Bath Tangle [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Georgette Heyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1989

The Earl of Spenborough has always been noted for his eccentricity. Leaving a widow younger than his own daughter Serena is one thing, but quite another is leaving Serena's fortune to the trusteeship of the Marquis of Rotherham -- a man whom Serena once jilted and who now has the power to give or withhold his consent to any marriage she might contemplate. When Serena and her lovely young stepmother Fanny decide to move to Bath, Serena makes an odd new friend and discovers an old love, Major Hector Kirkby. Before long, Serena, Fanny, Kirkby, and Rotherham are entangled in a welter of marriage and manners the like of which even Regency Bath has rarely seen.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Lady Serena Carlow is an acknowledged beauty, but she's got a temper as fiery as her head of red hair. When her father dies unexpectedly, Serena discovers to her horror that she has been left a ward of Ivo Barrasford, marquis of Rotherham, a man whom Serena once jilted and who now has the power to give or withhold his consent to any marriage she might contemplate. With her father's heir eager to take over his inheritance--and Serena's lifelong home--she and her lovely young stepmother, Fanny, decide to move to Bath, where Serena makes an odd new friend and discovers an old love, Major Hector Kirkby. Before long, Serena, Fanny, Kirkby, and Rotherham are entangled in a welter of misunderstood emotions, mistaken engagements, and misdirected love.

Georgette Heyer's genius has always been in creating memorable characters, then placing them in a comedy of manners that is absolutely true to the Regency period. Bath Tangle is a delightful romp through the haute ton of early-19th-century England, and the battling, passionate, meant-for-each-other Ivo and Serena are one of her most successful romantic duos. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

". . .witty dialogue, humorous eccentrics, a well-constructed plot and flesh-and-blood characters about whom the reader comes to genuinely care." -- New York Times bestselling author Candace Camp --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books; Large Prnt edition (June 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708904963
• ISBN-13: 978-0708904961
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,495,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author of over fifty books, Georgette Heyer is the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists, making the Regency period her own. Her first novel, "The Black Moth," published in 1921, was written at the age of fifteen to amuse her convalescent brother; her last was My Lord John. Although most famous for her historical novels, she also wrote eleven detective stories. Georgette Heyer died in 1974 at the age of seventy-one.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GH has done it with great humor, January 29, 2003

By 

"turbofamily" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bath Tangle (Paperback)

In spite of the negative reviews posted prior to this one, I must give this book a thumbs up. I've read this story several times, and each time I gathered new details and discovered a funny line I didn't remember from the previous reading.

Heyer's style of writing, as usual, is sophisticated and informative. The details in any of her books make you inquire more deeply into the period of which she writes.

Personally, I LOVED Rotherham and Serena -- perhaps it's because I'm a bit tempermental myself. The clash between them and eventual realization of their respect and love is amusing. The twist in plot by the end makes for an endearing read. The reader does feel a sort of short-circuited denoument to the story by the time Rotherham and Serena realize their love - one awaits more - though it's not necessarily a drawback (Austen's own writings reflect similar tendencies).

It is not a fast-paced story, but watching the love develop in this story makes me think of a dawn. The sun rising over the horizon has never been a quick event, though it is always a beautiful setting with incredible shades of color to add the most intriguing character to our day.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars worth reading, May 24, 2004

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bath Tangle (Mass Market Paperback)

Lady Serena Carlow is beside herself with anger when she discovers that her late father (the Earl of Spenborough) has placed her squarely under the Marquess of Rotherham's thumb. For the late earl has made Rotherham the sole trustee of his only daughter's wealth, and Lady Serena will have to gain Rotherham's approval for everything from frivolous purchases to permission to marry. For most young women of sense, such a will would be trying, but for the passionate and fiery tempered Lady Serena, the state of affairs is truly intolerable, esp since she and Rotherham were once engaged to be married before she broke off the engagement in a fit of anger. Soon, however, even the indignity of having to cope with Rotherham as a guardian is nothing compared to having to watch her cousin assume her dead father's place. Hoping to seek some relief from the fit of doldrums that she's sunk into, Lady Serena proposes that she and her young stepmother, Fanny, go to Bath. Hopefully a change of scene and new friends and divertments will restore both their flagging spirits. What neither lady counted on was how the reappearance of one lady's old beau would so entangle things...

Truth to tell, "Bath Tangle" may not be everyone's cup of tea. Lady Serena's quick and fiery temper and her high-handed ways could really set one's back up -- and Rotherham is no different! Certainly, Lady Serena is the type of heroine I usually have very little empathy for -- all that emotion and high drama! And yet, who else but Georgette Heyer could pen a romance novel about a high-handed and stubborn heroine and her equally autocratic swain, and still make us care and root for them to achieve their happily ever-after ending? And as usual, one can count on Heyer's wonderful prose style, together with her brilliant character portrayals, witty dialogue, vivid imagery and smooth pacing to be sure of a memorable and worthwhile read. All in all, a novel not to be missed!

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, December 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Bath Tangle (Paperback)

On the whole I enjoy this story, although I can see why some readers have a hard time with Serena and Rotherham. I can take them because they are both decent people at heart, in spite of their faults. And their clashes of temper can be fun to watch! The one thing I find really unacceptable is the scene where Serena berates Emily. If you've read the book, you know the scene I mean. (Rotherham also berates Gerard, but he has a purpose. Serena means it.)

I also like the romance that blossoms between Fanny and the man she least expects.

Heyer makes one of her favorite points with both couples, one that is probably snobbish but has some truth to it, about the importance of similar "background" (class).

Serena and Rotherham were both born to the ruling class. Through the story the reader sees that Serena will never be happy outside that world. It's too much a part of who she is.

Hector, Serena's old flame, was born to the more modest rank of "landed gentry" and doesn't want her life. Neither does Fanny, Serena's friend. The life Hector can give her is exactly the kind that makes her happy.

In Heyer's eyes, it is this clash of background and values that makes Hector and Serena wrong for each other. It is the similarity of background/ values that makes both couples right for each other.

The study of Regency manners here is rewarding if you pay attention.

Serena and her Aunt Teresa are a portrait of aristocratic ladies: how they spoke, thought, and gossiped, and what they gossiped about. Fanny, Hector and his mother show the manners and values of the landed middle class, Jane Austen's level of society. Mrs. Floore and Ned Goring represent the up-and-coming merchant class (though Mrs. Floore is really more caricature.)

One problem is that GH makes many elliptical references to political events of the time. Her original readers probably knew what she meant. For the modern reader it's frustrating--she tells just enough to make you curious. It needs footnotes.

The story is well written and plotted. Though it is complicated, everything is kept tangled until the end. Not as easy to do as it seems. It's worth reading for the portrait of Regency life, and several vivid characters, even if you don't like Serena and Rotherham.