Monday, June 03, 2013

Reluctant Widow (1946)

The Reluctant Widow. Georgette Heyer. 1946/2008. Sourcebooks. 316 pages.

I am so glad I'm rereading the Georgette Heyer books this year, and trying to do it in chronological order too! I remembered this one as being really good. But I didn't remember how delightful and different it was! It is not really like any of Heyer's other romance novels! It definitely has a strong mystery element to it.

The heroine, Elinor Rochdale, was quite enjoyable! When we first meet her, she's intending to be a governess. But a case of mistaken identity changes all that! She is waiting to meet someone to take her to her new place of employment. The man who meets her thinks she is the answer to his advertisement! His advertisement is NOT for a governess. She learns this much too late. But she decides to HEAR the offer. This man, this stranger, wants her to marry his cousin. It's delightfully complicated in the retelling. But he is very persuasive...

I shared more details in my first review...

Essentially I loved it just as much as I did the first time I read it. It was one I loved, loved, loved. I would definitely recommend this one!

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

1 comment:

JaneGS said...

I love The Reluctant Widow--it was my first Heyer and still the best in my opinion. Elinor is a fabulous heroine, and the brothers and their predicament is a joy to read about.

I agree, the plot is far too complicated to try to cram into a nutshell, but the story, the characters, the dialogue, and the wit is so much fun.