Venetia by Georgette Heyer - Bridget Jones without the Angst

Venetia by Georgette Heyer

Where else is a girl going to go when in need of the ultimate relaxation?  Georgette Heyer is the literary equivalent of hot chocolate on a snowy day.  Shut out the social media and harsh electric light of modern day and take yourself to the sofa with a Heyer heroine.  My parents-in-law had a bookcase full of Georgette Heyer’s books in their spare room and a book lying illicitly on the bed, ignoring the shrieks of my children was always my biggest treat.  Georgette Heyer’s Regency rooms, chick lit in flounces, are being republished in new editions by Sourcebooks Casablanca and having borrowed ‘Venetia’ from my local library, I read it with relish before handing it on to my 15 year old, who equally lapped it up.  I do worry about getting her hooked on feisty females who always manage to land the bad, dangerous man with masterful traits who is of course not as bad as he is painted – in Bridget Jones terms, the heroine ends up with a reformed Daniel Cleaver rather than Mark Darcy.  Feminist considerations aside, I do love Georgette Heyer and my spirit always lift when I find someone else who is a fan.

Venetia, is surprise, surprise about one of the afore mentioned feisty female types who is forced to draw upon her own resources and charms when the blackest of black sheeps returns to the neighbourhood in the shape of her next door neighbour, albeit we are talking neighbouring estates rather than two up two downs. 

There used to be a UK advertising slogan, that went along the lines of “if you want a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our club” – the biscuit being in this case of course “Club”, and if you want an undemanding enjoyable read, with lots of romance and fun upon the page – then this is an author for you.