The Private World of Georgette Heyer [Paperback]

Jane Aiken Hodge (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bodley Head (1984)
• ASIN: B000OWK6MQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very pleased to see this re-published, enormously useful, November 30, 2006

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Private World of Georgette Heyer (Paperback)

Jane Aiken Hodge wrote the first critical perspective of Heyer's books, and it is one of the most useful books. Not only is it an insight into Georgette Heyer's world, but also a glimpse into her own life. Hodge had access to her diary's and notebooks, a privilege not extended to anyone else until Mary Fahnstock Thomas did her critical perspective. (Also very good)

The Private World of Georgette Heyer should be put into perspective. It shows the development of Heyer's writing, from the first episodic book she wrote for her brother (Black Moth) and published at the age of 17, to her experiment with modern novels (all suppressed) to her experiments with writing mysteries, historical novels, her movement into her most famous genre, Regency Romances, and finally to the works she considered her most eponymous - that is of Medieval fiction. Her last work was left unfinished, and was published as such. It is perhaps her most disliked by her modern readers.

Heyer is also perhaps not necessarily recognised by the wider public as the woman who spawned the Regency Romance genre. She was badly copied by the likes of Barbara Cartland, but as Heyer's fans know, Heyer did hours of painstaking research on her subjects. Hodge does an excellent job of showing this in this book. Some of the illustrations Heyer copied from books and magazines in the British Library are reproduced, but more usefully, Hodge goes through each book and allows a chapter for it and Heyer's life at the time. Usually there is a struggle with the Inland Revenue involved as Heyer seemed to have to write to pay the tax bills more often than not.

There are occassional lapses where Hodge makes minor mistakes on books etc, these are pretty forgiveable in a book of this scope and they usually don't affect the understanding of Heyer and her books too greatly.

For anyone wishing to understand Heyer, or get a greater understanding of the period of history she was writing about (or living in) this is an excellent work. If nothing else just flick through and look at the pictures. An extraodinary woman, and a very private life well illustrated.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Carefully researched (and great illustrations), August 30, 2006

By 

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

This review is from: The Private World of Georgette Heyer (Paperback)

The private world of Georgette Heyer was always firmly and politely closed to her reading public; she denied all interviews, was reluctant even to be photographed, and limited her publicity work to writing blurbs for advertising campaigns. Surviving family, friends, and the literary estate continue to honor the author's preference, leaving only open records, publisher correspondence, and the books themselves to speak for their creator. Hodge's book is the better for this; the private world of the title relates to the literary world that Heyer created, and Hodge tells the story of the author's literary career, offering only a broad sketch of the events of Heyer's life and limiting her speculation into emotional states. Hodge's careful reading of the Heyer ouevre and Heyer's correspondence surrounding the creation and marketing of her books allows fans (and literary scholars) to eavesdrop on a lifelong literary career, offering insights into a woman with a keenly intelligent mind, passionate opinions, fastidious manners, and highly ambivalent views about her own work and its readers. The portrait is drawn without judgment (Hodge leaves that to the reader) and her prose is clear, well-structured, and as readable as Heyer's own. In a tone both fond of and perceptive about its subject, without requiring any recourse to gossip, scandal, or salacious tidbits (which Heyer herself would have no doubt abhorred!), Hodge's biography is both an interesting overview of the Heyer canon and a respectful portrait of the woman who created it. I particularly enjoyed the illustrations that brought the private world of Heyer's beloved Regency romances to light.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insight for Heyer fans, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Private World of Georgette Heyer (Hardcover)

I have enjoyed reading books by Heyer for many years now and have read all of her Regency books. Therefore, I was very interested to read this biography. If you are a Heyer fan you will find many things of interest throughout the book. I especially liked the pictures from her journals showing her meticulous research into all matters of fashion of the day. I also enjoyed that the author, Jane A. Hodge, wrote with affection for the Heyer books and presented insight into what was happening in the life of the author when she was writing them. If you enjoy reading the Heyer books, you will enjoy reading Hodge's informative biography.