An Infamous Army Chapters 13-25

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

So how is it going for you?

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I've just finished Chapter 12. History part getting heavier, but loving the romance.

But Lavisse certainly plays Babs like a violin. He knows her insecurities.

[Hana]

The discussion between Judith and the Duchess of Richmond in Ch. 13 sheds quite a bit of light on Barbara: (view spoiler)[Her mama died when Harry was born, and that is a very sad thing for a girl...I am afraid the late Lord Vidal was rather dissolute, and Bab grew up without that refining influence which her mama must have exercised . There is also a suggestion in chapter 10 that her marriage was abusive in some way. She certainly came to loathe her husband more than might be expected if he was just a lot older than she was. (hide spoiler)]

Coming right from re-reading Regency Buck I'm finding the Chapter 14 Perry/Harriet sub-plot very believable (view spoiler)[and sad. (hide spoiler)] and then in Chapter 15 there is a moving scene with Perry and Harriet: (view spoiler)[The thought of Barbara no longer troubled her. A deeper grief, which she would never speak of, was the discovery that Peregrine was not a rock of strength for her to lean on, not a hero to be worshiped, but only a handsome, beloved boy...even though she knew it to be make-believe he must be set on his pedestal again." (hide spoiler)]

[Hana]

Carol, did you plan it that we are reading this as the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo approaches?

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Of course!

Err...no! Total fortunate coincidence!

[Hana]

Rather spooky, isn't it? This Wikipedia article is quite helpful on the order of battle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_o...

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Yes indeedy! I'm heading off to bed now, so I'll read the wiki tomorrow.

So far I'm finding the history palatable & am finding the development of the Alastair family saga very intriguing. With Bab's past, I can see why GH decided to make Dominic & Mary grandparents rather than parents.

[Hana]

Sleep well, Carol! I'm up to chapter 19 and the most wonderful scene with Judith and Barbara :)

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Hana wrote: "The discussion between Judith and the Duchess of Richmond in Ch. 13 sheds quite a bit of light on Barbara: [spoilers removed]

Coming right from re-reading Regency Buck I'm finding th..."
Hana, I will add to you spoiler about Peregrine and Harriet,

I thought Peregrine in RB(view spoiler)[ too young to be thinking of marriage. I thought Harriet's parents were nuts for wanting to marry her off to a boy. (hide spoiler)]

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

***Carol*** wrote: "Yes indeedy! I'm heading off to bed now, so I'll read the wiki tomorrow.

So far I'm finding the history palatable & am finding the development of the Alastair family saga very intriguing. With Bab..."

Good night.

[Hana]

I agree with you totally on Peregine, Andrea! I like it that Heyer is showing (view spoiler)[a less than totally HEA outcome--and showing it in such a psychologically astute fashion. Their marriage will never be the same: it might wind up better in the end, but a breach has occurred and the trust and admiration that Harriet felt for Peregrine has been lost forever. So sad. (hide spoiler)]

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Hana wrote: "I agree with you totally on Peregine, Andrea! I like it that Heyer is showing [spoilers removed]"

I think Peregrine (view spoiler)[ despite his silliness with Barbara that has cost him his wife's regard, I don't think he's a bad guy. He just married much, much too young. (hide spoiler)]

[Elza]

The hardest part to read is the Perry/Barbara episode. Perry and Harriet are both immature; Barbara knows better, yet acts out of spite. It's very hard to like her here.

Much is made of Barbara's upbringing and her difficult marriage, but in the end she chooses her actions and has to deal with their consequences. However, it could have gone very differently -- with much less damage -- if Harriet were not such an idiot.

As far as it changing the Taverners' marriage -- they were both such babies when they married that something like this had to come sooner or later. I think it forced them to grow up a little and that will be a good thing for them both.


I love the way that Judith and Barbara care for the wounded, and the way that Worth takes care of them by knowing when to call a halt. These are the grown-ups in the story, after all.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I'm at the start of Chapter 22 & maybe it's being older, but not finding the history to hard to swallow at all.

I'm off to check a list of Heyer's works to find out which was written first, this or the Spanish Bride.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

***Carol*** wrote: "I'm at the start of Chapter 22 & maybe it's being holder, but not finding the history to hard to swallow at all.

I'm off to check a list of Heyer's works to find out which was written first this ..."

Interesting. GH wrote The Spanish Bride straight after this. She must have been smitten by the Smith's story & decided they deserved their own book.

[Karlyne]

With the comments in this, I felt sure that The Spanish Bride must have been first- definitely interesting!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I'm following you around the group, Karlyne!

I'm going to see if I can squeeze in a personal read of The Spanish Bride. I may enjoy it more if I have it follow the Alastair/Audley books.

[Barbara]

Sorry if has already been said, but did everybody know that they are reading An Infamous Army on the premier Heyer site , Almacks right now?

Very good discussion .

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Barbara wrote: "Sorry if has already been said, but did everybody know that they are reading An Infamous Army on the premier Heyer site , Almacks right now?

Very good discussion ."

No, I didn't even know there was another active group *blush.*

[Margaret]

Almack's is in origin an email list (currently hosted on Yahoogroups), not a Goodreads group, so I don't think you need to be embarrassed about not being aware of it. :) As a matter of fact it predates Goodreads by a number of years if you count the original listserv the Yahoo group is the successor to. IIRC I joined some time in the late 1990s, and it had already been going on for at least a couple of years before that.

[Karlyne]

Oh, good, Margaret, I won't have to blush, either, then.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Margaret wrote: "Almack's is in origin an email list (currently hosted on Yahoogroups), not a Goodreads group, so I don't think you need to be embarrassed about not being aware of it. :) As a matter of fact it pr..."

I looked it up & I did know about it- oops! I think I never applied to join because you had to be a member of Yahoo. They have an impressive number of posts some months though.

[Karlyne]

It just dawned on me that the Duke of Brunswick was the Prince Regent's brother-in-law, the detested Caroline's brother. How convoluted some of these relationships are!

[Hana]

Good one, Karlyne. I totally missed that! It really was a very small, almost closed society.

[Karlyne]

Hana wrote: "Good one, Karlyne. I totally missed that! It really was a very small, almost closed society."

I wonder how many times I'd have to re-read this in order to get all the names and relationships straight? It's almost like reading Tolstoy! Ok, not really...

[Hana]

In honor of the 200th anniversary I'm planning on going for a couple of non-fiction versions rather than a re-read.

This article in The Economist has a good discussion of why the battle was so pivotal and they recommend two books that I'm thinking of reading soon: Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles by Bernard Cornwell and Waterloo: Four Days that Changed Europe's Destiny by historian Tim Clayton.

http://www.economist.com/news/books-a...

[Karlyne]

Hana wrote: "In honor of the 200th anniversary I'm planning on going for a couple of non-fiction versions rather than a re-read.

This article in The Economist has a good discussion of why the battle was so piv..."

The Economist article was interesting! It brings out that the French were getting tired of Napoleon, so it does leave me wondering why the moderns were so upset about the Belgian coins.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Hana wrote: "Good one, Karlyne. I totally missed that! It really was a very small, almost closed society."

I missed that as well. It occurs to me that some of the works mentioned in what GH called her short bibliography (that dry sense of humour!) might be available on Gutenberg.

[Karlyne]

And let us know how you find the non-fiction accounts, Hana!

[QNPoohBear]

There was a good documentary on Waterloo on the Smithsonian Channel last night. If you want to SEE what Heyer wrote, try to find it!

[Susan in Perthshire]

I think that the characters in this book are the most human of all of GH's vast repertoire. They are flawed, they do stupid and often wrong things but they are so believable. The whole Perry/Harriet/Barbara story is handled so well. These guys become absolutely real people. I agree that Barbara has some very unattractive character traits but somehow I totally understand why Charles loves her and why she, in spite of herself, loves him. Heyer's coverage of the battle is one of the most evocative and accurate accounts I have ever read. I watched at programme on BBC on Tuesday about the battle and it was like seeing her words put into visual form. The story of Napoleon and his empire is fascinating in itself but the importance of Waterloo is pivotal to the development of Europe in he 19th century. Heyer does absolute justice to the battle and the atmosphere in the different scenes pertaining to it. I can see why some folk might be put off by the history dominance in the story as it is so different to many of her other books. I think An Infamous Army demonstrates what a great writer she really was. Her historical research is superb and her characterisation is immensely skilful - mature, well rounded, fully faceted people who live on even after you have finished the book.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Great analysis Susan!

If you haven't seen it yet we have more character analysis in the spoiler thread. :)

[Susan in Perthshire]

Thanks Carol - just looked at the spoilers thread and I guess it confirms what I said because people are really engaged with these characters; they have become real! Only joined this site yesterday and already wondering how I managed without it for so many years!!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I found it uncanny how much you mirrored us! :)

[MaryC]

Karlyne wrote: "I wonder how many times I'd have to re-read this in order to get all the names and relationships straight? It's almost like reading Tolstoy!"

As it happens, my husband and I are "reading" War and Peace on talking book right now, and the peace sections remind me a bit of Jane Austen--novel of manners!