Georgette Heyer - A shelf of one's own!

So, I may have a tiny Georgette Heyer problem. However, it's not my fault, the fault lies entirely with the novelist Daisy Goodwin. This is the story of a lost shelf and an overworked Amazon account...

In 2006, Daisy presented a programme for the BBC, "Reader, I Married Him". It was a series on romantic fiction, everything from Jane Austen to Mills and Boon. In one programme, Daisy read out a section of a book called, "Sylvester" by Georgette Heyer. 

I'd never heard of the book or the author, but there was a line about a character giving someone a look that, "promised signal vengeance". Something about that old-fashioned turn of phrase got the whimsical radar going. I grabbed a pen, scribbled the name of the book down and so it began.

Disclaimer - Heyer started writing at a very young age and at times it's said she was churning out novels on a bit of a conveyor belt so they can be a bit hit and miss. However, when she got it right (as she often did from the 1950's onwards) the books are fantastic. They're engaging and funny, not full of heaving bosoms and useless women and are stacked with regency detail. 

For some, it's the detail that makes it. Her knowledge of language, etiquette, decor, social conventions etc was unparalleled. The only issue being that you can't help but pick-up some of her more commonly used phrases and this is why you end up being called whimsical!

The books aren't challenging but if you want a read you can devour in one or two sittings, if you want to pass a few cheerful hours and be taken away to regency England, I urge you to start your own Georgette Heyer shelf. I re-read the books whenever I'm a bit frazzled and never tire of them.

If you want to give them a try, here's a few of my favourites: 

The Grand Sophy
Cotillion
Venetia
Frederica

If you've read Georgette Heyer I'd love to know your favourites. She also wrote some detective stories which I haven't tried; are they any good?

Sharna x

PS - If you do get into Heyer, you will have to be resigned to becoming obsessed. At the height of the madness you will almost certainly find yourself reading in cold bathwater because you're so engrossed (I've never done this obviously).