Customer Reviews

The Masqueraders (The Uniform Edition, Volume 3)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For over a decade now, my mother and I have shared a passion for Heyer and her magnificent works! Each of us has different titles and we each enjoy the marvellous stories. Not only does Heyer have an amazing grasp of the period; she also has smart, infectiously funny dialogue. I have been reading Geogette Heyer novels for years, and I have to say that The Masqueraders is her best. Set in the period immediately after the failed Jacobite rebellion, Prudence falls in love with a staid, sober Sir Anthony. However enchanting the central love tangle may be, like all of Heyer's other novels, the secondary characters steal the show! I keep having to replace my rather tattered copy, because I re-read this one every year or so!

Another one of my favourite Georgette Heyer romance novels -- though truth to tell I have so many favourite Georgette Heyer novels that I've begun to think that it may be actually more enlightening to list the ones that I believe only merit 3 1/2 stars! But, with a plot can (successfully) boast of possessing the elements of romance, adventure and intrigue, "The Masqueraders" definitely does merit a 5 star rating.

Prudence Merriot and her brother, Robin, are back in England again because their father (affectionately dubbed by his children as "the old gentleman") has a plan to restore their fortunes. Used to a life on the run (the Merriots, or rather Robin, were involved in the most recent Jacobin uprising) and of adventure, both Prudence and Robin are beginning to find such a life chafing, esp now that they've met the elegant Sir Anthony Fanshawe and the enchanting Miss Letty Grayson. Both Sir Anthony and Letty are members of the ton, and would look for utter respectability from their potential spouses. Would either ever contemplate tying themselves to Prudence or Robin with their shady pasts and their rascally father? And on top of it all there is a further complication: Prudence is masquerading as a man, and Robin as a woman! How on earth can the Merriot siblings hope to woo and be wooed when they're both pretending to be something that they are not!

What I rather liked about "The Masqueraders," aside from the cleverly done cross dressing subplot, was that Ms Heyer showed us that a hero and heroine could be sensible, quietish and pleasantly good looking and still be the kind of hero and heroine that most readers would thrill to -- heroes and heroines didn't always have to be devastatingly good looking or rakish. Prudence and Sir Anthony are (both) my type of hero and heroine, and are the perfect foils for Letty and Robin -- the better looking and more dramatic couple. And really liking both the hero and heroine, I've found, can go a long way to making a novel a lot more enjoyable. So that, even though the language was at times a bit dated, my whole hearted liking of Prudence, Sir Anthony, Robin and Letty, together with a very swiftly paced and exciting storyline, made "The Masqueraders" a thoroughly fun reread.

"~The Masqueraders was the first Heyer novel I ever read, and it hooked me right away. Georgette Heyer takes the most unlikely characters, situations, and dialogue, and turns them into an effervescent treat. Nothing that happens is believable, but she tells it with such conviction that you don't care! man-mountain with perspicacity, midnight swordfights, masquerades-within-masquerades, and the most high-handed foppish audacity possible embedded in one old gentleman, this book makes for extremely entertaining reading.

Never as popular as Georgette Heyer's classics "Regency Buck" and "These Old Shades," "Masqueraders is nevertheless one of Heyer's best. Wrapped in a frothy tangle of gender-bending siblings, highway robbery and frivolous court intrigue, this Regency romp is a triumph in the high style fans of the genre prize most. The tender center of the farce is the romance of Prudence, who must hide her woman's form and heart to protect her family, and the one man who could be worthy of her love....if he only would stop calling her "boy."

It might be of interest for readers to know that Heyer wrote this book while she was living in Africa with her Husband in 1927/8. She was only 25, had been published for the last 6-7 years but still had very few novels under her belt (and still had not discovered her talent for Regency period) - and finally she was away from the resources she could use to check out her information

despite this book is still excellent and is based around the fall out of the second attempt by the stuarts to gain the throne of England in the Mid eighteenth century.

It centres on a brother and sister Robin and Prudence, who have been sent to England by their father, 'the old gentleman' to pave the way for his coming home. they have been sent in disguise and the first difficulty in this novel is realising that their father has had them BOTH cross dressing - so Robin is dressed as a woman and Prudence as a young Buck. they are quickly tested in their guises when coming across a young girl Letty Grayson who has mistakenly eloped. They save her and escape and run into the second character who will dominate their future adventures, the Man-Mountain - Sir Anthony.

This is Georgian England in all its excesses - the drinking, gaming, sword fighting, derring-do, plotting, conniving and romance. They must survive so that their father can reappear and reclaim his true identity, without being discovered and uncovered as Bonnie Prince Charlie's supporters of the past (which would mean they would need to flee the country for their lives) and must find the letter which condemns their family for its sympathys.

Written with alight hand, although I have found Heyer's georgian novels sometimes a little jarring in their use of slang - it is one of her better ones, and this really paves the way for her Regency romances which followed soon after. If you haven't read Heyer before, start with something light and frothy like the Grand Sohpy or The Corinthian - but don't ignore this one if you haven't read it yet - nice good humoured fun

This is my very favorite Georgette Heyer Novel... and I do not make that judgement lightly! I've read them ALL and I think Masqueraders is at the pinnacle of Ms. Heyers style and grace! I continually re-read my favorite books, and I re-read this one, at least, once a year

Brother and sister trying to evade the authorities (they're Jacobites) by switching identities and genders, but they get caught up in the beau monde by coming to the rescue of an eloping heiress with second thoughts. Always a tom-boy, I loved the heroine's strength and non-conformism. The hero is placid and intelligent with surprising depths of humor. As usual, her secondary characters are brilliant, with the heroine's father stealing the show.
If you haven't read Heyer this is a great start. If you have, and missed this one, you'll be thrilled.

10+ "The Masqueraders" is an excellent Georgette Heyer historical romance. No author has come remotely close to the elegence, style, and knowledge Georgette Heyer brought to her characters and the period. She is the standard to which all historical romance writers aspire-or should.

I have been re-reading "The Masqueraders" and her other books for over 20 years. If you could but see my poor, beat-up, yellow-paged, cover-torn paperback edition for which I originally paid 75 cents!

In an age where sex scenes are "de riguer" (as Miss Heyer would write), it is a true testimonial that I unerringly return to my favorite writer of all time year after year. Nothing steamier than a kiss, but oh, how she entices you with her words!

Frankly, I wouldn't go near a deserted island without my Georgette Heyer's!

Born to a father set on having adventures, Prudence and Robin Tremaine have lived a life on the run. They constantly are moving (often fleeing) from one place to another, and often have to do so in disguise. After Robin and his father take part in the failed Jacobite rebellion they split up and flee into the country side. Robin meets up with his sister, who stayed out of it, and they decide to swap genders to thoroughly hide Robin in the last place anyone will ever look - in a set of petticoats - to prevent him from being hanged. Prudence then becomes Mr Peter Marriot and Robin becomes Miss Kate Marriot.

Together they travel to London and hope to meet up with their father there. That's when they meet Sir Anthony and Letitia, Letty is currently attempting to elope with a Mr Markham only to find that he is a brute and not worth marrying, her attempt to change his mind on this score proves dangerous though. With the siblings help (a false swoon by "Kate" and a swift uppercut with the hilt of a sword by "Peter") they rescue Letty and restore her to Sir Anthony, a friend of her father's. In that meeting "Kate", er, Robin falls hopelessly in love with Letty and "Peter", er, Prudence falls hopelessly in love with Sir Anthony. Now, in true Georgette Heyer fashion, the stage is set for a romp unlike any other!

This book was one of her earlier works and that definitely comes across in her writing. Her characters, her plot development, and her dialogue is just not as refined and well done, and that little extra twist of humor seems to be missing here. It is a wonderful book though and if I didn't have her later works to compare it with this book would have been wonderful all on its own.

I loved reading about a female masquerading as a male credibly and showing that a woman can operate and work in the male environment just as smoothly as if she had been born to it if given half a chance. Prudence is admitted to a gentleman's club, smokes, drinks, takes snuff, plays cards, gambles, and gets into a street fight (through no fault of her own). Robin meanwhile is stuck going out on drives with old ladies, visiting with female friends (one in particular), and sits around in petticoats hiding yawns behind a fan. It is soon realized though that they are not managing to hood wink everyone and that's when things really start to take off.

Any fan of historical romance would love this book to pieces. Especially if you enjoy adventures, sword fights, daring rescues and lots of intrigue. Seeing a female in a sword fight, and a male flirting in a dress are just perks to this ridiculously wonderful book. You won't regret reading it.

"The Masqueraders" is a Georgian Era novel about an adventurous family of escaped Jacobites. After the failure of the Jacobite Rebellion, Prudence and Robin follow the orders of the their father and travel to London under the guise of Peter and Kate Merriot. The twist is that Prudence is disguised as the youthful buck, Peter Merriot, and Robin is dressed as the flirtatious young beauty, Kate Merriot. Prudence and Robin have had years of experience and practice in the arts of deception and disguise under their father's tutelage and this isn't their first dangerous caper.

Prudence makes a very credible man with her sharp wit and fearless bravery; and since all gentleman at White's willingly accept her into their company, she feels her secret is safe. However, when she is around the respectable Sir Anthony Fanshawe, the big sleepy-eyed man who watches her intently, she feels her secret is anything but safe...

After rescuing a young and romantic heiress, Letitia Grayson, from her abductor and thwarting their elopement, Robin finds himself enamored with this lovely damsel in distress. Unfortunately, because of his masquerade he finds himself in the position of Letita's bosom friend rather than her suitor. How will he ever be able to win Letita's heart when he is dressed as a woman and would she ever forgive him for his cruel deception?

This escapade becomes even more exciting and entertaining when Prudence and Robin's father appears on the scene decked out like a grand gentleman and claiming to be the lost Viscount, Tremaine of Barham. If their father is successful in persuading everyone of this outlandish claim it would mean the end of their masquerade and the start of respectable living, and if he fails it would expose them all as frauds and land them in the gallows. Prudence and Robin are torn between a lack of faith in their father's capability to pull off such a ruse and a desperate desire that he will prevail. Their father, an extremely conceited yet comical character that is constantly amazed by his own genius, promises them: "I shall contrive."

Since "The Masqueraders" is only the second Georgette Heyer novel I have read, I consider myself to be Heyer novice. Nonetheless, I found this novel to be spectacularly entertaining and brimming with clever antics and adventures. At first, it was a little challenging for me to wrap my head around the gender switch and the disguises, but within a chapter or two I found it easy to follow. Included in this book were many beautiful and tender moments shared between the couples, however, being the romantic that I am, I would have enjoyed seeing how and why the characters fell in love being depicted more.

"The Masqueraders was a delightfully amusing read and Georgette Heyer is quite the proficient when it comes to historical fiction and romantic romps. I highly recommend!

Austenesque Reviews