Have you read this biography?

[Tasha]

I just got got my copy in the mail. I'd won it in a contest. Has anyone read it yet? If so what did you think?

[Nicole D.]

Not yet but it's on my to-read list and my bookshelf.I plan to get to it soon.

[Kim]

I read it last year and enjoyed it a lot. My review is here.

[Cheryl]

Kim wrote: "I read it last year and enjoyed it a lot. My review is here."

Nice review! I look forward to reading it one day!

[Tasha]

Kim wrote: "I read it last year and enjoyed it a lot. My review is here."

Great review. Makes me wish I had less on my plate so I could dig in now

[Kim]

Thanks, Tasha. I hope you enjoy the book when you get around to reading it!

[QNPoohBear]

Yes. It's interesting and worth a read but gets bogged down quoting entire letters.

[Margaret]

I wouldn't mind seeing a volume of GH's letters come out. I've enjoyed volumes of letters by other favorite authors of mine (Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers).

[QNPoohBear]

Her surviving correspondence isn't all that interesting. I was more interested in the writing process and revision. Unfortunately, her manuscripts were held in the London publisher's office and were lost during WWII. She didn't write multiple drafts or keep any copies of her manuscripts, which is too bad. I'd love to know more about the genius at work.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

I read the biography. I was anxious to learn something about my new favorite author. I had hoped for more of her insights about individual books as she wrote them. But I guess that this information just was not available or JKoelslter would have included it.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I have managed to pick this book up on TradeMe (NZ's answer to Ebay) I've just started Dunant's Blood & Beauty so it may be a while before I get round to reading it though.

[Ellen]

Just finished the biography and I enjoyed it a lot. I got to the end and found that yesterday July 4th was the 40th anniversary of her death. What a tribute to her writing skills that 40 years on she is still in print and giving so much enjoyment to her legions of fans.

[HJ]

Ellen wrote: "Just finished the biography and I enjoyed it a lot. I got to the end and found that yesterday July 4th was the 40th anniversary of her death. What a tribute to her writing skills that 40 years on s..."

Absolutely. Thank you for marking the date.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I've started reading & so far its showing an interesting background to her values & ideas.
I'm intending to sandwich it between my other reading though - not try to finish it all in one hit.
Loving the family photos - anyone else think that GH looks a lot like some of her heroes? :D

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

I think that GH looks a lot like some of her heroines-- or at least I think that she has given a few of them some of here features.

[Janhavi]

Especially all the endless grey eyes!

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Re Janhavi

Yes indeed , Many of GHs heroines and heroes have gray eyes!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Andrea (Catsos Person) wrote: "I think that GH looks a lot like some of her heroines-- or at least I think that she has given a few of them some of here features."

The cover picture of the Koestler biography - that is a lot how I picture Abigail from the Black Sheep. But in the picture that Christy B has used for this site GH really makes me think of a lot of her heroes - dark & sardonic looking.

[HJ]

Andrea (Catsos Person) wrote: "I read the biography. I was anxious to learn something about my new favorite author. I had hoped for more of her insights about individual books as she wrote them. But I guess that this information just was not available or JKoelslter would have included it. ..."

I have just finished the biography and that was my main disappointment, too. I also hoped to read more about the research which Georgette Heyer did to create (or recreate) her Regency world, but although there is a action late on in the biography about her notebooks there was not as much information as I'd hoped.

What is quite clear from the biography is that Heyer was very conservative and class-conscious in a way which is much less acceptable now than it was when she was young. Kloester emphasis that she was Edwardian by birth (1902) and upbringing:

"Although the Regency world she created was faithful in its historical detail, it was also a carefully constructed entity which reflected the Edwardian values, ideals and social mores with which she had grown up. Georgette felt at home in the Regency because it was an era which reached forward into her childhood and writing about it enabled her to escape to a time which felt safe, comfortable and familiar."

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Hj I also hoped to read more about the research which Georgette Heyer did to create (or recreate) her Regency world, but although there is a action late on in the biography about her notebooks there was not as much information as I'd hoped.

Same here - I knew there wasn't much personal information available, & I know the notebooks are still in existence as Judy Rougier (Richard's second wife) brought at least 2 of them to a conference in Australia in 2012.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/confer...

I liked reading her surviving letters - they did give more of a sense of what she was like to people she trusted.

[Karlyne]

Back when it was new, I read this biography. But I retained very little of it, mostly, in fact, just that she and her husband were simply terrible about money matters - which drove me crazy, because coming from an improvident family my own self, I have an obsession with being beforehand with the world. I'm sure I groaned out loud at the re-decorating of a leased house...

However, I've been doing an awful lot of serious re-reading of Heyer's works over the last few years (thanks, group!), and now I'm enjoying finding out just what she thought of her own works, and finding out that I tend to agree with her, as I did with A Blunt Instrument, and as I did on reading An Infamous Army again.

I'm only up to the late 1930s, so I'm looking forward to the progression.

Oh, and I actually really like the letters! She lets herself go when she has a pen and a reason for writing, and I find them very entertaining - and also very revealing.

[Karlyne]

There were several things I noticed this time around.

The money issues made me sad. How stressful!

Her serious illnesses, falls and broken bones (the Dexedrine!) while continuing to write made me sad, too, but absolutely gave me a feeling of awe at how she contrived to write while dealing with them. To say that she had a will of iron is to understate the case severely.

The humor! Several of her letters made me laugh out loud.

Kloester does a very good job of not throwing her 21st century mores into the book. But one spot made me wrinkle my brow: she mentions how Heyer would "defer" occasionally during social situations at home to her husband, so that he could be the head of the household. And I thought to myself that any couple who had been married for decades does the same thing, regardless of which sex is "deferring". It's more a matter of showing ones pride in ones spouse than it is an actual kow-tow-ing.

Insightful read, and I'm glad I casually picked it up!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I'm glad you enjoyed it Karlyne.

I know I found Koestler's style a little dry which was a surprise. In person she is warm & engaging - & a very good public speaker.

Edited for typos.

[Susan in Perthshire]

Karlyne wrote: "There were several things I noticed this time around.

The money issues made me sad. How stressful!

Her serious illnesses, falls and broken bones (the Dexedrine!) while continuing to write made ..."

Great Comments Karlyne - I very much agree.

[Nancy]

Enjoyed reading it while quarantined Jan. 2021.
Read ebook from public library via Libby app.
She had quite the work ethic and quite a stressful life !