Georgette Heyer Fans discussion
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The Toll-Gate
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The Toll-gate Group Read January 2016 Chapters 1-9
I have a worn paper back showing the hero and heroine in stable. I have read this book a number of times. I also have it on Audible which is for travelling and book at bedtime stuff. I fall asleep to a GH and have to rewind to the last place I remember actually being awake enough to take in
Tina wrote: "I have a worn paper back showing the hero and heroine in stable. I have read this book a number of times. I also have it on Audible which is for travelling and book at bedtime stuff. I fall asleep ..."Sounds like my copy. I'll scan my cover tomorrow for here - I just want to check if I missed it on the list.
Tina wrote: "I also have it on Audible which is for travelling and book at bedtime stuff. I fall asleep to a GH and have to rewind to the last place I remember actually being awake enough to take in ..."I do this too! It's especially useful when I'm wakeful in the middle of the night; enjoyable enough to keep my mind engaged yet calm, but not gripping enough (since I know what's going to happen) to keep me awake.
Yep you have got it totally didn't think there were others like me
I have a digital version from my library. Not only is my first time for Toll-Gate but also my first Heyer.
Ooh, a Heyer virgin! I hope you love the experience, Sara! What a great way to celebrate a new year.
This time, I am reading it on my Kindle, but this is one of the Heyer books that I own in print form as well. I cannot remember how many times I have read this. Love this book! And I like Jack's Mother, a sensible, caring yet not smothering nor domineering mother!
Critterbee wrote: "This time, I am reading it on my Kindle, but this is one of the Heyer books that I own in print form as well. I cannot remember how many times I have read this. Love this book! And I like Jack's ..."
I like his mother as well and loved the way she held down the (well intentioned) but overbearing sister.
I'm going to be listening to the audio book, my original copy is a ex-library hard back. It's been a while but I know it was one of the ones I liked.
'I remember it as a solid 4* read. Enjoying so far, like Jack very much
I really like Ben a lot, so much more than the boy F. From another book. Ben is really a good kid so far and causes no trouble
Romances of this type are generally told more from the woman's pov, with the heroine being the central figure and the hero being secondary. I think Heyer has turned that on its head and Jack is the center of this book and I like that.
I like it too Sara that the hero is central.I also really enjoy the supporting characters in this particular title of GHs.
For some reason I was not previously too keen on The Toll Gate, but I reread it again recently and found it's grown on me. Possibly I had different expectations this time around and was able to enjoy it for itself.
Margaret, I had a similar experience with "The Quiet Gentleman". I didn't think much of it the first time I read it, but last month I reread it for the first time and really saw what was good about it.
I often think my initial impressions suffered from my reading one Heyer after another as a teen-ager. I would love April Lady or Friday's Child or The Masqueraders and the next book would not measure up. Re-reading them in the midst of other books allows me to experience each more on its own merits, and I am appreciating them more.
Kim, when I "discovered" GH a couple of years ago, I went on a "drunken bender" with her books and reading "The Quiet Gentleman" back to back with the titles that I now classify as my favorites--it just didn't measure up at the time to Cotillion, The Grand Sophy, Devil's Cub and other favorites.I'm glad I participated in the group read of tQG and have a different perspective.
Now I'm waiting for "Cousin Kate" for a reread. That title suffered the same fate during my "frenzy." It didn't make a favorable impression at the time.
Yeah, Cousin Kate is another one that you shouldn't go into expecting a comedy of manners.
Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "I really like Ben a lot, so much more than the boy F. From another book. Ben is really a good kid so far and causes no trouble"& is responding like a flower to sunshine when given some kindness!
I have a question - on page 26
Having found a pair of pumps in his saddle-bag, John mixed himself a glass of hot rum and water...
I'm having trouble visualising the pumps & can't find a picture or definition online. Can anyone help? :)
Jacquie wrote: "Try this ; https://www.google.com/search?q=pumps..."Ahhh, so do you think the pumps are shoes? I thought it was something for mixing the drinks! That makes sense though seeing he was drying his boots! :D
Think they wore them with formal wear, at balls and such.
Kim wrote: "Think they wore them with formal wear, at balls and such."Hahahaha, I feel a little silly Mum called her evening & office shoes pumps,but I haven't heard that in years! & never heard it used for men's shoes.
I particularly like the way the upper servants at Kellands all come down to the toll gate to inspect the captain. Their loyalty and protectiveness is very touching. And I like seeing the captain’s learning curve: he’s not used to his every action being watched and interpreted. For instance, if he hires a carter to deliver things to the toll house, people will be suspicious and know he’s out of place; he thinks fitting in is all about not using fancy words, but everything down to the quality of his shirts gives him away.
☆ Ｃａｒｏｌ ☆ wrote: "Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "I really like Ben a lot, so much more than the boy F. From another book. Ben is really a good kid so far and causes no trouble"& is re..."
Pumps - Definitely an indoor, flat shoe for a man.
http://www.harr-shoes.com/index.php?1...
Abigail wrote: "I particularly like the way the upper servants at Kellands all come down to the toll gate to inspect the captain. Their loyalty and protectiveness is very touching. And I like seeing the captain’..."
& GH planned quite well to have Jack travelling quite alone (without even a servant)
I must have known that (about pumps) when I read that book in my younger years, so my eyes rolled over without questioning.
I think Ben is a fun character and watching he & Jack learn about each other is fascinating. does anyone know if the place - The Toll Gate - was realistically portrayed? would a man like Ben's Dad really live like that, at his "gate" ?
Jackie wrote: "I think Ben is a fun character and watching he & Jack learn about each other is fascinating. does anyone know if the place - The Toll Gate - was realistically portrayed? would a man like Ben's Da..."
I did a google & found some B&Bs called Tollgate Cottages. It seems a bit like being a lighthouse keeper - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
I does make sense to me that the gatekeeper would have to be on site 24/7 and would therefore have to live at the gate house. I would imagine the post would need to be given to a married man so that there was someone to back up the keeper. In this case, of course, Bream used Ben as his backup.
Yes, the house was provided with the job.
There is a Wikipedia on Toll Houses and a site called turnpikes.co.uk which gives a lit of information
Oh yes -- one can still see former toll-houses on English roads, as they often had pronounced bay windows close to the road. This was how the road network grew up, with companies building roads which were financed by tolls. There were tollgates everywhere, even in London.
There is one near me, it has been restored but I remember the sign being there for years (and I've just asked my mother if she remembers the sign always being on the building)
I have to say, I’m a little uncomfortable about the speed with which Jack and Nell come to an understanding. (I can even post about it in the first thread.) I get that Nell has a very uncertain future, but to throw in her lot with a guy she knows nothing about, who decided on the spur of the moment to staff a toll gate? Seems inconsistent with her “squire” personality. I know, I know, love at first sight. I guess I prefer some drawn-out romantic tension. What we’re left with is the mystery/ies about Brean and/or Coate, not all that mysterious.Anyway, that’s my view from the end of chapter 9. I’ll read on, but the fact that I haven’t reread this one for years makes me doubtful that things will improve for me.
it's okay thought not one of my favourites. Nothing very interesting happens between the hero and heroine, they just meet and fall in love and that's that. Nell doesn't really have much to do in the story.
There are tollhouses on this side of the Atlantic, too--at least in my area (Maryland). Of course they no longer function as such, but they can often be recognized by their nearness to a main road and by their having two front doors.My husband and I are about to start "reading" via audio. I read it once years ago In a paperback edition and am not sure now who the publisher was.
Abigail wrote: "I have to say, I’m a little uncomfortable about the speed with which Jack and Nell come to an understanding. (I can even post about it in the first thread.) I get that Nell has a very uncertain fut..."One of the reasons I like this book is that there is a lot of dialogue between John and Nell. They have a long conversation when Nell visits the tollhouse to find out who is he and why he is there, and even longer conversations on their way to and from Tidswell. As a reader you see how well they get to know one another -- they speak to each other much more than the typical Regency hero/heroine interchanges at balls and musicales etc..
Although I know that John fell in love at first sight (he received his leveller), these conversations make it easier for me to accept the immediate attraction between John and Nell, and especially for me to understand how Nell falls for John. He is fundamentally very kind, and she can see that in the reason why he stayed at the tollgate (because Ben was frightened) even though he says he was also glad to get out of the rain. Of course, from the description one can also see how very attractive he was, too -- especially to a tall girl!
Well put HJ - I never had any problem understanding why they fell in love either.
Abigail wrote: "I have to say, I’m a little uncomfortable about the speed with which Jack and Nell come to an understanding. (I can even post about it in the first thread.) I get that Nell has a very uncertain fut..."It's not really primarily a love story. The romance provides a motivation for Jack to stick around and solve the crime story.
This is a re-read for me. I remember the basics of the story but always look forward to discovering the details again. I have 2 grown sons, both single, who have been home for Christmas and left earlier this week. The oldest is 29 so I definitely could sympathize with Mrs. Staple: "As for letting him go, a man of nine-and-twenty, my love, is not to be held in leading-strings." They enjoy being at home but I know that when the time comes they are also "heartily glad to escape"!
And how can you not adore Cocking? What a champion! "Would there be anything more you was wishful to say about the Captain?" A master of the put-down. I love it.
I know it was a 'love at first sight' connection, which is not always very convincing, but I agree that it was backed up by their conversations and behaviour in these first chapters. The mystery does take precedence but I like it.
This is a re-read for me, although after more than 20 years or so. This was not part of my "regular re-read" list, so I just barely remember the overall story. But I am glad I am reading it. I am reading a kindle version. So far, liking it and it is a good change from the comedies-of-manners with no balls, parties or ton stuff. Also interesting to read about all the day-to-day aspects like cooking dinner, getting water from the pump etc. Things that you don't see in normal Heyer novels!
First time reading it for me. I'm listening to an audiobook.I'm glad I was warned about the first chapter ... kind of a snoozer. And I feel like I have no idea who anybody is!
This plot moves right along. I'm at chapter 3 and I feel like we've met a ton of characters and there's already a mystery to solve. I'm really enjoying. I'm assuming by the descriptions that John Staples is 6'4" and Nell is close to 6". Does that sound right? I know Sophy was supposed to be tall for a woman but that could have just been 5'8"-ish. It sounds like Nell would be tall even for a man.
I think Sophy was 5 foot 9 in her bare feet.I think your measurements for John and Nell are probably close to what GH was going for, though she was not specific. My curiosity as to just how tall they were was peaked.
I love the put down by Cocking; he is a wonderful character
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Georgette Heyer Fans
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The Toll-Gate (other topics)Authors mentioned in this topic
Mary Stewart (other topics)Harper Fox (other topics)
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Now, I'm sure before the changes in visual display here I could change the edition in the little icon. Looks like I can't now. But I will be reading