Georgette Heyer - English writer,known for its historical novels. In total, she wrote 32 love stories of the Regency era, 6 historical works, 4 modern novels and 12 in the genre of detective fiction.
Novels of the Regency Age
Georgette Heyer's first novel, The Black Moth,published in 1921, emerged from a story she wrote at the age of nine for her younger brother Boris. The novel, in which the lord becomes a criminal, has defined a pattern for many of its future stories - the historical setting, noble people, romantics, and adventurers. The novel became popular, and Heyer continues to write historical love novels right up to The Adorable Charm, published in 1941.
The real popularity came to the writer withnovels of the Regency era. The book "Dangerous wealth", published in 1935, became a bestseller. In it, the author tells about the rich heiress from an English village, whose sense of independence makes one face the social norms of London. In the end, the heroine is forced to match them. Gradually, Heyer developed his style, and carefree novels grew into works that reflect all the little things of the Regency era - cooking, style, and social components. In total, from 1940 to 1974 she wrote 24 works in this genre. All books by Heyer Georgette in order:
- 1940–1950 - The Spanish Bride, “Wicked Passion”, “Raising Feelings”, “Widow Unwillingly”, “Foundling”, “Arabella”, “Gorgeous Sophie”.
- 1951-1960 - “Call of the Hearts”, “Cotilion”, “Prisoner of Passion”, “Price of the Inheritance”, “Muslin with Sprigs”, “Forbidden Desires”, “Sylvester”, “Unexpected Love”, “Mysterious Heir”.
- 1961-1972 - “The Price of Happiness”, “The Ideal Man”, “The Colors of Lie”, “Frederica”, “Beyond the Threshold of a Dream”, “Absolute Power of Love”, “Little Charity”, “Worthy Lady”.
Having published his first novel "The Black Moth" inAged 17, Heyer created over 50 novels, most of which tell of the beautiful heroines and their thorny path to true love. The novel "Child of the Devil", published in 1932, became a bestseller. Among other hits, Georgette Heyer is The Secret Engagement, The Friday Child (1944), The Great Sophie (1950) and Frederica (1965).
Historical works
Georgette Heyer's creativity in this genre, indifference from its predecessors, is characterized by historical details. She explored every available fact that is included in the plot of the novel. Heyer literally revived the historical past for his readers. She did not consider herself a great writer and had ambivalent feelings for a historical novel, considering the events of those years to be too “bloody”. Heyer's historical novels:
- 1931 - the novel "The Conqueror", which depicts the early years of the reign of William I.
- 1937 - An Infamous Army, the historical detail found by the author when creating the novel, attracted the attention of critics, and the work received recognition.
Her other novels in the historical genre, The GreatRoxhythe, Simon the Coldheart, Beauvallet, written earlier, did not reach this level. For many years, Heyer wanted to write a trilogy about the House of Lancaster. But she could not complete her idea, because she faced impatient editors who asked to continue the series of love stories. The only novel from the Lancaster trilogy, My Lord John, remained unfinished and was published after the writer's death in 1925.
Other works
Early in his career, Georgette Heyerexperimented with other literary genres. So there were modern novels, covering the events of the early XX century, - Instead of the Thorn, Helen, Pastel, Barren Corn. They did not have such success as the historical novels of Heyer, and therefore went almost unnoticed.
Georgette's husband told her the plot of a detective novel, and Heyer tried herself in this genre. In total, she has published 12 detective novels, the last of them Detection Unlimited.
The writer's legacy
The biographers of the writer explore her work.The son of Georgette gave them free access to his mother's archives. There is a rather interesting list of her short stories, some of which are unknown to modern readers. Three years ago, three of them were published that have not appeared in print since 1930. Heyer did not give a single interview during her creative work. And she never, under any circumstances, advertised her books.
But by the time of her death in 1974, shesold in the uk more than a million copies a year. And now the books of Georgette Heyer are in demand, over the past five years, more than 500 thousand books have been sold. Historical love stories were sold like hot cakes.
Heyer wrote her novels for fiftyyears, which is remarkable, not one episode is repeated in any of her works. Absolutely different characters, different appearance, different character. Unites them, perhaps, one that they came from the pen of one author - Georgette Heyer.
