Black Moth [Hardcover]

Georgette Heyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1976

The Black Moth, first published in 1921, is Georgette Heyer's first novel and the first of a four-part series including These Old Shades, Devil's Cub, and An Infamous Army. It is set around 1751 during the Georgian era.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A distinctly witty and enchanting tale. (Jennifer Higgins Rundpinne )

A great story, set in a decadent time period. What more can you ask for in a great romance? (Debbie Lester Debbie's Book Bag )

The Black Moth is a nice story, enjoyable in its own unseasoned, romantic way. (Rashmi Sirnarvis A Book Blogger's Dairy )

Witty and cunning with sharp dialog that kept me entertained throughout. (Brande Waldron Book Junkie ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

Jack Carstares, the disgraced Earl of Wyncham, left England seven years ago to save his family?s honour. Now he is back, roaming his beloved south country in the disguise of a highwayman. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (September 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0848810511
• ISBN-13: 978-0848810511
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,336,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This is where it begins., August 27, 2006

By 

Raya Madison "lifelong lit lover" (NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Black Moth (Mass Market Paperback)

Jane Aiken Hodge, in The Private World of Georgette Heyer (reissued in paperback May 2006), confirms that The Black Moth is Georgette Heyer's first book, published when she was 19, possibly written to entertain a younger brother who was often ill, and taken by her father's publisher not on account of his reputation as a scholar but for its own merit as a delightful story. In Moth the devoted Georgette Heyer fan finds the narrative elements that will become her hallmarks: deft characterization of the time period, lively dialogue, eccentric and determined characters who come alive on the page, and a superb prose style that proves highly readable (as another reviewer confirms, not for the length of words but for the graceful simplicity of her language).

Fans of the Heyer ouevre will also be amused to see their beloved author's first stabs at characters and situations she will deal so masterfully with later: the roguish hero who sets fashion but is never really within it; the gorgeous heroine with her superior taste and good sense; the villain who ends up earning reader sympathies (though through most of the book he is frankly detestable); the ladies of fashion with stunning attire and empty brains, and the gallants who woo them. There is definitely some swashbuckling, but the narrative resists, as Heyer always did, melodrama, as the last scene shows. I would hesitate to call this juvenalia; it is a character-driven, not a plot-driven work, an ambitious experiment for the romance (which was, at the time she published it, highly unfashionable, literarily speaking), and the reader can witness a writer who has already found her voice now finding her material. Heyer would revisit the devilish anti-hero many times, letting him triumph in These Old Shades (whether these are companion pieces are the reader's opinion; her letters suggest Heyer did not intend them to be) and following his progeny in Devil's Cub, just as she would revisit the same themes of courtship, marriage, the pitfalls of the idle rich, and the relentless judgments of elite society on personal situation.

As reading material, the book is highly engaging and completely satisfying; several love stories unravel at once, and the introductions of Fanny and Lavinia are sheer narrative genius; in the span of a page, Heyer lightly sketches a character who emerges whole and vibrant and entirely dedicated to her own pursuits, whatever they may be. And who cannot adore the courtship scene where Jack, painfully wounded in the rescue of Diana and recovering at her house, is first properly introduced to the lady in question by having her command him to help her sort silks and dumping a basket of colorful threads over his earlish knee? As a romance, the book may show a failure to focus at length on the developing relationship between hero and heroine (for certain the 'secondary' characters often edge them out in wit and color), but as a novel with romantic elements, telling an entertaining story of the attractions and perils of upper-class English society during the Georgian period, it succeeds; and, as a Heyer, it cannot disappoint.

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Georgette Heyer - an unexpected treasure!, September 6, 2004

By 

a-wish-upon-a-star (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Black Moth (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Black Moth" is my first Georgette Heyer. Coincidentally, it seems, from reading other reviews, that this was the first book she wrote. When I first opened it, I was actually surprised - and a little disappointed. From reading reviews on-line, I had expected paragraphs upon paragraphs of elegant prose, complex characterizations, unusual characters - what I actually saw was pages upon pages of dialogue. Disappointed, I put this at the bottom of my TBR pile. Then, by chance, I read these reviews, and discovered that Georgette Heyer had written this book at only 17. (Was it 17?) Well, seventeen! That's a different story! With that in mind, I decided to try again. And quickly amended my original assessment of a flat and boring book. For a 17 year old girl, this was a work of pure genius.

I have not read any other Heyer books, as yet. But I truly loved "The Black Moth". I loved the characters. I loved the dialogue. I even loved the plot - yes, it is so predictable, yet almost magical in the way that this is the real romance plot, no surprises, no hidden twists, and yet the reader is kept entranced by the sheer enjoyment of the reading experience.

(To be fair to the author, the plot was probably a little more original when she initially penned it.)

But, with hindsight being 20/20, I can see that a teen-ager - albeit a very gifted teen-ager - wrote this book. There is just a bit too much of the fantastic - too many coincidences, too much drama just for the sake of drama (what earthly reason does John/Jack have for acting as a highwayman? The storyline gives an explanation, but it is a lame excuse in my opinion. For an intelligent man to flirt with such extreme danger to himself - either from passengers unexpectedly armed, or the hangman's noose - not good enough. But good enough if you are 17.)

Some reviewers have mentioned that the characters are somewhat one - or two - dimensional as compared to her later books. Not having read any other books, I cannot judge, but to compare to other, more contemporary books - they are really not too bad. Maybe not very complex, but realistic they are. How I loved Lady Lavinia! A carricature of the English high-born lady, not of the time this novel was set, as a previous reviewer pointed out, but of the times in which Ms. Heyer herself lived. Besides, isn't there a little of Lady Lavinia in all of us? And the other characters - Jack, Dick, Jim - there is certainly nothing one-dimensional about them. Besides being very entertaining. For a 17 year old girl, in fact, it is sheer brilliance. And last, but not least, the Duke! Here we have someone quite complex, and to be honest, more realistic a portrayal of the true "rake" than some more modern novels have us believe a rake to be. And the friendship of the Duke with "Frank" of the opening letter I find simply astonishing. It's hard to imagine a conversation such as they had taking place in modern times - all the more reason to believe that this story took place a very, very long time ago. "The past is a different country, they do things differently there."

If perhaps her characters were not quite fully complex, and the plot a bit too fantastic, her style of writing is superb. Again, I haven't read any of her later books, but I cannot believe that in style of writing she changed too dramatically. There is something very finished about the writing in "The Black Moth".

I had been hesitant to try Georgette Heyer, pushing it off for a long time. Many previous reviewers wrote that she is a brilliant writer, with an extremely careful eye for period detail. I have nothing against "great" writers, but I have found that they are not generally light reading, so I pushed off Heyer until I would have "time". How surprised I was to find that this book is actually not "heavy" reading at all! Ms Heyer had a rare gift for words - an elegance of prose that is both terse and clear, with a story-line that flows smoothly and entertainingly - it is very easy to "get-into" her work. And the dialogue! It is worth reading a Heyer just for the dialogue alone. This simplicity of style is, in my opinion, the hallmark of a great writer. Some writers get the reputation of being "great" writers - rightly or wrongly deserved - by using many long words and putting them all together in sentence after sentence. Some of these, are indeed, good writers, (such as Mary Balogh, Mary Jo Putney), but some of them, in my opinion, are simply great wordsmiths - not necessarily great writers - there IS a difference. It is indeed a talent to be able to use many long words and put them together sentence after sentence, but it is, in my opinion, a greater talent to use simple words, simple sentence structure, and be able to express oneself beautifully and clearly. To express oneself in a way that is both easily understood, and compelling, to write your story concisely yet at length, this is how Georgette Heyer wrote. It is easy to see how she became a classic!

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Not A Series!, September 22, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Black Moth (Hardcover)

The Black Moth, though a wonderful book, is NOT (I repeat NOT) part of a series with any of Georgette Heyer's other books - certainly not with These Old Shades, Devil's Cub, and The Infamous Army. Devil's Cub is a sequel to These Old Shades, and An Infamous Army is a sequel to Regency Buck! The Black Moth is Georgette Heyer's first novel, and though it is not yet as mature as her later regencies, it is still good, lighthearted fun. Her characters are not greatly developed, and the plot is nothing special, but Heyer's charm and dawning style show through.