Book: The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer
Genre: Lit. Fiction/ Mystery
Rating: B+
For: Fun
So, I must say, after looking forward to reading my first Georgette Heyer novel, and finally doing it, I think I'm a touch disappointed. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book. I thought the story, about a girl who ends up making a mistake right at the beginning which causes her to marry a dying man, instead of going to become a governess, was fun and interesting. But, it turned out to be more of a mystery (with all the subsequent problems and questions) and I was expecting more of a romance. I wanted SO BAD for the characters and the relationships to be more developed! I wanted to be "in their heads" more. I felt like, as readers, we didn't really get to know them. It was frustrating to me.
I know there's tons of you who love these books, and I'm wondering if you've ever felt this? This distance from the characters? Hmmm.... maybe it's just me.....
But I enjoyed it enough to try more. I loved the character of the little brother. He was a hoot!
Oh, sure, sometimes a character gets under your skin and you care -- and sometimes you don't give a flip about them. I'm sorry to hear you didn't like this one. It's on my wishlist.
ReplyDeleteI just read my first Heyer and was disappointed. I'm going to give her another chance, but pretty much had the same reaction as you. The one I read was Lady of Quality, here's my review:
ReplyDeletehttp://bookslistslife.blogspot.com/2009/01/review-lady-of-quality-by-georgette.html
I have this one. I can't seem to get motivated to read it. Based on your comments and Lisa's, maybe I'll wait.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely understand what you're saying. I've read 3 Heyer novels and while I wouldn't call any of them great I still liked them and will probably read more. I'm a sucker for the Regency time period, though. There isn't as much pure romance in Heyer's novels as there is in many other regency romances that I've read but I do like the witty banter between characters. I wouldn't say that the characters are very well developed but when I'm reading a Heyer novel, it's usually because I'm in the mood for a surface level book, know what I mean?
ReplyDeleteTo you all, I would say, for sure still read it! I was just expecting something totally different!
ReplyDeleteThat book wouldn't be my choice for a good introduction to her. I think her best books were "These Old Shades", "Devil's Cub", "Venetia", "The Masqueraders", "Simon the Coldheart", and "Frederica". Some of her others are quite boring.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Love your blog!
ReplyDelete