Group read November 23 Snowdrift / Pistols for Two: the Three Extra Stories

[Jenny]

This thread is for discussing the three stories which are in Snowdrift but not in Pistols for Two. They are all available online as follows (thanks to Critterbee and Carol for digging them out):

Runaway Match https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ar...

Incident on the Bath Road https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ar...

Pursuit http://web.archive.org/web/2010043017...

I suggest we look at the stories that are also in Pistols for Two in the order they appear in in that book, since I expect that's what most of us have got.

[Jenny]

Hmmm .... I can see why these stories didn't make it into PIstols for Two. They seem to me to be a first trying-out of ideas that GH would later make into much better stories! Pursuit, for instance, later became A Clandestine Affair and the trope of the chivalrous but very young man who helps a childhood friend (with whom he is not in love) escape from an unwanted suitor appears again and again, most successfully in Sylvester to my mind.
I don't think any of these stories overcome the problem of the suddenness of the imminent engagement particularly well either; in Pursuit we're given to understand that the attraction between the protagonists has been going on for some time, but it's rather thrown in at the end and we don't really see the relationship develop as we do with A Clandestine Affair. The other two are both 'love at first sight' stories, which I just don't find convincing.

[Teresa]

I didn't think these three were very good either but there were flashes of the genius to come.

[Susan in Perthshire]

I can quite see why these were not included in any anthology. I was interested to see the early version of the story which eventually becomes A Clandestine Affair, but the other two are not up to the standard I expect from Heyer.

Her young heroines (17/18) generally irritate me beyond belief and the idea that a mature man in his thirties would fall head over heels for a naive, innocent, school-miss has never rung true to me.

So I cannot suspend disbelief for the first two short stories. Disappointing.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I read Pursuit, which I liked the best out of the three last time.

Lots of echoes of other GH stories. Just a bit ragged. A couple of funny lines. I think I am elopement outed. 3★

[QNPoohBear]

I agree with everyone else. These lack her trademark wit and sparkle, except for in "Pursuit" when the aunt and cousin appear.

[Anne]

I have read all these stories before but don’t think I will revisit them again in the future. They are so lightweight in comparison to her novels although her talent is apparent in her ability to sketch a character or situation in only a few words. Didn’t enjoy any of them really.