Secondhand Georgette Heyer Bargain Book Box SP2769

Secondhand Georgette Heyer Collection — 24 Vintage Pan Paperbacks

Georgette Heyer invented the Regency romance and remained its undisputed queen for five decades — and this collection of twenty-four vintage Pan paperbacks represents the heart of her achievement. The range here is exceptional: from An Infamous Army, her Waterloo novel so meticulously researched that it has been used as a teaching text at Sandhurst, to Venetia, which readers and critics most often cite as her finest Regency, to My Lord John — published posthumously and described on its cover as "her last and greatest novel," a serious work of medieval historical fiction about John, Duke of Bedford. The Grand Sophy and Frederica represent her comic genius at full stretch; These Old Shades and The Black Moth take readers back to the Georgian world she built before the Regency period consumed her. For devoted Heyer readers, finding this many titles together in one box is genuinely unusual. For readers who haven't yet discovered her, this is an extraordinary starting point.

1. Bath Tangle — A Regency romance with a more mature heroine than usual — a proud widow and an equally proud earl navigating a complicated romantic history. One of her more psychologically interesting novels.
2. April Lady — A young wife too afraid to confess her debts to her wealthy husband sets a comedy of misunderstanding in motion. Lighter Heyer, but pleasingly handled.
3. Arabella — A country parson's daughter accidentally lets London society believe she is an heiress, with consequences she cannot control. One of Heyer's most beloved heroines and one of her most purely enjoyable novels.
4. Black Sheep — A later, more assured Heyer: a sensible Bath widow and a worldly, cynical hero who has lived too long abroad. Wittier and more sophisticated than many of her earlier Regencies.
5. The Foundling — A young duke escapes his overprotective household and stumbles into adventure. Underrated and deeply charming — one for readers who have exhausted her better-known titles.
6. The Corinthian — A fashionable man-about-town encounters a girl in boy's clothing fleeing an unwanted engagement. One of her most purely comic and swiftly paced novels.
7. Friday's Child — An impulsive young nobleman marries his childhood sweetheart on a whim, and the consequences keep the reader laughing throughout. Vintage Heyer comedy.
8. Frederica — A capable older sister brings her family to London with no expectation of finding romance herself. Frequently cited alongside Venetia as among the very finest Heyer novels.
9. The Black Moth — Her first novel, set in Georgian England rather than the Regency, introducing the world and the character type — the aristocratic rake — she would refine throughout her career. Essential for understanding where it all began.
10. Faro's Daughter — A gaming house beauty and an insufferably arrogant nobleman who tries to bribe her away from his nephew. Sparkling dialogue and a heroine who gives as good as she gets.
11. Regency Buck — A Yorkshire heiress arrives in London to find her guardian is the most infuriating man she has ever met. One of her most popular early Regencies.
12. The Quiet Gentleman — A new earl returns to his ancestral home to find his stepmother and half-brother bitterly resentful — and possibly dangerous. Heyer combines romance with genuine suspense here.
13. Beauvallet — Her Elizabethan adventure — a swashbuckling English privateer and a Spanish noblewoman. One of the few non-Regency titles and a reminder of how wide her range actually was.
14. The Reluctant Widow — A governess inadvertently marries a dissolute dying man, inherits his decayed estate, and finds herself entangled in a Napoleonic-era spy plot. Heyer mixing romance and adventure with particular verve.
15. My Lord John — Published posthumously and described as her last and greatest novel — a serious work of medieval historical fiction following John, Duke of Bedford, brother of Henry V. Unlike anything else in her catalogue, and deeply rewarding.
16. Powder and Patch — An early Georgian romance in which an English country girl demands her hero improve himself — with results she did not anticipate. Lighter fare but with her characteristic wit already fully formed.
17. Venetia — Her masterpiece, in its readers' estimation most often. A spirited, well-read country girl encounters her notorious rake neighbour and the sparring that follows is as good as Heyer ever wrote. Start here if you haven't read her before.
18. The Toll-Gate — A Guards captain takes over an unmanned toll-gate on impulse and stumbles into a mystery involving a missing man and a bag of gold. More adventure than romance, and the better for it.
19. The Grand Sophy — The irrepressible, managing, magnificent Sophy descends on her relatives' household and reorganises all their lives without being asked. One of her most beloved comic creations and one of the funniest novels in the genre.
20. An Infamous Army — Her Waterloo novel — a serious, meticulously researched account of the campaign woven around a Regency romance. So accurate in its military detail it has been recommended at Sandhurst. Her most ambitious and most significant achievement.
21. Pistols for Two — A collection of Regency short stories showcasing the full range of her comic and romantic registers in compressed form. Ideal for readers new to Heyer who want to sample before committing.
22. Sylvester — A haughty duke discovers that a country novelist has caricatured him mercilessly in print — and then falls in love with her. Wickedly funny and one of her most satisfying romantic conclusions.
23. These Old Shades — The Duke of Avon, Heyer's most flamboyant rake, buys a Paris street urchin and discovers more than he bargained for. One of her earliest and most popular novels, and the book that made her reputation.
24. The Talisman Ring — Two sensible people agree to help two impulsive, romantic ones find love and solve a smuggling mystery. Often described as her most purely entertaining novel — which, given the competition in this box, is saying something.