May 2020 TBR Challenge – Old School
For many readers, when you utter the phrase “old school,” they tend to think of big sweeping historicals. The hated phrase “bodice ripper” often comes up as do the clinch covers of old. And that’s certainly one way of doing old school romance. Maybe it’s pandemic fatigue, but neither one of us was really up to that thread of old school romance. Instead we revisited the world 
of Regency trads by well-loved authors, where Caz found more success than Lynn this month.
Under the Wishing Star by Diane Farr
When I hear the phrase “old school,” I immediately think of big historicals from the 80s and 90s. I started a couple for this challenge, but quickly set them aside. Maybe it’s the pandemic anxiety or maybe I was choosing the wrong books, but after encountering a few overbearing heroes and problematic historical settings that I just didn’t have the energy to unpack this month, I decided that instead of old school historical, I’d go for an old school Regency trad.
I’d read a couple of Diane Farr’s books and liked her writing style, so I picked up Under the Wishing Star, a book that many readers I know have loved. While it started off well enough, the relationship dynamic started to annoy me midway through, so it ended up being only a slightly better than average read for me.
The book starts off with what feels like a Cinderella-style setup. Natalie Whittaker has cared for the family home for years. Due to a crazy entail, the home skipped over the elder son and goes to the youngest. The youngest son happens to be Natalie’s hateful half-brother who has just returned home with his pregnant wife, who is equally unpleasant. Reduced to poor relation status, Natalie’s home life is decidedly less than happy.
On a trip to the village, Natalie encounters a girl being bullied by a rather cold governess. She intervenes, and unknown to her, the child’s widowed father is watching. Malcolm Chase fires the governess and ends up hiring Natalie. Natalie adores the little girl, Sarah, and she is frankly not displeased at the idea of taking a job to tweak her unpleasant brother.
While children in romances can sometimes detract from the plot, Sarah does not. She has been through the trauma of losing her mother and as readers, we see how that effects her. However, the author writes her as a child, rather than as an overly wise or overly cutesy plot device, as I’ve seen happen more than once. She and Natalie have a great bond and I enjoyed their interactions throughout the story. I also appreciated that caring for Sarah brought Natalie and Malcolm together in a rather natural fashion. Their friendship over the shared time with Sarah quickly blossoms into something deeper, and at first I found it rather romantic even though Natalie’s continued protestations that she could not possibly be with Malcolm got old pretty quickly. However, as things moved along and we learn more about Malcolm, I couldn’t help being uneasy.
Given that the hero is a single father, readers go into this story knowing that he had a past relationship. However, the more we learn about Malcolm and his late wife, the more I had a hard time warming to him. From the text, it sounds like that first marriage was a practical aristocratic marriage on his side but that his wife envisioned more of a love match. Rather than feel sympathetic for the hero, as he describes his late wife’s desire for love to the heroine as manipulation, my heart ached for this woman who had been trapped in a loveless marriage. Was the first wife a perfect saint? Definitely not,but she was a human being. More importantly, the hero’s depiction of her didn’t exactly convince me of his worth as a partner either. It read too much like those guys who like to tell their dates all about how every ex they ever had was “psycho.”
And therein lies my major issue with this book. Stylistically, the writing is lovely and there are some scenes in this book that really work. For instance, the instant rapport and developing relationship between Natalie and Malcolm’s young daughter, Sara, is very sweet. And then there are Malcolm’s romantic gestures. The scene where he throws a party and just happens to have musicians on hand so he can dance with Natalie made me sigh. Still, because of how Malcolm described his first marriage, I couldn’t help having those little quivers of doubt at the back of my mind.
While Farr is undeniably a skilled writer, I ultimately could not warm up to this book. Under the Wishing Star has its moments of feeling like a sweet fairytale, but I had enough doubts about Malcolm and enough irritation with Natalie’s selfless doormat tendencies to come away from this book feeling a bit blah. The book has enough moments to be somewhat above average, but still not quite up to what I would recommend.
– Lynn Spencer
Grade: C+ Sensuality: Kisses
Buy it at: Amazon
Feather Castles by Patricia Veryan
Patricia Veryan wrote some thirty-five historical romances between 1978 and 2002, many of which were out of print for a long time but are now available digitally. (Note: ebook editions only appear to be available in the US.) Two of her best-known series are set in the eighteenth century and the other – which is also the longest one – in the nineteenth. I reviewed Some Brief Folly, book one in the Sanguinet series for a TBR prompt last year, and decided to pick up the next book, Feather Castles, for this year’s “Old School” round. It’s more of a romantic adventure yarn than pure romance, and is actually the first book in which the character who gives his name to the series – the villainous Claude Sanguinet – appears. The story took a little while to get going, and flagged a bit in the middle, but I enjoyed it on the whole, and there’s a neat twist near the end that I hadn’t expected but which lays ground for the rest of the series.
The book opens immediately following the Battle of Waterloo, and we find our heroine, Rachel Strand, accompanying her friend and mentor, Sister Maria Evangeline, to the battlefield to search for someone among the dead and wounded. When the ladies are accosted by a group of looters, they are saved by a wounded officer Rachel takes to be French (given that’s the language he speaks before collapsing) who comes to their aid just before Sister Maria Evangeline’s friend, Diccon, finds them and runs the ruffians off. Diccon and Sister Maria Evangeline want to get away as quickly as possible, but Rachel refuses to just leave their rescuer to die, so they bundle him into their carriage and later aboard ship, bound for England.
Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield, Captain Sir Simon Buchanan (brother of Mia, heroine of Some Brief Folly) is dismayed to learn of the death of his friend, Tristram Leith, from an exploding shell. It’s with a heavy heart he carries the news of the death of Lord Leith’s only son and heir back to England.
Of course, the reader is able to put two and two together straight away, and work out that the courageous ‘French’ officer is Tristram Leith, but he is unaware of his identity for most of the book, his memory returning in fits and spurts, but not giving him a complete picture, or providing him with any clue as to his name or place of origin. He does work out that he’s English rather than French, and discovers he was a high-ranking officer (a Colonel) but his memory is like a jigsaw puzzle with lots of pieces missing. The first part of the story focuses on his recovery from his injuries, and the burgeoning romance between him and the lovely Rachel, but she is betrothed to the suave and powerful Claude Sangiunet, and when Tristram is sufficiently recovered, they part, he to journey to London, to Horse Guards to find out what he can about himself, she to her fiancé and wedding preparations.
Feather Castles gets off to a bit of a slow start and it took me a while to get into it, but once I did, I was pulled into the world the author has created. We’ve got an evil mastermind – who is scarily plausible and good at hiding in plain sight – plenty of adventure and long odds to be overcome, together with attractive leads and a group of secondary characters who are present as more than just sequel-bait; they have important parts to play within the story, and will, I suspect, crop up throughout the series. Tristram is a terrific hero, a military man whom the author actually shows being the sort of commanding, cool-under-fire presence his rank would suggest. Even when he doesn’t know who he is, his sterling qualities are obvious; he’s clearly a leader of men and Ms. Veryan shows those skills over and over again. We’re also introduced to the impulsive, brash Alan Devenish, a rather insubordinate young man who has obviously yet to come into his own, and whose impetuousness serves as a good contrast to Tristram’s calmer but no less determined approach.
Rachel is the sort of heroine who has perhaps gone out of fashion in recent years. She’s fairly passive in the first part of the story and doesn’t really start to question her actions or try to seek a way out until fairly late on in the book. Her family’s disgrace (her father had cheated at cards, which was a huge no-no at this time) means she and her siblings have been ostracised from society, and she saw an engagement to the wealthy, charming Claude as a way to make sure that her invalid sister Charity would be taken care of. She accepted Claude out of gratitude, and even though Sister Maria Evangeline makes it clear she believes Rachel is doing the wrong thing by agreeing to the match, Rachel refuses to consider an alternative; her focus is on Charity and Rachel is, to start with at least, wilfully blind to the signs that Claude isn’t the kindly altruist she believes him to be. But in this, she’s a woman of her time; so much of a woman’s ‘worth’ was bound up in family and reputation, and with no other way of keeping a roof over her head and paying for her sister’s treatment, Rachel took the only option open to her. Her situation certainly evokes sympathy, and I liked that she gradually came to admit to her mistake and to want to do something about it. On the downside however, the romance lacks a real spark; the absence of bedroom scenes isn’t an issue, but while I liked Tristram a lot, it wasn’t until near the very end that I started to believe Rachel was the woman for him.
Still, I think fans of traditional romances, or those looking for a Regency-era story full of intrigue, adventure and derring-do will enjoy Feather Castles. Patricia Veryan deserves to be more widely read; she’s frequently likened to Georgette Heyer, although I’m never sure that’s a completely apt comparison given Veryan wrote mostly romantic adventures as opposed to comedies of manners, but chances are if you like Heyer, you’ll like Veryan – and even if you don’t like Heyer, I suspect you could read it and be pleasantly surprised.
– Caz Owens
Grade: B Sensuality: Kisses
Diane Farr was one of my favorite trad Regency writers, and I was sad when she no longer published (whether her choice or her publishers, I don’t know). My book log has this to say about “Under a Wishing Star”: The premise of the entail going to the youngest son seems odd, despite the explanation, and the book is not up to Farr’s usual standard. Natalie keeps refusing Malcolm’s offer when her alternatives are so bad I would have thought marriage to him would be a no brainer (not that a Regency heroine would use that term). However, does contain some extremely romantic moments. For example, Natalie is nervous about her body and her sexual naïveté, but Malcolm tells her to think of him instead and, “in a flash she understood. He was right. When she thought about herself — her fears, her nakedness, what he must think of her, whether or not she pleased him — she froze. But when she thought of him — the play of his muscles, the texture of his hair, the feel of his mouth when he kissed her — she was free of petty anxiety.” Overall the good outweighed my criticisms and I gave the book a B.
One of my mini-challenges this year as part of my Goodreads reading challenge is to read more traditional Regencies. I’ve gathered up quite the collection of Signets and Zebras from secondhand stores and via ebook over the years, so why not? I only managed a couple before the pandemic happened and wrecked normal as we know it. I immensely enjoyed Lord Langdon’s Tutor by Laura Paquet and Catch of the Season by Barbara Benedict (which is a very silly book), but didn’t like the Barbara Metzger that I tried, Lord Glenraven’s Return. Thanks to the comments, I’m definitely going to be looking up some of these authors and moving the books that I *do* have to the top of Mount TBR. Hopefully I can get this mini-challenge back on track to help me meet my reading goals :)
It makes me sad that the trad Regency has more or less died off as a subgenre, especially considering the current trends on HR of dressing up modern characters in pretty, pretty dresses and declaring it done. The reissued Regencies that I’ve come across on GR and similar sites garner consistently low ratings because they are missing all of the fanon that modern HR readers have come to expect: lots of angst, modern attitudes, and sex. I’m sad that there are whole generations of readers who haven’t been exposed to the direct descendants of the Heyer tradition. I’m definitely on the side of the fence of wanting actual history and accuracy in my HR, which this subgenre provides (along with tropes in droves). It makes me appreciate the longer, angstier, sexier historically-set novels, too, because variety is the spice of life.
I don’t know if this would be of interest to you, but it might be of interest to Caz. In regard to heat levels in HR, I just ran across this blog post on So You Think You Can Write, the official Harlequin Blog, on their HR wish lists. In short, they are looking for steamier submissions and what sounds like the kind of modernisms that feel too… well, modern. Here is a direct quote regarding heat levels for those of you who don’t want to read the whole blog post:
“Sexy Regency stories are also popular and we would love to see a higher level of sensuality, alongside the high level of emotion, in the Regency novels submitted to us.”
And here’s the blog post:
https://www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com/what-the-harlequin-historical-team-want-2/.
One of the blind spots I see in Georgians and Regencies is that sex is either not or it’s hot. Are readers rejecting books that are less than explicit or are editors pre-empting readers and screening out less explicit books? Has hookup culture made the idea of sexual restraint implausible in a character?
It seems to me that there is a lot more room in historical romance to explore what was called “heavy petting” when I was growing up, especially in Georgian and Victorian books, set when women’s clothing is so complicated. Why is there so much expectation that heroes and heroines will score before they have practiced getting to second and third base numerous times?
All good questions and observations, Still reading. As for readers rejecting books that are less explicit, I suppose that depends heavily on the reader. I remember Anne Rice said she wrote the Sleeping Beauty trilogy because she wanted to create a steamy story that was steam all the way through as opposed to readers highlighting and bookmarking the sexy parts in between the rest of the non-sexy narrative. Of course, Ms. Rice is an erotica, not a romance, writer (plus other genres).
I think you have a good point about “heavy petting.” I know there have been discussions on AAR before about stories that have build up to the sex scene as the grand finale as opposed to letting the characters consummate their relationship halfway through the story- and then keep doing it in between other matters that require attention.
Are editors screening out less explicit books? I couldn’t say. Although I do think it’s interesting that Harlequin currently has six sex-free lines in which they are accepting submissions, all of which are inspirationals. Plus, the Dare line appears to be discontinued (i.e. it no longer has a submission category on their Submittable page). Until reading that blog post, I was under the impression Harlequin was moving toward lower heat levels in their historicals and other lines to give them a competitive edge against more explicit publishers. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
I saw something on Twitter a couple of weeks back that said the Date line was being scrapped in 2021 I think. I haven’t read many but I don’t think they were especially “daring” in the light of what’s available in the rest of the market.
Yeah, Lisa Fernandes and I posted back and forth not too long ago on AAR that Harlequin seems to be walking a fine line between offering “wholesome” romances a la Harlequin Love Inspired and books with more steam- without offending a big chunk of their customer base. I think it’s telling that when the Dare line accepted submissions, the instructions were quite emphatic about “no erotica” and “this is not erotica; send that to Carina Press.” Which calls into question why they created the Dare line at all if they weren’t going to be daring.
I read the blog post you mentioned, Nan De Plume. Really, the whole thing confirmed what I have long thought about a lot of HR -” just give us some sex and we will be happy” is all the commissioning editors seem to care about. I think it’s insulting to the intelligence of most readers who are often very well read, very well educated and definitely more informed than these editors give us credit for. Inference, obliquity, low-key, long and slow build-up to a sexual relationship can be FAR more exciting and sexy than the old jump, hump, pump on page 3. (Allusion to some British tabloids fully intended!!) Look at, say, the art of the fan or patches to communicate a number of semi-sexual messages – it was so elegant and subliminal but got the message across!
The point of Regency fiction, to me, should be a focus on the manners of the period. A comedy of manners can be so much fun when well written; ditto its oppo, a tragedy of manners. It was, after all, an era when manners made the men and the women. Look at Beau Brummel, for example, and his very rigid outline of what was a well dressed, well spoken and popular man. Yes, he did blow it eventually and came to a sad end in France but his influence lasts until this very day in the design of men’s clothing. Sorry, I digress all over the place but my plea is that authors and editors have some thought to all of the aspects of life in that period – not just hot oral sex on page 3.
Hey, no digression at all! I totally get what you’re saying, elaine s.
I think the problem with Harlequin, and other romance publishers as well, is they are starting to lack focus in an effort to chase after readers. They know many readers today demand sex scenes, so instead of creating a separate True Historical Romance line (or whatever) for traditional Regencies with slow build up and clever innuendo, they’re basically seeking out wallpaper historicals with high heat levels. Essentially, I see them playing safely to the middle of the aisle- enough steam to peak readers’ interest in the carnal, but not too much to avoid shocking the horses; and enough history to appeal to the more literary, but not so much that the readers looking specifically for steam get bored.
“I think it’s insulting to the intelligence of most readers who are often very well read, very well educated and definitely more informed than these editors give us credit for.” Oh, I agree. But I sometimes wonder if the commenters of AAR represent the majority of Harlequin’s customer base. For example, I see a lot of glowing reviews floating around for sub-par books that AAR definitely gives more nuanced opinions of. So obviously, there is a big enough market for their products as they are. Therefore, they keep producing their often tepid mixture of semi-history and semi-sexy potboilers. (Which can be lots of fun, don’t get me wrong!)
“Inference, obliquity, low-key, long and slow build-up to a sexual relationship can be FAR more exciting and sexy than the old jump, hump, pump on page 3.” LOL. But as an erotica writer, I can definitely see why authors fall into this trap. Frankly, writing romance is HARD. And, with respect to my fellow erotica writers and consumers, I think writing romance also requires far more intelligence and cleverness than pumping out sexy shorts on KDP. Writing innuendo and slow-burn that can hold a reader’s attention for the entire length of a novel without sounding cheesy requires some serious talent. I willingly admit that I lack such talent, so I went to the dark side. :)
Thanks, Nan, that is interesting. One of the reasons I like Harlequin Historical is because the really good authors tend to be very consistent in quality and historical accuracy (although YMMV re: who you consider a “really good” author in this line – there are some real stinkers out there!!). I’m not opposed to sex in my HR, but I would definitely be disappointed if there was a trend towards modernism for the sake of appealing to a modern reader.
One of my favorite Harlequin HR authors is Marguerite Kaye, who has thus far dodged any pressure to make her characters act out OOC for their time period, though I was disturbed that her novella in the Christmas collection last year seemed to have some of these elements shoehorned in. Her next novel is due in August, I think, so it’ll be interesting to see if the novella was just a one-off, or if even her work is being pushed in this direction (she has published with them for about a decade now).
Glad you found my post interesting, eurohackie.
“I’m not opposed to sex in my HR, but I would definitely be disappointed if there was a trend towards modernism for the sake of appealing to a modern reader.” My thoughts exactly.
Despite some of my criticisms, I do enjoy some Harlequin Historicals for the reasons you’ve mentioned. And, yes, I do prefer if there is some steam. Although I’m sure a compelling author could get me to wait until the characters’ wedding night for the big finale if the situation/setting precludes pre-marital action. :)
This is a repost. I tried to post this last night and it didn’t show up.
I show Lord Glenraven’s Return as by Anne Barbour, not by Barbara Metzger.
These are the Metzger books I’ve reread the most times:
18 Christmas Wishes (1993-2019) ****
12 A Suspicious Affair (1994-2019) ****
12 Cupboard Kisses (1993-2019) ****
10 Minor Indiscretions (1993-2020) ****
8 Lady in Green (1993-2020) ****
7 An Affair of Interest (1993-1997) ****
7 Father Christmas (1995-2019) ***
Thanks, Mark! I have some other Metzgers that I will move to the top of my list to try.
The Veryan books are digitally available from Amazon and google books in Germany, so I think they should be in other countries too.
Not in the UK, sadly – I had to use a *ahem* workaround to buy them from the US site.
The traditional Regency is my unapologetic supreme joy and my go-to comfort read. I just had a very quick look on the keeper shelves in my little library and here is a brief list of authors who might be considered Olde School Regency writers these days. One or two are still writing, some are no longer with us and some have changed direction completely and write under different names. I have made mention of a specific title for a few of the perhaps lesser known authors. For the others, well pretty much anything in their oeuvres would be a perfect re-read for me:
1 – Georgette Heyer – the founding mother of it all; anything she wrote is worth a read
2 – Paula Allardyce (Octavia)
3 – Caroline Harvey who is actually Joanna Trollope (Parson Harding’s Daughter)
4 – Marjorie Farrell (Miss Ware’s Refusal)
5 – Elsie Lee (The Nabob’s Widow)
6 – Edith Layton
7 – Barbara Metzger
8 – Judith A Lansdowne (The Bedevilled Duke)
9 – Early Mary Balogh
10 – Early Carla Kelly
11 – Patricia Veryan
12 – Barbara Hazard
I am afraid that so many of the more “modern” writers setting their stories in the Regency fail completely for me. Over the years here I have said many times that dressing up your characters in Hessian boots or dampened muslins does not a Regency make. Modern manners and world views, the “feisty” heroine who wants to solve the world’s problems and the unforgivable misuse of titles is a gigantic put-off for me so you can keep your wannabes who think hot sex is the main need of the reader for that author is not writing for me. There are some authors who CAN do it, get it pretty much right and are also on my keep shelf/kindle cloud – maybe a topic for another discussion.
I too have read all of these authors except Elsie Lee and loved most of their books. As for the rest of your comment: I couldn’ agree more!
Especially in the Kindle unlimited line are so, so many so called “historicals” that are just dreadful. It’s good one can have a look before buying! And these so called books get five star reviews!
I’ve read all of these except Caroline Harvey – I’ll have to check her out.
Here are a few more authors of traditional Regencies to check out:
Chater, Elizabeth
Chenier, Blanche
Dalton, Emily
Darcy, Clare
Devon, Marian
Dunn, Carola
Hocker, Karla
Holbrook, Cindy
Lansdowne, Judith A.
Layton, Edith
Lynson, Jane
Mansfield, Elizabeth
Martin, Michelle
McKeone, Dixie
Metzger, Barbara
Michaels, Kasey
Nelson, Judith
Peters, Clarice
Sebastian, Margaret
South, Sheri Cobb
Westhaven, Margaret
Wynn, Patricia
Mark
Over the years here I have said many times that dressing up your characters in Hessian boots or dampened muslins does not a Regency make. Modern manners and world views, the “feisty” heroine who wants to solve the world’s problems and the unforgivable misuse of titles is a gigantic put-off
SO. MUCH. THIS.
I haven’t seen a mention of Dinah Dean – I’m in the middle of re-reading The Cockermouth Mail. She might be better known for here novels set in Russia, but TCM is one of my very favorites,
I tried to find a copy of that one, but used paperbacks were ridiculously expensive.
I love Dinah Dean, and The Cockermouth Mail is one of my all-time favorite Regency trads, too. I have only read one of the Russian novels, but I am determined to hunt down more of her work!
Oh yes! I should have put her on my list. We visit Cockermouth once a year for a seminar and conference and I remember The Cockermouth Mail with fondness.
I think that My Sweet Enemy by Dinah Dean is maybe even better. Very HTF these days but a lovely, lovely book.
Elizabeth Mansfield! I absolutely loved her books. Passing Fancies is one of my favorites of hers.
I second the love for Barbara Metzger mentioned above.
Any Charlotte Louise Dolan fans out there? I Loved Fallen Angel and Three Lords for Lady Anne.
Yes – I’ve read some of Dolan’s books, (but it was a while ago and I can’t remember which ones! I’ll have to check my GR shelves!)
I am so happy to hear that the Veryan books are now available digitally. I wrote to the publisher a few years ago and was told there were no plans to issue ebook editions. I am particularly fond of Married Past Redemption, which was the book that followed Feather Castles.
I can understand ranking Veryan with Heyer, but for me, Veryan is less humorous and more intense emotionally. The ranking is one of stature more than style. The big similarity is that neither writer is explicit about sex, although Veryan goes farther into the bedroom than Heyer.
Veryan also has a lot of books in series, which means earlier characters make cameos later and minor characters move into major roles later. In addition, in Heyer’s comedies of manners, she often uses maliciousness to advance the plot. Veryan uses evil. Sanguinet’s ambiguous name is the first clue — although sanguine means optimistic in English, sanguinary refers to something that causes much bloodshed — the French word for blood is sang (see the Marseillaise). With a Veryan romance, the heartlight emerges out of darkness.
I think I mentioned Love’s Reward by Jean Ross Ewing in comments recently, and I decided to buy it when I couldn’t find the copy I thought I had. I ADORED it just as much all these years later. The hero can be a little too kiss-without-asking in ways I wouldn’t like now, but I really enjoyed it, especially its discussion of what love is.
I loved Patricia Veryan’s books. I must go dig some out — they would be perfect for reading while in exile for the health of the realm. And for the old Regencies, may I suggest Barbara Metzger?
Yes, I’ve enjoyed several of Metzger’s books – I remember that Wedded Bliss cracked me up quite a few times!
I recently picked up Veryan’s Golden Chronicles as well as a couple of the prequels and have been enjoying them.
I don’t remember if I’ve tried Diane Farr before, but hope to try her some day.
Duel of Hearts is a DIK at AAR and on sale for 2.99 right now.
Fair Game and The Fortune Hunter are also excellent.
I never got into Veryan… not much of an adventure reader, I guess.
I loved The Fortune Hunter because I loved George Carstairs, Lord Rival. He exudes charisma and charm but there is an underlying sweetness to his character that gives him depth. Probably my favorite of Diane Farr’s books.
I always loved Metzger’s regencies, especially her Lady Sparrow. I think I have some on my ereader and have to look them up. Good Corona reading!
I was a big reader of the trad. regencies – loved Sheila Walsh, Joan Wolf, Clare Darcy, early Kasey Michaels (with the alliterative titles), Eileen Jackson (Lord Rivington’s Lady!), Carla Kelly! – and when I look at all those authors I realize I leaned towards the more serious/darker ones (if you can call trad. regencies dark), so I never read Metzger.
One day recently when I was in the mood for something lighter, I found Miss Lockharte’s Letters by Metzger as an ebook deal and just loved it. About a young woman, fallen on hard times, now working in a girls school who gets sick and mistakenly thinks she’s dying. So she sends out a bunch of letters to all the people who’ve wronged her, telling them how they wronged her and forgiving them. Except for the hero – him she just sends a letter telling him she’s dying and it’s all his fault.
Problem is she wasn’t dying and now she has the repercussions of all those letters.
Made me laugh out loud.
I just re-read the Regency The Miser of Mayfair by Marion Chesney. I’ve read a couple of other Chesneys and they’re variable, but that one was delightful and had me laughing. That’s not one of her oldest books (I think it’s early 90s) but she’s definitely a classic author because she was writing others long before that, so I think it counts!
I remember listening to something of Chesney’s a few years back, and it’s an unusual story – for the time it was written – because the heroine has been a victim of domestic abuse. Most of her stuff – and I’ve only read a few – is pretty light and frothy though.
Chesney was always a favorite of mine because she portrayed characters of different classes with the same level of depth. (Sometimes they were of similarly shallow depth, but that was part of the charm.) She was not afraid to let her characters be selfish and unlikeable at times, which was refreshing to me! I like a quirky humorous voice, and Chesney fit the bill. She is also M.C. Beaton who wrote the Agatha Raisin books that are now a tv show in the UK. And oh, Google tells me she died in December! :(
She also wrote the Hamish MacBeth books, which was a popular TV show starring Robert Carlyle back in the 1990s.
I was a big fan of Hamish and Agatha. So sorry to hear she passed away.