Customer Reviews

Lady of Quality

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What is a lively, intelligent woman in her twenties to do, if she is bored by the various suitors who have shown an interest in her and she doesn't want to dwindle into a spinster aunt living with her brother and his family? Well, she sets up her own establishment, in Bath, much to the dismay of her family - her prosy brother immediately procures a distant cousin to act as companion and chaperone - or, more accurately, to bore Annis to tears!

So when, one day, our heroine, Annis Wychwood, encounters a young couple who have suffered a carriage accident, she is only too delighted to help. The young woman involved, Lucilla Carleton, is running away from the threat of an enforced marriage; her accomplice in this endeavour is none other than the young man her guardian wishes her to marry! Having got to the bottom of this story, Annis invites Lucilla to stay with her, and writes to Lucilla's aunt and guardian to obtain permission.

And these events result in Lucilla's *other* guardian, Oliver Carleton, commonly known as the rudest man in England and who, apparently, cares nothing for other people, descending on Annis to check her out and ascertain just what is happening. And at their first meeting sparks fly.

Though Annis knows she should be appalled by Oliver Carleton, she can't help but find him amusing. After all, he's the first man who seems capable of rousing her to temper, but then teasing her out of her annoyance; he makes her laugh, and she can talk to him for more than ten minutes at a time without being bored rigid. His disregard for convention - as it concerns everyone else but Lucilla, of course! - should shock her, but Annis finds that she's continually biting back laughter. The appalled reaction of her ever-tedious companion, and of her brother, only serve as even more of a contrast to the enjoyment she finds in Oliver's company.

As ever, Heyer has an array of entertaining secondary characters. You will roll your eyes at Maria, the companion; you'll smile at the earnest Ninian, Lucilla's childhood friend - and perhaps even agree with Annis's sister-in-law's prediction for their future; and you'll enjoy the Bath setting of this charming, amusing book. Definitely a Heyer classic!

I have read two Georgette Heyer novels -- The Convenient Marriage and The Grand Sophy. I found the aforementioned novels to be wonderful with quite an accurate look into Regency England and with a quality of humor that is similar to that of Jane Austen. In short, I see that all of the hype surrounding Georgette Heyer has been accurate thus far. Lady of Quality is another wonderful novel that entertained me and left me in stitches throughout the novel. Annis Wychwood is bored with the attention of her rather dull suitors and of her relatives. So she leaves for Bath, where she sets about her own independence. If she's going to be a spinster, she will be one away from her pestering brother and his wife and children. There she meets a woman who is running away from an arranged marriage. And through this woman she meets the dashing Oliver Carleton, a man whose reputation for being a rake and the rudest man in England is notorious. Annis and Oliver strike an interesting friendship of sorts. She finds that despite the fact that he can infuriate her like no other man is able, he also makes her laugh. Mr. Carleton, on the other hand, finds her transparency endearing, and her beauty is far from the only thing that captivates him. There are various twists throughout the novel.

Lady of Quality is such a great novel. At times, it reminded me of Pride and Prejudice, but Heyer has her very own unique voice as well. The characters are amazing, especially the protagonists, Lucilla, and Ninian. Maria the chaperone is by far the most annoying character in this book and I just loved the part in which Oliver... well, you'll have to read the book to find out. The Regency period is so well written here. Heyer captures this time period like few authors have been able to do. There are authors whose language in their books sounds too modern, or there are historical inaccuracies that vary from insignificant to glaringly obvious, but Heyer had a great attention to detail when it came time to write these period pieces. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she was an early to mid twentieth century author and therefore had that "age of innocence" feel of writing. Whatever it was, she had a knack for writing wonderful Regency novels. The one thing I don't like about this novel is the fact that Oliver is a rake. There are so many Regency novels about reformed rakes now that I wish Heyer hadn't incorporated that. But perhaps today's historical romance authors took this storyline from Heyer, since it is obvious to me that Heyer has influenced most of said authors. Anyway, I loved Lady of Quality. If you're new to Georgette Heyer, then this is a good place to start. I have several of her books on my TBR pile and I can't wait to give them a whirl. In the meantime, I cannot recommend this gem enough.

Lady of Quality is a brilliant book, one of Heyer's best and the last she wrote before her death. It is the story of the relationship between Annis Wychwood, a mature lady who hasn't ever married as she hasn't found the right man, despite being offered marriage on numerous occasions, and Mr Oliver Carleton, a brash and forthright man who isn't particularly attractive and has a reputation as a rake.

The book is utterly convincing in showing how these two widely different people come to care for each other. Although Mr Carleton acknowledges that Miss Wychwood is beautiful, it is not that about her that attracts him; she certainly doesn't fall for him because of his looks or manners but something about the way that he speaks to her honestly and that they have a meeting of minds. It is interesting to watch them sparring with each other over his Ward Lucilla's care and how to help her keep out of trouble.

What I really enjoyed about this book was its honest portrayal of the faults of people - particularly Mr Carleton's - but the acknowledgement that people can and will change if the right circumstances arrive. The humorous interaction between Annis and her family members, particularly her garrulous chaperone, are very amusing. The final scene where Mr Carleton storms into Annis's bedroom and throws out Maria the chaperone is everything that women who like masterful men could wish for!

As all Heyer books, this one is chock-ful of fascinating period detail, the language that they use is accurate, and the description of life in Bath in the early 1800s is fascinating.

If you liked "Black Sheep" you will certainly like this book. They are very similar in a lot of ways (heroine's initials are A W in both books, and the hero is Mr C!) but both equally enjoyable.

The idea of reissuing Georgette Heyer's Regency Romances has been long in coming and is most welcome. I had read just about all of them in the 70's, and still have a few that I reread every few months, brittle brown pages, broken bindings and all. I had forgotten that Heyer was not always on top of her form (A Civil Contract, Venetia, Arabella, Sylvester, for example) when I ordered Lady of Quality. This story of a beautiful independent 29-year-old, who is not interested in marriage, is short on plot, long on Heyer's stock characters. If you want to brush up on early nineteenth-century fashions, manners and colloquialisms, you will really enjoy Lady of Quality. The dialog--and there is lots and lots of conversation in this one--is often witty. Not much happens--and what does occur is predictable (unlike, for example, Venetia with its surprise twist near the end). Lady of Quality is for you people who can't get enough Heyer. After all these years, she is still the best of her genre.

Annis is fun, as is Oliver, Maria makes the teeth clench. This book is as enjoyable as all her regency novels as well as her murder mysteries.

Beautiful, intelligent and independent, Annis Whichwood is blessed with a worthy bore of a brother, a skinned rabit of a chaperon who can't stop talking nonsense and some uninteresting suitors. She is ready for fun and mischief when she comes across a pair of run-away youngsters persecuted by posessive parental care. She is not prepared however to deal with the uncle who is not only abrupt and rude but refreshingly exciting as well. They rapidly fall in love with each other to the horror of well-meaning friends and relatives. But it takes more than conventions, family invasion and epidemic to keep them apart. Georgette Heyer has a wonderful sense of humour and she is at her best in this Regency story. It's pure fun

This book was written near the end of Ms. Heyer's life, and it would seem, near the end of her imagination, creativity, or perhaps interest. Not one of her longer works, I still found myself longing for it to end. The author had lost none of her powers of writing witty dialog, but in this book it was all in aid of a very thin plot, and one whose meager plot lines weren't even satisfactorily wrapped up in the end, with the exception of the main one. Even what threads of plot can be found lack originality; they can all be found in earlier works by the author. There is, for example, the "older" unmarried, but beautiful, rich, and intelligent heroine, Annis Wychwood, the eponymous 'Lady of Quality'. Following close on her heels is the runaway teenage girl, trying to escape an unpleasant situation, Lucilla Carleton, who in this case is fleeing an uncaring and selfish aunt who is colluding with a selfish neighbor/family friend to force Lucilla into an unwanted marriage to the son, Ninian Elmore, of the family friend. Following an improbable chance meeting between Annis and Lucilla, which ends with Annis inviting Lucilla to stay with her until a suitable resolution to her problem can be found, the third familiar, over-worked character type is introduced in absentia, by rumor, report, and gossip. This is the guardian uncle of Lucilla, Oliver Carleton. He is a man of shocking reputation, but one with a powerful concern for the proprieties where his niece is concerned. Even the minor characters are ones we (all those avid readers of Georgette Heyer's works) have seen before: the worthy, but priggishly boring suitors; the discreet, über-competent servants; the over-bearing relatives who can't stand for single women to be independent; the fortune hunters who prey on susceptible young girls. The one character in the book who blessedly is not found in other guises in other Heyer works, at least not to my recollection, is Maria Farlow, the stupid, jealous, insecure, interfering, and inanely prosy companion of Annis Wychwood, tolerated only as a means of keeping Annis's brother from objecting too much at her establishment of an independent residence. With great skill, in scene after scene, Heyer gives us dialog with Maria that illustrates brilliantly why everyone (almost everyone) who spends any time in her presence wants to choke her, and risks running from the room screaming and tearing at their hair. By the end of the book, not only did I want to strangle the character, I wanted to strangle Georgette Heyer for going over board in describing and explicating that character's foibles.

I could overlook the unimaginative character choices if there had been a more substantive plot connecting them. But all we get is a love/hate kind of courtship between Oliver Carleton and Annis Wychwood, in which the principal attraction seems to be shared intelligence and sense of humor. Immediately upon meeting, sparks fly between this pair and eyes twinkle (as they so often do in Heyer's books). We are asked to believe that merely not being bored by each other is sufficient reason for two people to live happily ever after. Well, maybe... The plot involving the runaway heiress, Lucilla, peters out oddly, with her facing a rather uncertain future under the aegis of yet another distant, unfamiliar relative. There is no real villain to get his comeuppance, only a mildly dangerous fortune hunter who tries to 'attach' Lucilla's interest, to use a Heyeresque expression. Even the adamant opposition of Annis's oh so proper brother to her acquaintance with, much less marriage to Carleton fades away in the end. It's as though Heyer simply got tired of her characters, and couldn't stand writing about them any longer. More precisely, she seemed to be tired of them from the start. The book is filled with descriptions of life among the upper classes in Bath, and social interactions among the characters, with very little real action. If the author didn't care about them, why should we?

I'm in the process of re-reading most of Heyer's books, and sadly I found that this one left a much poorer impression on me than it must have the first time I read it. Otherwise, I'd have saved my time, and skipped re-reading this one.

This review was also posted on LibraryThing under my catalog there (user name arctangent).

This novel reflects Heyer at her not-so-best - it was the last Regency Romance she wrote - her last complete work, and while not her best - it is still a stunning example of her ability to write a witty and amusing read. It was teh first Heyer novel I ever read and I still feel very affectionately towards it. It is a lovely fun read, but having read the rest of her books (usually frequently) I cannot help but feel that Heyer has mostly rewritten Bath Tangle (one of the other Bath Romances she wrote)

Annis Wichwood is living the retired life with her stepmother in Bath when she comes across Lucilla who is trying to elope with her friend Ninian to escape from her terrible guardian, Oliver Carlton.

Oliver Carlton must be the rudest man in bath, but Annis finds herself rather liking him, despite this. In fact, it is more that he doesn't care for appearances, or opinions, and rather thinks Annis doesn't either - or shouldn't.

The romance as it grows is rich with humour - and more than anything it has one of the most romantic moments at the end of it - a nice reflection of the beginning motif. Very clever and smart romance. If this was going to the last novel I ever published I would be more than happy to have my name on the cover. Poor Heyer was never proud of her Regency's - she felt that her Medieval novels were the ones which best reflected her interest and strengths - yet they don't seem to capture th eage and the feeling as the Regency's do. This is a great book and recommended as a starting point for any new reader as any of the others.

Although not a light and humorous as some of Heyer's novels, it still holds up. When will the movie industry stop doing "Pride and Prejudice" over and over and do some of Georgette's stories. I'd love to see the "Unknown Ajax" in movie form.

Along with many of the reviewers, I admit that this is one of my very favorite of her books. I have read just about every single one of them and all more than once. Heyer's ability to create characters is not the least of her talent. Her stories are the "comedy of manners" type at its very best. Only Jane Austen wrote this kind of novel as well as (and maybe better) than Heyer. Today's Regencies do not even come close and sometimes they are so badly written I am surprised they even get published.

But a note to reviewers: Please do not recount the story in your review, it is unnecessary. Give us your opinion, not your version of the tale. Please know what you are writing about (Heyer wrote in the Regency period, not the Victorian and women of both periods did not look lightly on men having mistresses because of any "sexual liberation"--what a foolish statement and clearly made by someone with absolutely no knowledge of history.)