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Judith Proctor ([personal profile] watervole) wrote2024-01-03 07:48 pm
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Frederica - Georgette Heyer

One  Of Heyer's very best books.

Frederica is used to being the head of her family. Since the death of her parents, she's had to organise her two younger Brothers, keep an eye on her older brother , and now she's trying to find a suitable husband for her beautiful sister.

The antics of her brothers lend real entertainment value to this story, and there is also genuine historical interest in things that Felix wants to visit. One of the joys of Georgette Heyer as a writer is that she always did her research in great detail. Frederica sees cows with milk for sale in Hyde Park, Felix goes to visit the inside of an iron foundry; and we watch a hot air balloon ascend. In the case of other writers, we might assume these to be made up , but when Georgette Heyer  is writing, you know that every historical detail will stand up to inspection.

This book is also delightfully amusing.
Alverstoke's interactions with Felix, as Felix attempts to drag him to see all kinds of mechanical things that Felix is convinced Alverstoke will find delightful, as pure joy, as are the conversations between Alverstoke and Frederica. 
At the decrepit age of 24, Frederica assumes she is out of the marriage market, so makes no attempt to attract Alverstoke for herself.  This leads to a friendly, relaxed dynamic that Alverstoke hasn't encountered before.
 
I was laughing audibly at many points in this book. I've read it before and will doubtless read it again :)

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