Regency Charade is a short (182 page) "Romance of the Regent's England" published in 1986. Definitely not as good as the best of Georgette Heyer, but entertaining enough. Miss Katherine Spencer lives in Kielder, the crumbling family castle, with her younger brother - only 9 years old but the next baronet. The previous baronet, their other brother, a gambler and a wastrel, died recently in a careless accident while racing.
Katherine discovers to her horror that he gambled away Kielder before he died. "Mr. Drew" arrives determined to take possession, despite the many tricks Katherine tries to drive him away (stopping up the chimney, breaking windows, etc.). Mr. Drew has a secret or two, which Katherine eventually discovers, and it all comes out right in the end.
The best scene was the one in which a bedraggled Katherine presented herself to the house she had reason to believe was Mr. Drew's and ended up having an interesting conversation with an earl.
If you are a fan of Jane Austen and Regency romances and are looking for new authors, you might check out Margaret Mayhew. The Galesburg Public Library has two Regency romances by her; the other is called Quadrille. They can be found in the adult fiction section under the author's last name, Mayhew.
P.J. O'Rourke advises "Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."
Let Galesburg Public Library staff and friends guide you in finding those books.
No comments:
Post a Comment