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Black Sheep

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I had read some of Georgette Heyer's books when I was a teen-ager. Somehow I found this book in a bookstore and I bought it right away. One of the reasons I hadn't read Georgette Heyer for a long time is her heroes are always so much older than the heroines, that said I was pleasantly surprised with this book as Abigail is a matured woman and the relationshop between her and the hero is believable and is between equals.I just loved the book and recommend it highly. This book shows how you can write a romance story without the book mentioning even the word 'sex'. I wish Georgette Heyer had written more books!!!!!!!!!!

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?

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There are two bad boys here, both of them Calverleighs, but the younger, Stacey, is really bad. He's a fortune-hunter who is trying to con Fanny, a young heiress, into an elopement. The older, Miles, is Stacey's uncle, lately returned from his banishment to India, twenty years before, for trying to elope with Celia, who later became Fanny's mother! But Miles had really loved his Celia, unlike Stacey, who doesn't care a bit for Fanny. Then there is Abby, Fanny's aunt, who is only 28 but acting as her guardian. Abby has to try to extricate Fanny from Stacey's lures, but since she is falling under the spell of the extremely funny Miles, it's a difficult task. This book has some of Heyer's funniest dialog. Although very similar to her last novel, "Lady of Quality" (also a whopping good read), this one stands on its own and is well worth reading. And rereading. And so on. I've read it many times in the past 40 years, and it still makes me laugh. The ending is marvelous, and all the resolutions perfect in their way!

Inspired comic dialogue

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First, I must say that when Georgette Heyer is good, she's incomparable. And the two wittiest dialogues I have ever read are in The Black Sheep and The Reluctant Widow. At some point in each of these books, a man and woman are carrying on a discussion about two entirely different things and it's just wonderfully funny as it dawns on the reader that they aren't on the same page. I don't know of anyone else in the Romance genre who has pulled this off as well. I'm surprised no one has ripped off either of these storylines - they are highly original and thoroughly entertaining. I only wish these two books were available on CDs or audio download. They are amongst her best.

Return of the Black Sheep

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'Black Sheep' is one of Georgette Heyer's later Regency novels and shows all her skills as a writer, including her much-praised historical accuracy for this period. The 'Black Sheep' of the title is Mr Miles Calverleigh, a gentleman who was sent to India twenty years before after shaming his family. Unfortunately for Miss Abigail Wendover, the absent Mr Calverleigh's nephew Stacy is apparently trying to beguile her spirited niece Fanny in order to get his hands on her fortune. Abigail and her sister Serena have stood as parents toward Fanny for many years but Abigail begins to discover that Fanny has grown up enough to want to rely less on her aunt and more on her own heart. It is into this situation that Miles Calverleigh steps, having finally returned from India. The first scene between him and Abby, a case of mistaken identity, is a wonderful example of Heyer's skill in writing two spirited and interesting characters. Abigail tries to get Miles to help separate his nephew from her niece but she finds herself thwarted by his apparent lack of interest in the cares of others and his apparent wish to thwart her own strict views on being a support to her own sister which may prevent her from following her heart. There are some similarities between this book and 'Lady of Quality', also written late in Heyer's career, not least in the age of the heroes and heroines who aren't the youngsters of 'Friday's Child' or 'Cotillion' but are mature people who may perhaps feel that the opportunities in life have passed them by. As usual the side characters are excellent in this story, including the very amusing Mrs Clapham and even the straighlaced James Wendover. This book seems to contain less of the cant phrases that can render some characters in other books almost incomprehensible but the overall standard of dialogue is excellent. 'Black Sheep' makes an excellent introduction to Heyer's Regency novels and can be enjoyed again and again. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

A Study in Family Relationships

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I think that in emphasizing the romance, Heyer gets short-changed as a story teller. Not to say that the romance is not enjoyable but that there is a bit more depth to this book than the evolution of a relationship between two people. The plot of this book revolves around families-- the good, the bad, and the indifferent-- and the demands they make on their members. Abigail and Selena Wendover are the youngest and the eldest daughters of a large family. They have always reminded me a bit of Jane and Cassandra Austen although it is just their circumstances and personalities that remind me of thsoe two, not the story itself. Abigail is the younger and livelier. At 28 she is one of the older Heyer heroines. Selena is some years Abigail's elder, more staid, a bit hypochondriacal and not as quick witted. Both had been disappointed in youthful love affairs due to the intervention of their father who had thought the young men unsuitable for his daughters. Abigail, while she does not remember her father with any fondness, is willing to admit that he was probably right in scotching her early infatuation. She recognizes that her feelings at 18 were not soundly based. Selena, however, takes comfort in the fact that their mother had prophesied her curate suitor would have gone bald before he was 40. Between them they are raising a young orphaned niece, a lovely heiress who is turned 17 and preparing for her introduction into polite London society. Unfortunately, a young man in the person of Stacy Calverleigh has arrived on the scene, intent on making his fortune by marrying into it. Abigail, who is visiting her sister in London, is sent post haste back to Bath by her prudish older brother, James, to try to resolve the situation. Then, in a good mistaken identity scene, Abigail meets Mr. Calverleigh, but it is Mr. Myles Calverleigh, the family black sheep returned from India, that she runs into at York House not Mr. Stacy Calverleigh. Part of the interest is in the reaction of the women of Bath society to the Mr. Calverleighs, contrasting the nephew's polished manners to those of his graceless uncle. Myles is indifferent to Stacy-- sharply differing with the other uncle/nephew pair in the story. He repeatedly says that he has no interest in his family or for that matter, Abigail's family. However, when things need sorting out, it is Myles who sets actions in motion that lead to a most satisfying resolution. This is a five star read all the way.