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False Colours
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False Colours Group Read Feb 2020 Chapters 12-22
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*Corrected chapter mistake in the thread title*
It's not one of the Heyers I would recommend to an uninitiated reader. But at least in the second half things go in a different direction, right away: (view spoiler)
Sheila (in LA) wrote: "It's not one of the Heyers I would recommend to an uninitiated reader. But at least in the second half things go in a different direction, right away: [spoilers removed]"Indeed, to both spoilers!
However I’m liking Evelyn more than I expected to, especially as it’s very clear now that (view spoiler) - I think this had just been hinted before?
Cressy's intelligence is what makes this book for me. I have trouble with Darling Mama, so Cressy's practicality and kindness are welcome relief!
Karlyne wrote: "Cressy's intelligence is what makes this book for me. I have trouble with Darling Mama, so Cressy's practicality and kindness are welcome relief!"Totally agree!
I'm on chapter 17 and Evelyn has just returned. Someone said above that they found his reason for being gone anti climatic and I have to agree and the fact he had still been nearby all the time. I do like Kit and Cressy together. Made for each other.
Teresa wrote: "I'm on chapter 17 and Evelyn has just returned. Someone said above that they found his reason for being gone anti climatic and I have to agree and the fact he had still been nearby all the time. I ..."It's odd that everything hinges on Evelyn, but he isn't a major player in the story, really. Although the beginning makes us think that he's going to be very important, he ends up being secondary; we get all of his life second-hand, even his romance!
Heyer is actually quite good about characterizing people who are off-stage. Think of Conway Lanyon in Venetia!
Cressy is such a great character, I think she'd be such a great friend to have! Although I'd also love hanging out with Lady D, she's sweet and I think she would make me smile and shake my head; I'd love to have tea with her and Cressy, I can imagine sharing looks and smiles with Cressy and laughter with both of them. I loved the Kit/Cressy scene that Sheila mentioned in her spoiler. I don't have the book in front of me right now, but I think it's maybe chapter 19 or 20 when Bonamy (view spoiler) Love it!!!
It's been quite a few years since I last read this book and I'm finding that I'm enjoying it even more this time than I did before (and there are also a lot of things that I had forgotten). I'm listening to the audio this time and the narrator is perfect! I only have one and a half chapters left to listen to and somehow life got crazy and I haven't been able to carve out the 30 minutes to finish the book. Ugh. (Although, maybe if I stopped playing here on GR I'd have time to listen!! But it's so much fun to read everyone else's comments, and I just can't resist!)
I love Cressy! She really comes through for Kit. I was thinking "uh oh now you're really in the suds!" Georgette Heyer has a way of making even the most villainous characters funny. I actually feel a bit sorry for Mrs. Alperton. She's doing what she can to survive as a woman on her own. Those dinner parties sound extravagant and I wonder which Marquess turned Duke was her lover? I was glad when (view spoiler)
I admire Cressy's calm and sensible demeanor. She might actually be a good wife for Evelyn if she could reform him. He sounds rather rackety.
I did not like (view spoiler) ugh. no. Not romantic.
Finally, Evelyn returns home. (view spoiler)
I think Evelyn is still young and I don't wonder at his uncle's putting the money in trust. I would too. At 24, his frontal lobe hasn't developed yet and he can't be trusted to make good decisions on his own. However, his uncle and staff should be helping him grow up and learn to be a man so he can take over his fortune instead of treating him like a child.
Lady Denville's debt... whew! That is an enormous amount of money! Mr. Darcy has 10,000 a year and the debt is twice that much! It's kind of Evelyn to help his mother but put Kit in charge. He's more sensible.
There's no suggestion that Amabel, for all of her flighty ways, is actually stupid, so I find it sad that she lets herself act like she is. Most any seven year old child can add and subtract, and that's all it takes to actually balance your accounts, whether it's a checkbook or just a ledger. It might not be fun for most people, but she's reaping the have-fun-now/pay-later mindset. Maybe she's meant to be a cautionary tale; balance your books, ladies (and gentlemen) or make your kids suffer later!
I would be more bothered by this if I did not know that most women of my Grandmother's generation did not do any of the accounting. One neighbor had never written a cheque or made any payments as groceries and clothing were purchased from the general store on a tab that was paid monthly by the husband. She had to learn everything from scratch or rely on her son after her husband died.
Carolm wrote: "I would be more bothered by this if I did not know that most women of my Grandmother's generation did not do any of the accounting. One neighbor had never written a cheque or made any payments as g..."That’s certainly not true of the women I have known.
My grandmother managed the household affairs, as did most of the women in my family. Part of this was sheer practicality as the menfolk worked long hours and it was the woman who was able to go to town to pay bills etc.
However, even when and where it was true that a woman did not handle money or deal with the accounts, - it did not mean that women could not appreciate the simple sense of keeping within a budget. It does not require a degree in economics to appreciate that spending more than you have means you’re in debt.
Amabel totally understands she is in debt - really huge debt - but she is not inclined to change her ways and practice economies.
She is prepared to see Evelyn make a loveless marriage so as to release his trust funds and pay off her debts. If that’s not selfish - I don’t know what it.
Whether women in the past handled money seems to have depended on location and culture/social class. Going back two generations, it was quite normal for the wife to handle family finances - even, going back to my great-grandparents, my ggf gave his pay envelope to my ggm, she checked the total, and doled out all the money to her husband and the bills. She was illiterate too, but noted for being able to do sums in her head.
Certainly books like The Gentleman's Daughter: Women's Lives in Georgian England show Georgian era women as very active and responsible people. One of the women in the book was even running a medicine manufaction business out of her own home. And all the women in this book run their own homes and manage their family finance - when it came to household accounts husbands did little more than cast an eye over the numbers and check that the final expenditure was within budget.I wonder if it was different for the very upper class? I tend to think of it as a time when upper class men were also given to reckless irresponisiblity - losing whole fortunes at the gaming table wasn't just for women!
Elza wrote: "Chapter 19 is perfection -- [spoilers removed]"Yes, listening to, and reading along with, that chapter was a highlight of the book for me!
Susan in Perthshire wrote: "Carolm wrote: "I would be more bothered by this if I did not know that most women of my Grandmother's generation did not do any of the accounting. One neighbor had never written a cheque or made an..."True - I think that’s why I enjoyed the ending so much, when she took responsibility for her situation (well, somewhat).
On a similar note of loose ends tied up, what are everyone’s thoughts on likelihood Evelyn will follow through with patience - I mean, not get bored or sidetracked? I didn’t remember from previous reads how unsettled the romance was, according to him, he hadn’t even dared to try and engage her affections yet...
Nick wrote: "Certainly books like The Gentleman's Daughter: Women's Lives in Georgian England show Georgian era women as very active and responsible people. One of the women in the book was even ..."Good points - and I know we’ve read in other books and elsewhere that the Georgians were much more down-to-earth and pragmatic, including well-born ladies. Really more like the Dowager, reminiscing about delivery of half a dozen healthy children with very little effort, and being impatient with Ambrose’s sickly ways and overprotective mama.
I’ve always gotten the impression that they lived and played hard - still might be wasteful gamblers and such, but also be expected to turn their hand to household practical skills if needed.
I have more empathy for Lady Denville after learning her story and getting to know her better. She's frequently shown as forgetting things and she pretty much lets the cat out of the bag that Kit is playing Evelyn and Evelyn has come home. I really think Lady Denville doesn't have much in the ol' brain box. She has a generous heart though. She doesn't understand economy because she never had to practice it before, someone always takes care of it for her. I think Kit needs to have a chat with Evelyn and come up with a plan to put Mama on an austerity program until that debt is paid and then she must have a strict budget after that. The section about "Pinny" the old nurse wanting to put Evelyn to bed had me in stitches. I don't know how Cressy kept a straight face when Lady Denville started babbling about bringing Prinny some food-NOT quails! LOL! Georgette Heyer was a comic genius.
That cousin Ambrose is massively spoiled and overprotected by his mother. He's so whiny and needs a kick in the pants to make him grow up.
Carolm wrote: "I would be more bothered by this if I did not know that most women of my Grandmother's generation did not do any of the accounting. One neighbor had never written a cheque or made any payments as g..."Even today this kind of behavior goes on; my husband, who deals in facts and figures as an electrical estimator, pretty much has nothing to do with the family finances. I'm pretty sure that he prays fervently that I don't die before him, because he would hate to have to take it over. Ok, I'm being funny (although the story is true), but unless you have one partner with an over-inflated ego I think that labor does tend to divide itself into what is easiest and suits each partner in a marriage. I'm not talking about dysfunctional ones, just ordinary ones where the partners do trust each other to do the best for each other.
Susan in Perthshire wrote: "...She is prepared to see Evelyn make a loveless marriage so as to release his trust funds and pay off her debts. ..."Loveless marriages were an accepted thing. Lady D knows that Evelyn wants to be out from under the trust fund. She also knows that her goddaughter, whom she also loves, is in a very unhappy situation. Although Evelyn and Cressy don't know each other, Lady does know, and love, them both. It isn't much of a stretch that they might suit each other. Lady D was right about Cressy being a good match with one of her sons - she just picked the wrong one.
Mod
Yes, that's all explained. She doesn't see Evelyn as ever being a one-woman man, so it would be wrong for him to marry someone who was in love with him and who would be upset by his inevitable infidelity. And Evelyn is happy to go along with that - nobody's forcing him.
Georgette Heyer Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
The Gentleman's Daughter: Women's Lives in Georgian England (other topics)The Gentleman's Daughter: Women's Lives in Georgian England (other topics)
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