How I discovered Georgette Heyer and special Sourcebooks Happy 110th Birthday to the “Queen of Regency Romance,”Giveaway!
Georgette Heyer remains an enduring international bestseller, read and loved by four generations of readers and extolled by today’s bestselling authors. Despite her enormous popularity, she never gave an interview or appeared in public.
Georgette Heyer wrote her first novel, The Black Moth, when she was seventeen in order to amuse her convalescent brother. It was published in 1921 to instant success and ninety years later it has never been out of print. A phenomenon even in her own lifetime, to this day she is the undisputed queen of regency romance.
How did I discover Georgette Heyer? Like most things in life, I blame my mother.
It happened right after I devoured the complete works of Jane Austen. I needed something to prevent me from going down the road of literary despair – you know, when you read a book from cover to cover or a series from book 1 right through to the final installement and are left bereft because now you have nothing to read? – my mom handed me Regency Buck and said “try this.” The rest as they say, is history.
But really, discovering Georgette Heyer was just the beginning. These were the days before Amazon, Barnes & Noble and e-readers; my mother amassed her Heyer collection from second hand book stores and lucky finds. By the time I came into the picture, the collection was seriously depleted thanks to many relocations and book borrowers who fail to understand the meaning of the word ‘borrow.’
That is where our joint quest began – to find every last one of the Georgette Heyer books be they romance, historicals or mysteries. From second hand book stores in Tel Aviv (Black Moth, The Masqueraders) to Hatchards in London (The Unknown Ajax, A Quiet Gentleman) and Sam’s Club(!) in Florida where we found Sylvester, Or: The Wicked Unlce (love!), through boxes and boxes of old things long forgotten ( My Lord John, Why Shoot a Butler, Beauvallet, Simon the Coldheart, A Royal Escape) slowly slowly we recovered each and every book. My mother rediscovered old favorites (Venetia) and I discovered a love for Heyer’s witty heroines, detailed historicals and intriguing mysteries.
I still remember the day I found Frederica (my favorite) as I was walking down the rickety stairs of a bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London. I almost missed it – and nearly fell down the stairs when I realized what I had found.
Then there was the time I found a hard to find Heyer book online – Spring Muslin and a Spanish Bride from Abe Books.
Yes, we also spent days discussing the more serious aspects of her books – her characters often use derogative terms when discussing minorities – including some classical anti-Semitic themes – which at the time the stories were written, were culturally acceptable but which often made some books hard to read…Yet we also talked about her heroines – classic beauties versus handsome women with expressive grey eyes who always had the perfect comeback and knew just how to handle the heroes.
It almost seems like I’m talking about ancient history but really, this was all just 15 years ago. Today, thanks to the reissuing of all the Heyer books – they can easily be found on a bookshelf – virtual or real – near you.
These days my baby sister is sharing our copies, and soon my nieces will be introduced to their first Georgette Heyer books.
Still, my quest isn’t over. There is one final book I have not been able to find – The Great Roxhythe… I guess the search continues!!!!
Happy Birthday Georgette Heyer!!!
And a big thank you to Sourcebooks for offering this incredible giveaway!
All Available Georgette Heyer eBooks on sale for $2.99 from
Tuesday August 14th – Monday August 20th! Only at SourceBooks!
Get 30% off any Heyer print book during the whole month of August at the Sourcebooks
store by using the coupon code HEYER at checkout! Only at SourceBooks!
Also, check out our Georgette Heyer Facebook page where we will be having
discussions, parties and giveaways!
One lucky US/Canada commenter will win a surprise grab-bag prize pack of 3 different
Georgette Heyer novels: 1 Romance, 1 Mystery, 1 Historical Fiction!
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Giveaway provided by Sourcebooks. By entering this giveaway, you are agreeing to the rules set by our Giveaway Policy. Ends 08/11 US/Ca Only.
Oh I love treasure hunting for books. And Georgette Heyer’s books are great. Hope your nieces love them.
Thank you! I’m still trying to decide which book to start them off on :D
Now if only I could find The Great Roxhythe my collection would be complete!
thanks for a great giveaway! Heyer has been on my “must read” list for a while but she’s been pushed back a bit b/c of all the great stuff coming out now. I really want and need to get cracking cuz she is the cornernstone of regency romance.
Nice, you got the Spanish Bride! That and the Great Roxhyte are the big missing gaps in my collection. Like you and your mother, me and my mom have been filling in our Heyer collection, and paperback swap has been really wonderful with that.
I was in a reading funk so I made a list of authors that I was sort of interested in reading by looking for recommendations on amazon and goodreads and Heyer was on the list. I went to the library and checked out Sylvester: Or the Wicked Uncle, though it was an old copy with no blurb but I took a chance, and never looked back!
Isn’t Sylvester wonderful? When he calls her his darling? Oh, the loveliness!
I discovered Georgette Heyer through these great re-issues that Sourcebooks has been putting out recently. I read my first of her work last year, and I was hooked! Her style really reminds me of Jane Austen– so classy. I haven’t read any of her “modern” books yet, and I’m looking forward to it.
Thanks for hosting the giveaway!
Laura
CalicoCritic at gmail dot com
My Heyer moment was a very long time ago – perhaps it was at the annual AAUW Labor Day book sale? It was over 40 years ago – time flies when you read! But it would be great to read her books agian!
I picked up The Grand Sophy for the very first time last year. I KNOW! I can’t believe I went through 27 years without Heyer, either. Now she’s an absolute favorite and go-to for comfort reading. Thanks for hosting the giveaway!
I first discovered her when the bookstore featured her books on a table.
I have heard good things about her books and they sound very good.
I discovered Georgette Heyer in the library as a teenager, and then read every Heyer book the library had. These were the first romances I ever read and I’ve been hooked ever since.
I discovered Georgette Heyer through Sarah Rees Brennan, who wrote a short parody of Cotillion. I loved it enough that I read the novel, which ended up being so much more amusing and fantastic than the parody. After that, I was hooked!
I’m such a noob when it comes to the romance genres and especially the historicals. I’d be lost without guy to guide me, Noa! Your recommendations have been spot on so far, so now you’ve added still more to my growing TBR pile! :)
Great article.
I devoured Ms. Heyer’s books in the early 70′s when I was a teenager. I left them at home when I got married and now they are gone. Ebooks are a great way to enjoy them again.
The first book I read was Frederica and I didn’t realize it was written years ago until I started reading it and it was so unusual. I did enjoy her writing style though.