26 September 2011

Powder and Patch - Georgette Heyer

Summary: For her, he would do anything...
Plainspoken country Philip Jettan won't bother with a powdered wig, high heels, and  fashionable lace cuffs, until he discovers that his lovely neighbor is enamored with a sophisticated man-about-town.
But what is it that she really wants?
Cleone Charteris sends her suitor Philip away to get some town polish, and he comes back with powder, patches, and all the manners of a seasoned rake. Does Cleone now have exactly the kind of man she's always wanted or was her insistence on Phillip's remarkable transformation a terrible mistake?
Comments: This is an interesting premiss and give Heyer a great amount of opportunity to show off her skills of language and her use of details in both person and place. Heyer's writing is always amusing. "A while back I spoke of the three gentlemen who built their homes round Little Fittledean. Of one I said but little, of the second I spoke at length and to the tune of one whole chapter. It now behooves me to mention
the third gentleman, who chose his site on the outskirts of the village, some two miles from Jettan's Pride and to the east." There is an interesting dynamic better Sir Maurice and his son Phillip, it was rather a good one and I enjoyed it. It was also nice to see that Sir Maurice cared so much for Cleone as well. I enjoyed this book, with the exception of the sappy ending which is predictable, but just a click over the top for me. Perhaps this is because I just read The Toll Gate, which is not sappy in the least.

25 September 2011

Two of my favorite writers ... together

news from the Guardian newspaper...
"Like deft, elegant, Golden Age-ish detective fiction? Like Pride and Prejudice? Then have I got news for you. On November 3, Faber is publishing Death Comes to Pemberley: a crime novel set in Jane Austen's universe by none other than PD James.
"The year," runs the press release, "is 1803, and Darcy and Elizabeth have been married for six years. There are now two handsome and healthy sons in the Pemberley nursery, Elizabeth's beloved sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live within seventeen miles, the ordered and
secure life of Pemberley seems unassailable, and Elizabeth's happiness in her marriage is complete. But their peace is threatened and old sins and misunderstandings are rekindled on the eve of the annual autumn ball. The Darcys and their guests are preparing to retire for the night when a chaise appears, rocking down the path from Pemberley's wild woodland, and as it pulls up, Lydia Wickham, an uninvited guest, tumbles out, screaming that her husband has been murdered." How about that? "