Caroline and Julia

by Clare Darcy

Glamorous Julia Daventry, the toast of the London theater, takes responsibility for young orphan Caroline Devereaux and encounters romance, drama, intrigue, and a plot by scheming relatives

Genres: Romance, Regency, Fiction, Regency Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical, Traditional Regency

185 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1981

About the author

Born in Ohio.

Widely considered the best of those inspired by Georgette Heyer, Darcy wrote a number of regency romances with intelligent, sparkling heroines.

A pseudonym for Mary Deasy

Information for place of birth from the jacket of one of Ms Darcy's books

Reviews

[Mela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it more than Cressida, but I feel that I can't give it four stars. When I compare it to Letty (my review), Lydia (my review) or Victoire (my review) , I just can't give it the same rating for 'Caroline and Julia'.

There were two typical couple from Regency romances: independent hero and heroine who quarreled often and sweet and shy hero and heroine. But, I think, it was too much in too short book so it wasn't used as it could have been used.

Nonetheless, I have a nice time.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since Caroline's Devereaux's wastrel father died leaving them destitute, Caroline and her mother contrived to live on whatever they can grow or make. Now Caroline's mother had died too and Caroline is at a loss for what to do. She contacts her father's wealthy uncle Chandos, but when no word arrives, she decides to make her way to London to stay with her mother's old school friend, Julia Daventry, until she can figure out how to make her own way into the world. Julia is a famous actress in London with many admirers, though she still mourns the loss of her beloved soldier husband who was killed several years ago. When Caroline arrives on Julia's doorstep, Julia immediately takes the younger woman into her home. Julia's admirers take notice of young Caroline and one young Byron wannabe is instantly smitten by Caroline's innocent charm. When Caroline's cousin Neville receives word that Uncle Chandos is dying, he rushes to his uncle's manor only to learn that his uncle has died. He finds the housekeeper Mrs. Knox-Gore worried about her future and that of her grown son Sidney, whom she claims was like a son to her employer. Mrs. Knox-Gore is certain that Chandos left everything to Sidney, however, the will can not be found to prove it. A meeting with his uncle's solicitor reveals that Caroline may actually be the sole beneficiary of their uncle's estate. Neville has no idea where to find his young cousin and is terribly worried about her. His friends decide to cheer him up by introducing him to Julia. Neville immediately finds himself behaving like a bashful schoolboy, all tongue-tied in the presence of a beautiful lady. Their next meeting has Neville behaving peevishly, when at last he discovers Caroline and makes plans for her return to the country to observe her mourning period. Caroline is made of sterner stuff that she appears and refuses to leave London. Meanwhile, Uncle Chados's shady butler and the Knox-Gores are plotting to keep Chados Deveraux's money for themselves. However, the butler does not care much for the Knox-Gores and has his own plan that may put them and Caroline into danger.

This story resembles one of Georgette Heyer's traditional Regencies but not as well written. There isn't much reason for the couples to fall in love and even less chemistry. The danger is patently obvious but the key characters chose to ignore it even though some of them are not so naive as Caroline. I would have liked to have seen more character growth from the key characters. The story dragged a lot in the beginning and wrapped up too neatly at the end. The story would have been better told as a comedy of manners without the danger plot. This is a good light read for those who like traditional Regencies.

[Truitt_T · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skip this.

I can remember enjoying Clare Darcy's traditional Regency in my early teens, and when Caroline and Julia: A Regency Novel ended up being a perfect fit for a challenge, it seemed like an easy choice.

And for a while, it was. It was mildly entertaining until the author proved herself to be incredibly queer phobic. It was completely unnecessary to have her unpleasant villain, about whom there have been hints of unacceptable behavior in the past, suddenly out himself as gay or bi by making unsolicited advances toward another man while drunk. There did not need to be a queer villain subplot to make this story work.

In other circumstances, I would have just quit reading (no throwing the e-reader across the room in disgust), but I don't review or rate books I mark as DNF. So I finished it, and gave out one of my incredibly rare 1 star ratings. I won't be revisiting any of this author's other works in a fit of nostalgia, either. Some things should remain firmly in the past.

[Bethany Swafford · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Caroline's mother dies, she is left alone and penniless. She goes to London for help from her mother's dearest friend. Julia Daventry, a widow and successful actress, welcomes the young girl with open arms. When Caroline's distant relatives, whom she has never met, appear, both are hopeful but soon realize all is not as it seems.

This was a quick and delightful read. Caroline is a sweet, responsible girl, who is overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of London. She and her mother scrapped by for most of her life, and she is determined to provide for herself now that she is an orphan. Julia has seen more of the world and isn't looking for love. They played off each other and complimented each other wonderfully.

The romance for Caroline is sweet. Young Redvers aspires to be like Byron, composing poems, and slowly comes to realize he needs to be himself to win the young lady. Caroline's cousin, Neville Devereaux, in pursuit of his cousin, meets Julia and it is love at first sight. This romance was a little harder to swallow, but it was fun to see the pair argue and disagree.

For a quick and light read, readers of Regency roance won't go wrong with this one.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so excited that I found an elibrary that has a plethora of these old, out-of-print books that I can download for free! I’ve been downloading like crazy since my discovery, and this is my latest binge read. What a cute, clean Regency romance with some suspense thrown in for extra fun. Clare Darcy is a fantastic author of delightful escapism.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Page turner

Pretty good but it had a lot of stressful elements. The characters were good, and it was a page turner.

[Gabi Coatsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining Regency adventure in the style of Georgette Heyer. I liked the characters - even the villains were fun to read about.

[Tobinsfavorite · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually liked this one, despite the weird recycling of names. (There's a lesser character named "Chandros", which was the name of an incidental character in one of the other books I read. A major character is surnamed "Wrexham"; one of her other heroes was surnamed "Wrexam". Another character is named "Neville Devereaux"; this isn't exactly recycled, but his friends refer to him as "Dev", which was the nickname of another hero, Deverell Rossiter in _Cressida_. [Best nickname ever: one of his friends called him "Nevy Devy".])

Nobody in this book is stupid! Well, except the villain, and there's great entertainment in a stupid villain.

In one of the major arguments between a besotted man and woman, the woman was actually proven correct in the end. It seems odd to me that in these books, clearly intended for a feminine audience, the woman is usually driven by pride or hysteria to cling to a wrong position in an argument.

There's a bit at the end where Julia has decided her love for Neville will allow her to accept the idea of being his mistress; fortunately for her hitherto-defended virtue, his intent is marriage. This really bothered me. I expect her position as a widow was meant to make this more palatable to the reader, but I also suspect Miss Darcy just got sick of the double-standard morality of her chosen time period. Lady, you chose it.

The peril in this book is more perilous than some of the peril in Miss Darcy's other books, which I think must justify the following passage, occurring after one gentleman has rescued one lady and they then rescue another lady and gentleman from the stupid villain: "Julia sprang forward with a glad cry and swept Caroline into her arms, sobs mingling with exclamations of joy. Neville, grinning, stepped forward and clapped Redvers on the shoulder, and the two stood laughing rather awkwardly together as men will do when overcome by unmanly emotion."

The editing in this edition is pretty bad, but we can balance that with a character named "Mrs Dainty", often called "Nurse Dainty". That's worth something.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light entertaining read in the style of Georgette Heyer. In fact, Clare Darcy is the only writer I've come across who is as good as Heyer (nearly). When Caroline's mother dies and her Uncle Chandos doesn't answer her letter, she goes to London to her mother's dear school friend Julia, an actress with quite a following. When her cousin Neville goes looking for her and cannot find her, he also goes to London and more or less stumbles across her at one of Julia's gatherings after a play. In the meantime, Caroline has fallen in love with Lord Redvers, another of Julia's followers. Cousin Neville doesn't feel that living with an actress is the best thing for a young girl, which infuriates Julia. In the meantime, her Uncle Chandos has died, but his sister-in-law Mrs. Knox-Gore and her son Sidney have plotted with the nefarious butler to hide the will leaving his large estate to Caroline and forge a new one, to get the money for themselves. Mrs. Knox-Gore gets the bright idea that Sidney should marry Caroline and then they could use the real will to get the money through her. The butler, of course, dislikes that idea because it cuts him out. They convince Caroline that she needs to go to Mrs. Knox-Gore supposed sickbed, and the butler burns the letters she writes to Julia, hoping that Caroline will feel that her friends don't care about her. Things escalate and Caroline is in grave danger; Redvers goes to 'rescue' her because Julia is sure something is wrong, and ends up in danger with Caroline. Eventually Julia decides to go herself when she doesn't hear from Redvers, and this forces Neville to go as well, even though he thinks Julia is exaggerating the danger. His attitude has caused hard feelings between them, even though they are falling in love (but fighting it.) It's a romance, so of course all ends well for all except the evil conspirators.
September 2021 Rereading

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel and think it is a gem for Regency readers. The encounter and the relationship between Neville and Julia is just excellent and really captures the surprise, delight and nervousness of older people who think there is nothing that can surprise them .. and then fall head over heels in love. At the same time, you get all the joy of young love and the strange youthful wisdom of Caroline and Redvers. Neville is wonderfully but subtly flawed, and because he thinks he knows it all, they almost all come to grief. This is probably my favourite of the excellent Darcy novels, though I like Richard Liddiard in Eugenia better as a hero. The period ambience in this novel is really excellent, as is the prose style - as elegant and light of touch as Heyer, but with a little more depth to the hero & heroine. A really excellent read and a must for any 'real' Regency romance collection.

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

17 year old Caroline is left destitute and all alone when her mother dies. She is able to make it to London and find her mother's old school chum, Julia, and is taken in. A cousin finally tracks her down, and promptly falls in love with Julia. All the elaborate schemes and relationship misunderstandings were a bit much, but Caroline's no nonsense attitude was nice.

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reread - fans of Georgette Heyer will enjoy Darcy, an American who came closer than most to achieving Heyer's light touch.

[Laura Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not your usual cast of characters ,different story line,good plot and good character development for a book under 200 pages.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good Regency romance. Some humor. Occasions where you want to hit someone for stupidity. Otherwise, enjoyable.

[Marya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Closer to 3.5 stars.

[Nancy Ashmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too formulaic, and having two heroines who are stunningly gorgeous is SO cliche.