Friday, January 13, 2012

Book review: Arabella by Georgette Heyer


I just finished reading my first book of 2012 as per my New Year's Resolutions to up my daily dose of prose.

Last month, I finally read my first novel by Georgette Heyer (Sylvester) and although it took me a while to get into it, it ended up being a rather enjoyable read.

It inspired me to pick up my copy of Arabella and give it a go. I found it charming from the beginning as we were introduced to Arabella Tallant, who would go to London for her first season.

The heroine is described as very beautiful, which usually bores me as I prefer other virtues, but she is a well-rounded character as flawed as most of us. Mr. Beaumaris makes for a thrilling hero as the toast of Society, who wore a dandelion in his button hole for three days just to start a hype for laughs. I liked that the hero questioned the heroine's regard for him as they both suspected the other to be merely ''amusing themselves''.

Although I've never been much of a dog person I have to admit that Ullyses stole the show for me. Heyer created in him a pet with as much personality as our protagonists and I found his adoration for Mr. Beaumaris utterly delightful. On the other hand, I skipped the scenes with Jemmy, a climbing boy Arabella rescued from the evil clutches of a chimney sweeper.

The novel is filled with fun, multi-layered characters and have ensured that I will be reading my other Heyer books and purchasing more in the near future.

4/5 stars

2 comments:

Patsy said...

I haven't read any Georgette Heyer for years. I used to like them, so might take another look soon.

Unknown said...

I rather liked the ones I read so far.

What do you read nowadays, then?