Lydia or Love Town [Paperback]

Clare Darcy (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Signet (September 1, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451082729
• ISBN-13: 978-0451082725
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,315,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The American Cousins Come to Visit, February 4, 2002

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lydia or Love Town (Paperback)

In her third Regency outing Clare Darcy got it mostly right.

Lydia is a couple of years older than her predecessors, Cecily and Georgina, with a greater amount of commen sense. Not for her the romantic starts of misses out of the schoolroom. She knows exactly what she wants: a man with a good fortune. All else, she feels is negotiable.

Lydia, with her brother and her grandmother have left a decaying plantation in the Louisiana bayou country to come to London obstentibly to claim an inheritance left to her grandmother. In reality she and her brother are on the look out for a way to improve their situation in life-- or at least prevent the need to return to Louisiana. Lydia and her brother are attractive and accomplished. Their social success is assured-- that is, if Lydia can keep her grandmother and brother from social ruin while skillfully casting her net for a wealthy husband.

One of the high points of this book is the hero. Unlike Mr. Ranleigh in Cecily who was stated to be irresistible to women but whose presentation was harsh at best, the Viscount in Lydia is shown to have actual charm of manner and style. His unexpected ascension to the peerage allows him to view the town scene as an outsider while giving him the right to participate.

All in all a very pleasurable read.

P.S. I'm not sure why anyone would think there was supposed to be any doubt about who the hero was-- well maybe if the reader had never read a Regency or any other type of genre romance. It was quite clear from the moment he steps on the stage that here is hero material of the finest kind.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A light and fun book in the Heyer tradition, October 15, 2006

By 

Helen Hancox "Auntie Helen" (Essex, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Lydia although quite short, is the most enjoyable of the three Clare Darcy books I have read. The central character in this book isn't a quiet, wishy-washy girl but is instead a lively, intelligent and witty girl far more in the tradition of Sophy Stanton-Lacy from Heyer's books. She, like Sophy, also tries to help arrange the love lives of those around her.

Lydia, her brother Bayard and her grandmother have fallen on hard times and leave their home in America to come to London to try to make a marriage to restore their fortunes. They meet a distant relative, Viscount Northover, and he and Lydia have some lively conversation and argument which is great fun for both of them. Northover explains that he isn't a marrying man so Lydia treats him in an avuncular way as she and her brother launch themselves into the season.

Things aren't quite as easy as they had hoped, for although Lydia could probably marry a rich man to make her family's fortune, she can't quite bring herself to do it. Her brother falls in love with a penniless young girl and so the requirement for them to make their fortune becomes much more urgent, leading to some drastic steps. Lord Northover's background presence helping Lydia, including helping paying her grandmother's gambling debts, is a consistent theme throughout the book.

What I liked about this book compared to the two others I've ready by Clare Darcy is that, in this case, I could understand why the hero and heroine fell in love. They are evidently well matched and their verbal sparring was enjoyable to read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars for Heyer fans, September 8, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lydia or Love Town (Paperback)

Darcy is one of the best Regency writers since Georgette Heyer, although Darcy's books have less complex plots and less idiomatic language than Heyer's work. This, I think, is one of the very best of Darcy's books. Lydia is a part English girl raised in America and come to England, and she is clever, confident, and witty. I loved how the other characters (especially the hero, who I will not name) in the book react to her independence and intelligence. I also loved how Lydia upset everyone's preconceived ideas about Americans as ignorant and ill-mannered, with her style and confidence. A very fun, light-hearted read!