Regency Romance – Hibernator's Library

Persuasion, by Jane Austen
Narrated by Juliet Stevenson

Anne Elliot has lived with regret over being persuaded to reject the love of her life when she was very young. The objections to this match – money – were quickly assuaged when the man went to war and earned his fortune. But, until now, no contact had been initiated. To her horror, Anne now has to live in close proximity to Captain Wentworth and watch him woo other women.

Anne is the most mature of Austen’s characters. Partly because she’s the oldest, but also because she has accepted the mistakes she has made in the past, and forgiven herself. She handles tragedy and awkwardness with an aplomb which makes even Captain Wentworth believe nothing is amiss in her feelings. Sense and Sensibility has always been my favorite of Austen’s books, but Persuasion comes in a close second because of the maturity of Anne’s character and Austen’s exquisite representation of pain endured for years.

I also watched two versions of the movie. I’d never been a fan of the earlier one (on the right) because I couldn’t really understand what was going on, but after watching the more recent version – which did a beautiful job of catching the mood of the book and managed to explain Anne’s discomfort through her journaling – I was better able to understand the plot of the first movie. Now, having read the book I enjoyed both movies immensely, but still preferred the more recent version for quite a few reasons – including the passionate ending.

Cotillion, by Georgette Heyer, narrated by Phyllida Nash

When Kitty’s cantankerous care-taker insists that one of his own nephews marry Kitty for her to inherit his fortune, three of them rush to Kitty’s home to propose. When she spurns those three, they patiently explain that she must marry one of them or else she will be left destitute. Kitty hatches a plan (which the reader is left only vaguely aware of) to free herself from these constraints – but it requires her to go to London for a few weeks. That’s where her cousin Freddy comes in. He didn’t propose – had no wish to propose – but only came because he was curious what this big summons from his uncle was about. In secret, Kitty convinces Freddy to propose marriage so that he could take her to London. Of course, she’ll break it off when the few weeks are over….

This is my first book by Georgette Heyer. I’ve heard so many great things about her that I wanted to see for myself. At first, I wasn’t too pleased with the book, but I warmed to it once time had passed, and Kitty matured in London. You see, I didn’t like Kitty at first. She seemed so manipulative – getting Freddy to propose when he clearly didn’t want to. And it seemed her plan could end up destructive to both of them – even if we didn’t know what the whole plan was about. I realized as she grew that the plan was just naivete and not pure manipulation, but I still found all the dangerous lies a bit disturbing. Regardless, everything turned out well in the end, and I was left with a warm fuzzy feeling about the novel.

Heyer’s writing is delightful. She mixes humor with the beloved Regency Romance genre, and she’s often suggested to readers who have finished all the Jane Austen novels. They definitely have the same feel as an Austen, though the humor has a slightly different tone. Austen has more sarcasm in her books. Both writers have a mixture of wit and silliness. I will hopefully have time to read another Heyer soon. Just think, a brand new author to explore!