What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
This topic is about
The Elopement
SOLVED: Adult Fiction
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SOLVED. Romance (Regency Era?), Read in 80s or 90s - riff on Twelfth Night(?) [s]
A couple more details: the foreigner might be Polish, he definitely isn't French, Spanish, Italian, or American; Vi calls Spottiswood "Guardy" on at least some occasions - for example, "Guardy, you've cropped your eyebrows!"
Bump.At one point in the story, the two guardians are exchanging letters, and Spottiswood sends one that simply says, "Understood. Spottiswood." This is the only reason I remember his name.
Mod
No, they were definitely pretending to run to Gretna Green in Scotland.
Mod
Barbara wrote: "Two girls, the more adventurous one named Vi (can't remember what it is short for), decide to run away because the shy one is being forced to marry (in their minds at least). Vi pretends to be a b..."I have no idea either :/
But you could try to post this to the Romance Novel Book Sleuth group
Lots of romance readers there :)
I posted this in the Romance novel group, and have received no help there as yet. I should mention that the foreigner was a soldier too so I'm guessing whatever nationality he was, he fought against Napoleon.
maybe something by Mary Balogh - her slightly series - or one of the spin-off books - I know she had a few books with military who had disabilities - just can't remember if there was a guy missing his arm - but they were all set around the napoleonic wars
I'll check her out, thanks.
This really reminds me of The Switch by Lynsay Sands even though the girl falls in love with a marquess.
So is this a traditional regency? by a popular author, do you remember?
So far no luck with Mary Balogh, but I'm still looking. I checked out The Switch, but that isn't it (although I've added it to my to read list - plot wise, this sounds like The Masqueraders which I greatly enjoyed). The book I am looking for would have been one I picked up because I was looking for stories similar to Georgette Heyer's, but I don't remember it being by a "famous" author.
I was just thinking about its similarity to The Masqueraders as well. This sounds like a really interesting read, so please tell if you've found it. I also posted in another forum in hopes of someone relocating it.
I've checked Mary Balogh, Marion Chesney, Joan Smith, and a couple other authors, and so far no luck. Wondering if anyone has any more suggestions?
Random additional information... I checked Barbara Metzger and Sandra Heath and didn't see the book... When disguised as male, Vi chose the name "Caesar" with the intention that she could still go by her nickname (Vi for "Victor" which I thought was silly)... I'm really leaning toward the foreign soldier being a Polish Count.
The Vi/Caesar thing confirms (in my mind) that the book is a riff on Twelfth Night, which features a character named Violet whose male persona is Cesario. Maybe knowing that will help with searching?
It could very well be, I never read that particular play... thanks, that definitely gives me more perspective!
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Sam~~ we cannot see the moon, and yet the waves still rise~~
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Thanks Sam, that is not it... I read this book at the latest in the 90s so it is much older than The Fool's Girl. I've done some searching based on the Twelfth Night connection, and so far nothing.
Barbara wrote: "Thanks Sam, that is not it... I read this book at the latest in the 90s so it is much older than The Fool's Girl. I've done some searching based on the Twelfth Night connection, and so far nothing."
Could this be it?
A Lady of Property
Some more about the plot. http://www.colby.edu/personal/l/leosb...
Thanks, Kagama, it isn't that either. There were definitely two girls who were the focus of the book.
Do you remember what the cover may have looked like?
Here is a shelf for books about "girls disguised as boys"And some listopias:
List 1
List 2
List 3
List 4
List 5
List 6
List 7
List 8
Ladysaotome wrote: "Do you remember what the cover may have looked like?"No, but I would have read it in paperback.
Ladysaotome wrote: "Here is a shelf for books about "girls disguised as boys"And some listopias:
List 1
List 2
List 3
List 4
List 5
List 6
List 7
List 8"
I checked these out, but still have not found "my" book. Thanks for your suggestions.
Random comments to bump... I don't know whether the info could be helpful or not... This was probably a series romance, and I probably read it between 1986-1996.
Most of the action took place at various inns on the way to Gretna.
It might be a red herring, but the thought of a handkerchief playing some role in the duel between Vi and the foreigner just popped into my head.
I just had a thought - they are only pretending to run to Gretna Green? So where are they really running? Do you remember?I really don't think this is it but just in case: My Lady Notorious?
Thank you, that is a very good point. I'm not sure what they thought they were going to do once they got there. I'm not sure they knew, either. I don't remember whether it was addressed in the book or not.However, they ended up very close to Gretna Green - check out the spoiler at the top of the thread.
It was not My Lady Notorious.
Mod
I spent a few hours hunting through worldcat the other night. Still no luck. But this sounds like a good book so don't give up!
Ann aka Iftcan wrote: "Georgette Heyer has a short story with some similar ideas in it (except not 2 girls, but an actual brother and sister) in, I think the collection of short stories called [book:Pistol..."I'm pretty sure it wasn't a Heyer book - I do not recall it having the finesse of one of her books. I am a big fan of Heyer, and have read almost all of her works. Pistols For Two is on my to read list, as I have yet to come across a copy of it.
I'm also pretty sure this was a full length book, not a short story.
You can read a few pages from Pistols for Two on Amazon - it really sounds a lot like the short story A Clandestine Affair. Even if it's not the right book, it sounds like a bunch of fun stories. My library has it so I'm looking forward to running to town and checking it out!I do wish we could figure out this book though. It sounds like a fun story. I'm also thinking it sounds a little bit like a mash of 12th Night and As You Like It...
Mod
Here is a timeline of how the events in the book happened... to the best of my recollection.- Girls are at a ball/dance/event; they determine that shy girl's duenna is going to try to make her get engaged to [unknown].
- Actually - maybe a bet? To see which of their guardians would become discomposed first.
- Vi convinces shy girl that they should run away together in order to scare duenna or convince her to not make girl get engaged.
- Girls are traveling - via mail? coach?
- They meet a Major who has lost his arm in the war - my belief is that he is blond, shy - shy girl likes him. He may be accompanied by mother/sister?
- Girls continue traveling.
- They meet foreign Count. Some disagreement happens.
- Vi ends up fighting duel with Count - discovers she is in love with Count.
- Meanwhile, at some point, duenna and Vi's guardian, Spottiswood, determine that they have to go after the girls. They bring some other friends - one an older lady?
- Vi runs away from Count, and shy girl, and is picked up by "gypsies".
- Gypsies turn out to be duenna, Spottiswood, and friends.
- Spottiswood loses bet for Vi because he punches someone?
- All is resolved, Count finds Vi, confesses love, they get engaged. Shy girl gets engaged to Major.
- Duenna and Spottiswood decide that they are so close to Gretna Green that they should get married.
I just found an awesome resource that might help. I'm busy looking through it but thought you might like to go through it also. http://thenonesuch.org/index.html
Thanks SparksofEmber, I've been looking at the website you provided. I'm finding a lot of books, but not the right one so far. The book was not The Denville Diamond, though.
Actually, SparksofEmber... I think I just found it on your website. I'll have to order it to find out, as I couldn't find much of a description anywhere. Wow. Thank you. I'm flabbergasted!The Elopement
http://www.fictiondb.com/author/phyll...
Wow - that sure sounds like it! Let us know once you get it, for sure! I'm going to have to try to find a copy, too!
I just found another description - one of them is named Viola! "Alice and Viola each have a guardian who seems completely imperturbable. In an effort to get some sort of response from them, the girls plan a fake elopement, with bets as to which of the guardians will first show some surprise or emotion. Of course, they run into all sorts of problems (not to mention a couple of eligible suitors) on their way, but the resulting confusion is humorous, if implausible."
I am 99.999% certain this is it. I've ordered it from Amazon already!
Thanks everyone for your help!
Mod
Oh - I wanted to let you know, Barbara, that I wrote Phyllis Ann Karr since so many of her books are out of print. I asked if she was planning to self-publish those books like many authors are doing now. And she said almost everything is in a queue to be republished by Wildside Press shortly, including most of her regencies.
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
The Elopement (other topics)The Denville Diamond (other topics)
Pistols For Two (other topics)
A Lady of Property (other topics)
The Fool's Girl (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Georgette Heyer (other topics)Georgette Heyer (other topics)
The shy girl is the ward of a formidable duenna, while Vi is the ward of a man named Spottiswood. Duenna and Spottiswood come after the girls and pretend to be gypsies to catch the girls. Spottiswood has to get his eyebrows cropped so he isn't immediately recognizable.
In the end, (view spoiler)[both girls get engaged, while Spottiswood and the Duenna end up marrying at Gretna Green (hide spoiler)].
It was pretty predictable, and probably not the most noble literary effort, but I still remember so much of it, I would like to know the name!