So, is this the worst Heyer book I've read? Maybe. Powder and Patch was dire, but at least it had swashbuckling and a light heart. Cousin Kate is just dull. (