BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE - JUNE 2017 - HEYER & SCHAMA

GEORGETTE HEYER

SIMON SCHAMA

BOOKS OF HEYER

Alastair Trilogy
1. These Old Shades (1926)
2. Devil's Cub (1932)
3. An Infamous Army (1937)

Inspector Hannasyde
1. Death in the Stocks (1935)
aka Merely Murder
2. Behold, Here's Poison (1936)
3. They Found Him Dead (1937)
4. A Blunt Instrument (1938)

Inspector Hemingway
1. No Wind of Blame (1939)
2. Envious Casca (1941)
aka A Christmas Party
3. Duplicate Death (1951)
4. Detection Unlimited (1953)

Novels
The Black Moth (1921)
The Great Roxhythe (1923)
Instead of the Thorn (1923)
The Transformation of Philip Jettan (1923) (as by Stella Martin)
aka Powder and Patch
Simon the Coldheart (1925)
Helen (1928)
The Masqueraders (1928)
Beauvallet (1929)
Pastel (1929)
Barren Corn (1930)
The Conqueror (1931)
Footsteps in the Dark (1932)
Why Shoot a Butler? (1933)
The Convenient Marriage (1934)
The Unfinished Clue (1934)
Regency Buck (1935)
The Talisman Ring (1936)
Royal Escape (1938)
The Corinthian (1940)
aka Beau Wyndham
The Spanish Bride (1940)
Faro's Daughter (1941)
Penhallow (1942)
Friday's Child (1944)
The Reluctant Widow (1946)
The Foundling (1948)
Arabella (1949)
The Grand Sophy (1950)
The Quiet Gentleman (1951)
Cotillion (1953)
The Toll-Gate (1954)
Bath Tangle (1955)
Sprig Muslin (1956)
April Lady (1957)
Sylvester (1957)
aka The Wicked Uncle
Venetia (1958)
The Unknown Ajax (1959)
A Civil Contract (1961)
The Nonesuch (1962)
False Colours (1963)
Frederica (1965)
The Black Sheep (1966)
Cousin Kate (1968)
Charity Girl (1970)
Lady of Quality (1972)
My Lord John (1975)

BOOKS OF SCHAMA

Patriots and Liberators: Revolution in the Netherlands 1780–1813 (1977)
Two Rothschilds and the Land of Israel (1978)
The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age (1987)
Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (1989)1
Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculations (1991)
Landscape and Memory (1995)1433
Rembrandt's Eyes (1999)33
A History of Britain Vol. I (2000)
A History of Britain Vol. II (2001)
A History of Britain Vol. III (2002)
Hang Ups: Essays on Art (2005)
Rough Crossings (2005)
Simon Schama's Power of Art (2006)
The American Future: A History (2009)
Scribble, Scribble, Scribble: Writing on Politics, Ice Cream, Churchill and My Mother
The Story of the Jews, Volume I: Finding the Words, 1000 BCE-1492 CE (2013)
The Face of Britain: The Nation through Its Portraits (2015)

WHAT I'M READING

Regency Buck



&

The American Future

I'm reading Heyer's Bath Tangle. She's become a go-to author for me.

>6 jnwelch: And I hope that she will for me too, Joe. Roni has told me that her Regency Buck is second rate and that I should start elsewhere and I am mulling over that advice from her. She normally knows what I will like to be fair.

I have Venetia and The Embarrassment of Riches on my list for this month, but I may run out of time before I get to either one...

I have Friday's Child and A History of Britain Vol. I lined up for this month.

I've got a few Heyers to choose from, will choose between The Unknown Ajax, Bath Tangle & The Nonesuch. fairly sure I haven't read any of these.

I'm waiting for Schama's The Story of the Jews Volume Two: Belonging: 1492-1900 to be published, I've read Vol 1. It's due out in October. I'll pick up and flick through Landscape and Memory but doubt I could read it in a month.

>7 PaulCranswick: I'll recommend These Old Shades, it's the first in a series of 4 books ending with the magnificent An infamous army about the Battle of Waterloo.

Well Paul, I've been eyeing my pile of Heyer's recently, so maybe....

Regency romances are not really my thing, so I was pleased to see that Heyer also wrote some mysteries described as similar to the style of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. I am going to read Footsteps in the Dark.

Last week I attended a used book sale and picked up Dead Certainties by Simon Schama. So I'm all set to go.

I am reading A History of Britain, Vol 1. It has been sitting on the shelf with the other 2 unread volumes far too long, so I am making a start. About two months ago I started Beauvallet but it is going slowly so I think I will get another Heyer off the shelf so I can finish one of her's for this month.

>11 Caroline_McElwee: It will definitely be one that I have on the shelves, Kerry.

I believe it was Joe Welch's praise of Heyer's An Infamous Army last year that caused me to get my hands on a copy. I was thus pleased to see Heyer appear as a BAC for this year. I've never read Heyer before and I am looking forward to this one.


.

#15
I loved Infamous Army when I read it years ago. Colonel Audley and Lady Barbara are such amazing characters. And of course, there is Waterloo.

And if I recall correctly, Audley is a minor character in one of Heyer's other books. I just can't remember which one.

Well, I have rather quickly given up on 'An Infamous Army'. I read perhaps the first 35 pages last night and knew it was not a book for me. Before giving up I did spot read a few places ahead.

>7 PaulCranswick: I'd agree that Regency Buck is not her best. I'd go for The Grand Sophy or Frederica or Venetia myself.

I have long been wanting to read a Georgette Heyer. Maybe this is the month to get it done!

I'm about 150 pages into Friday's Child and not really liking it. It's not awful, but since Heyer is so often compared to Jane Austen I was expecting more satire and less rom-com.

I've finished Friday's Child, which is not without its charms, but it's a little too fluffy for my tastes.

Bath Tangle was another good 'un. Working my way through Julia's guide to Heyer.

I didn't know whether to read a Heyer or a Schama for this month but, as both were on my shelves, I decided read one by each author. The Schama is taking a while as it is one of his volumes of the history of England, so later for that one. The Heyer took a long time to read as well which is strange because I usually zip through those ones.

I read Beauvallet which was a new one for me and not a Regency. As it was set in the time of Good Queen Bess, it took a while to get into the vernacular but I persevered. It started slow but turned into a swashbuckling story of pirates and adventurers.

>20 amanda4242: Hmm, I have never read Austen so can't compare the two. I discovered Heyer as a teen and really enjoy her Regencies.

>24 Familyhistorian: I've only read the one Heyer but there seems to me to be a significant difference in tone between her and Austen.

I've finished A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World? 3000 BC - AD 1603 with one day left to spare. Covering 4600 years in 400 pages means there's not time to delve too deeply into anything, but Schama does an excellent job of giving an overview and never seems rushed. His style is engaging, there are several full page maps, a good selection of color pictures scattered throughout, and the bibliography is helpfully divided by chapters. Highly recommended.

I finished Venetia a couple of days ago. I'm not going to get to Schama this month. I lost a week of reading time due to a conference.

I've read Venetia too. It's a reread and as always very enjoyable. Heyer is my go to comfort read, and I've been feeling very stressy this week!

Better late than never... finished Heyer's These Old Shades. I liked this one a little better than the 2 previous books I had read of hers. The first half of the book was engaging, but the second half dragged for me...I felt that every scene was too long. So many people rave about her that I'll keep trying.