The Grand Sophy - Georgette Heyer

Having not really enjoyed Cousin Kate, I was pleasantly surprised by The Grand Sophy. The titular heroine, Sophy Stanton-Lacy, stays with her aunt, uncle and cousins in London while her father, Sir Horace, is travelling in Brazil. Of course, she refuses to fit in with conventional polite society, but ends up changing their lives for the better.

Sophy is a likeable (if exhausting), confident and well-meaning main character, and we are given a villain you love hating in her cousin’s sly and manipulative fiancée, Miss Eugenia Wraxton. Also included in the colourful cast are a wonderfully distracted poet and a pompous know-it-all suitor. No character misses out on their share of amusing quirks, and the convoluted schemes Sophy comes up with lead to some really bizarre and funny situations.

This is Heyer at her best – sparkling, light-hearted and full of fun.

Next up: Guard your Daughters by Diana Tutton

Cousin Kate - Georgette Heyer

This is an odd one, because it’s historical fiction, written almost 50 years ago. Part of me thought that it might closely resemble modern historical fiction, but that part of me was wrong.

Nowadays historical fiction often tries to focus on realism, on capturing the mindset and atmosphere of the people living at the time. Heyer, however, simply transplants a plucky 60s young woman into the nineteenth century, making her an unfeasibly attractive and outspoken penniless governess. Kate is invited to stay with her rich aunt Lady Broome and her admittedly odd cousin, Torquil, and discovers various dark family secrets along the way.

Virtually every character in this novel speaks in a bizarre kind of slang, which I initially assumed was common 60s slang, but The Sunday Times claims that it is “slang beautifully rendered” – presumably regency slang, or the contemporaneous idea of it. Having lived through neither the regency period nor the 1960s, I can’t say for sure, but it feels a bit jarring to me.

That said, it’s an amusingly melodramatic romance, and a fun light read.

Next up: The Way of Shadows, by Brent Weeks

Fire - Kirsten Cashore

The first thing I have to say is that this book deserves a better cover. The Gollancz version (the one I read) is your typical teen-fantasty ‘girl-with-weapon-standing-on-rock-with-mystic-looking-background’ image. And the part that grates with me most is the fact that, if the image is actually trying to reference any part of the book, the dress should be purple, not red. 

The Dial YA version of the cover is better, featuring a bow and arrows rather than lady-in-dress, and I really like the understated originality of the Clarsen YA German edition.

 

Inside, Fire is anything but your average YA fantasy novel. The usual elements are there – insular non-time-specific low-tech kingdoms, magical powers, and so on – but Cashore takes it so much further. The protagonist, Fire, has a complexity to her sexual past which is refreshing compared to the coyness YA novels often have about sex. It helps the reader to see her as a rounded human being, rather than a copy-and-pasted heroine. The intricacy of the relationships between all of the characters in this novel is really well done, and leads to some truly surprising and touching moments.

Naturally, Fire does have special powers – what self-respecting fantasy heroine doesn’t? She was born a ‘monster’, a genetic aberration possible in any species, which gives the individual very bright colouring and unnatural beauty, and the power to influence the minds of those around them. Making your heroine inhumanly beautiful is a tricky thing to pull off without making it all feel like a giant piece of wish-fulfillment, but Cashore manages it. Fire sees her appearance as a disadvantage in most situations, and never truly comes to accept it as an integral part of who she is, not even by the end. Cashore also considers the logistics of Fire’s condition; ‘monsters’ are cannibalistic and lust after each other’s blood, which means that she is constantly attracting ‘monster’ insects and that she can’t leave the house when on her period without being mobbed by raptors.

Another aspect I really liked about this novels is that Fire isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of everything. Of course, as the protagonist, she does lie at the centre of the story, but she is only involved in a very small part of the events taking place. The fact that she recognises her insignificance amid grand political schemes and the war sweeping the kingdom adds a sense of perspective not often found in fantasy novels.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one, and am looking forward to reading the other two in the trilogy, Graceling and Bitterblue.

Next up: Cousin Kate, by Georgette Heyer

Book haul

I've just been to Bath for the day, and came back full of delicious food and a bag of second-hand books I really shouldn't be spending money on, but just can't resist.

Today's haul cost just over £5 and consists of Georgette Heyer's Cousin Kate and The Grand Sophy, Larry Niven's Ringworld, and Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie. Now to find space on my bookshelves!