Customer Reviews

The Corinthian

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Georgette Heyer's "The Corinthian" starts off deceptively simply. One of London's foremost Corinthians [fashionable sportsmen], Sir Richard Wyndham, is walking home drunk, and brooding despondently on his forthcoming betrothal. Suddenly, from an upper window, a young stripling drops into his arms. He quickly discovers that the young stripling is a actually girl dressed as a boy who is escaping from her Aunt's house and determined to return to find her childhood sweetheart.

Pen Creed, the cross-dressing heroine of the piece can't dissuade Sir Richard from coming along with her and she happily leads him into a labyrinth of problems. From that point Sir Richard is thrown into a series of increasingly twisted, confusing and hilarious events. In between stolen diamond necklaces, suspect looking pick-pocketing coves, an eloping couple and a pursuing Aunt this has to rate as one of Heyer's more complex plots. Numerous stories converge and overlap - and to try to explain it would be a bit like trying to explain the plot of the Marriage of Figaro - impossible.

Needless to say Sir Richard's wit and good humour along with Pen's sense of the ridiculous coupled with her solemnly-uttered naievetes makes this one of Heyer's funniest and most enjoyable books

Its an easy read and make be a good introduction to Heyer for first time readers.

This book has everything for a Heyer devotee: a sprightly handful of a heroine, an amused grey-eyed hero and a colorful and diverse group of supporting characters. Throw in a road trip, a murder over stolen jewels and a mystery and there's a little something for everyone. Miss Penelope Creed is as delightful a heroine as you will find. She meets the jaded Sir Richard "Beau" Wyndham while climbing out of a window. "Cursed with a huge fortune", she is running away from a proposed marriage to a cousin "with a face like a fish". The wealthy Sir Richard is in the same boat, having just decided to propose to a well-born but impovershed lady he has been expected to marry for years but whom he doesn't like. Sir Richard decides to escort Miss Creed on her journey to the country home of her childhood sweetheart---in a public coach, no less. You can imagine the travelers they meet! (A woman who smells of onions and a small boy with adenoids among them.) She dresses as a boy to avoid comment, a device used in other Heyer novels, but not with such amusing consequences. Penelope is actually accused of "trifling with the affections of an innocent female" and is almost called out. As it turns out, this "innocent female" is the new, and rather weepy and tiresome, innamorata of her childhood sweetheart. There seems to be nothing poor Miss Creed can do to win back his affections, so she plots their elopement. This is one of several sub-plots, including the theft of Sir Richard's almost-fiance's family jewels. (Of course, the thief was one of the people our heroine befriended on the coach journey.) This theft leads to the murder of Sir Richard's would-be brother-in-law, who is deep in debt and behind the theft. The scoundrel also attemps to blackmail Sir Richard when he discovers "Penn" ("after the great Quaker") Creed isn't really a boy. With both their families right on their heels, Penelope's friendship with the hired jewel thief, who at one point plants the jewels on her makes for a smartly paced read. Also one of her more complex in terms of plot. The final coming together of the several sub-plots is nice and tight and done as only Heyer could. Heyer's characters are always real people and we come to care for them and take an interest in what happens to them. The slang of the day, including a liberal helping of thieves' cant from a pickpocket in a catskin waistcoat, her usual fine attention to the minutia of fashion and the accurate use of titles is superb. Many other Regncy writers don't understand the correct use of titles or forms of address, one thing that makes Heyer's books superior in quality. Heyer is the first----and she is the best.

Sir Richard Wyndham is a Man of Fashion, a dandy, but he prefers the term Corinthian, if you please. He is somewhat bored with his life as a trendsetter of the haut ton, and is being forced to seriously consider a somewhat irksome marriage of convenience when he is waylaid by circumstance to aid Miss Penelope Creed, an heiress not yet out in society, on a quest to elope with her childhood sweetheart in an effort of avoid a match with her fish-faced cousin.

The plot of the story is light-hearted and fun, full of adventure and misadventure. But it is Heyer's style, much reminiscent of Jane Austen's yet more colorful and engaging, that makes this book truly delightful. It is a must read for her description of a proper dandy alone. There were many places where I could not help but chuckle aloud.

I know you will find it more than worth your effort to hunt down and read this book!

This has always been one of my favorite Heyer novels and I am so glad it is finally being reprinted in the US. I first read this book in India of all places and got my own copy in London. If you like witty dialogue, situations and tons and tons of british humor this is a must for you. It seems deceptively simple, Young girl running away disguised as a boy, hitches up with cynical but gorgeous hero .. . In the hands of Georgette Heyer it will have you laughing out loud and absolutely unable to put it down until its done!

Heyer takes on two of romance's cherished conventions: heiress Penelope Creed dresses as a boy to escape her guardian's matrimonial plots, and the rich but jaded Sir Richard Wyndham falls for the artless charms of a schoolgirl. The result is a charming adventure, but an unsuccessful romance. Richard is too gentlemanly to make advances while Pen is under his protection and Pen spends too much time in the role of a boy to develop as a romantic leading lady. However, the dialogue is delightful and Heyer juggles her plot elements with aplomb, so it's still a fun read. The conversations between Pen and silly little Lydia Daubenay are not to be missed. (The jaded rich man/innocent miss plotline is done with greater success in Arabella, where a more substantial plot allows better character development. For a marvelous girl-in-breeches story, hunt up The Masqueraders.)

Georgette Heyer was extremely fond of the lethargic, intelligent, sarcastic male character; it was inevitable that she will make such one into a hero in one of her novels. Both the hero and the heroine are extremely appealing characters; the plot is rather simplistic for a Heyer novel (even for her romance), but the characterization of the hero (see above) and of Penelope more than make up for it. Penelope is indeed one of my favorite Heyer females; she is intelligent, charming and innocent, and is believably appealing for such a character as the hero to be (finally) a woman whom he can fall in love with. A gender switch confusion adds to the fun (though it's not made too much of). Strongly recommended.

Well, to start off, I'll tell you how much I like this book in just a few words: I stayed up until one o'clock reading it.
Yep. It's true. I couldn't put it down.
Why? Well, for one thing (1), Heyer's characters are so engaging. To be true, Sir Richard seems to be the prototype aristocrat who is bored with life (as well as handsome, good with his "fives", etc), and getting old enough so his relatives are despairing of his every marrying. But one can forgive him this, and if not, Pen far makes up for it. Her innocence, intelligence, "fertile imagination", and amusing way of looking at the world, coupled with Sir Richard's dry replies, kept me giggling throughout the whole story. Second, the plot was very interesting. It's the best one I've encountered before (but, having only read three of Heyer's other novels before, I may have yet to come upon an even better one); full of twists and turns. And for you finicky types, rest assured, it's all nicely handled by Richard's dry ingenuity and Pen's outright audacity. Thirdly... well... *a short pause* ... it's just great! I've already listed my main likey-likeys and dislikes, so I'll just exhort anyone reading this review to buy this book, or pull thy rear off the seat and make all haste for the library. Most of them (the libraries) will have at least five or six of Heyer's books, so indulge yourself there and be sure to write a long, boring review on Amazon when you're finished. Tootles!

...Yes, I'm actually going. I have much more pressing things to do than sit on my rear for any long amount of time, but I will say this: if you want to know the plot, or at least get a summary, go to someone else's review or actually drag yourself to the nearest bookstore (or the library; your choice). After all, you're supposed to read the book, not the reviews.

Later, alligator!

This book has everything for a Heyer devotee: a sprightly handful of a heroine, an amused grey-eyed hero and a colorful and diverse group of supporting characters. Throw in a road trip, a murder over stolen jewels and a mystery and there's a little something for everyone. Miss Penelope Creed is as delightful a heroine as you will find. She meets the jaded Sir Richard "Beau" Wyndham while climbing out of a window. "Cursed with a huge fortune", she is running away from a proposed marriage to a cousin "with a face like a fish". The wealthy Sir Richard is in the same boat, having just decided to propose to a well-born but impovershed lady he has been expected to marry for years but whom he doesn't like. Sir Richard decides to escort Miss Creed on her journey to the country home of her childhood sweetheart---in a public coach, no less. You can imagine the travelers they meet! (A woman who smells of onions and a small boy with adenoids among them.) She dresses as a boy to avoid comment, a device used in other Heyer novels, but not with such amusing consequences. Penelope is actually accused of "trifling with the affections of an innocent female" and is almost called out. As it turns out, this "innocent female" is the new, and rather weepy and tiresome, innamorata of her childhood sweetheart. There seems to be nothing poor Miss Creed can do to win back his affections, so she plots their elopement. This is one of several sub-plots, including the theft of Sir Richard's almost-fiance's family jewels. (Of course, the thief was one of the people our heroine befriended on the coach journey.) This theft leads to the murder of Sir Richard's would-be brother-in-law, who is deep in debt and behind the theft. The scoundrel also attemps to blackmail Sir Richard when he discovers "Penn" ("after the great Quaker") Creed isn't really a boy. With both their families right on their heels, Penelope's friendship with the hired jewel thief, who at one point plants the jewels on her makes for a smartly paced read. Also one of her more complex in terms of plot. The final coming together of the several sub-plots is nice and tight and done as only Heyer could. Heyer's characters are always real people and we come to care for them and take an interest in what happens to them. The slang of the day, including a liberal helping of thieves' cant from a pickpocket in a catskin waistcoat, her usual fine attention to the minutia of fashion and the accurate use of titles is superb. Many other Regncy writers don't understand the correct use of titles or forms of address, one thing that makes Heyer's books superior in quality. Heyer is the first----and she is the best.

The Corinthian is one of my favorite Georgette Heyer books of all time! It includes mystery. . Who stole the diamonds? Comedy . . . Sir Richard Wyndam a nonpariel in fashion and wealth wandering aimlessly drunk in London's streets in the middle of the night stumbling on a maiden dressed like a ruffian needing assistance to get out of her window to escape a marriage of convience to her cousin. Wyndam being bored with life and his tireing relations assists her in running away to a childhood love, after reprimanding her for the sloppiness of her cravat. Romance. . .Well I'll leave that for you to find out.

This was the very first Georgette Heyer book I ever read and probaly the best. I fell in love with her strong yet real characters. They can make you forget your ho-hum life and transport you to Regancy England with the turning of a few pages, where everything and everyoone is beautiful. This book made me go to all 9 libraries in my county looking for more. Thank you whomever decided to bring Georgette Heyer back to print. If you love a good romance and do not want to read a story filled with more sex then story I recommend this book you will be hooked too.