Georgette Heyer’s Regency Buck

Georgette Heyer’s Regency Buck was published in 1935 and is of course a romance novel. What am I doing reading, and reviewing, a romance novel? Men don’t read romance novels. The fact is though that if one is interested in vintage pop fiction one can hardly ignore such a notable and popular genre altogether. And Regency Buck has considerable historical importance to students of genre fiction. It marked the beginning of an entire genre, the Regency Romance. 

It is also interesting in that it actually combines two genres, the romance novel and the mystery novel. Heyer wrote many romance novels and many mystery novels and on occasions combined the two.

I have to say that this novel is not at all what I expected. Which of course probably reflects that not having read any romance fiction I had all kinds of prejudices and preconceived notions about the genre.

Not one bodice gets ripped. There are no heaving bosoms. This is more like Jane Austen, but (interestingly) with a lot less actual romance. This is a tale of a young woman’s adventures and misadventures in London in 1812 (we can date it precisely because the first two cantos of Byron’a Childe Harold had just been published).

Miss Judith Taverner and her brother Sir Peregrine Taverner have just inherited vast fortunes and have decided to leave Yorkshire and set out for the bright lights of the big city. They hope to make a splash in the world of fashionable society in London.

Initially it appears that Judith’s hopes will be dashed. She is hopelessly provincial. She does not understand the niceties and subtleties of the world of fashion. She makes one social faux pas after another. It seems hopeless until Beau Brummell (who was of course in real life the ultimate arbiter of taste in Regency England) takes her in hand. He realises that there is no hope of persuading her to follow the rules. Instead he encourages her to behave even more eccentrically. Maybe she cannot follow fashion but she can instead lead fashion. It works. She is a sensation. Of course it helps that she is a statuesque blonde beauty possessed of a vast fortune. Soon she is inundated with offers of marriage.

There is the problem of Lord Worth, her guardian (and Peregrine’s guardian). Judith thinks he is the most odious disagreeable provoking man she has ever met. He is also domineering and it is obvious that he intends to assert his authority over her. No man has ever done that. At the same she is excited by the challenge and also fascinated by Lord Worth.

Peregrine on the other hand spends his time losing a fortune at the gaming tables. He is a likeable but foolish young man.

Judith has to deal with irritatingly determined suitors. She has an encounter with the Prince Regent and escapes with her virtue intact (which is quite an achievement).

And something else is going on, something that would horrify Judith if she knew about. Since it is intended to come as a surprise to the reader I am going going to offer any hints about it.l

The problem with any kind of historical fiction is that it always reflects the outlook and the preoccupations, and the psychology, of the period in which the book was written rather than the period in which the book is set. It is almost impossible (indeed it may be completely impossible) for the characters not to be to some extent contemporary characters wearing period costume. 

But unlike today’s writers of historical fiction, who deliberately give their characters 21st century social attitudes, Heyer does try very hard to make her characters representative of their period.

What can also be said of Heyer is that she made an extraordinary effort to get the minor details right. She did immense quantities of research on the social customs, the fashions and the way of life of her chosen periods. Of course an actual writer of that era would simply have taken it for granted that her readers know all the minutiae of everyday life and would have omitted many such details. Heyer, realising that her readers would not have an obsessively complete knowledge of such things, makes a point of telling us all those details. What’s impressive is her ability to do this without ever seeming to be offering the reader clumsy infodumps. She seamlessly integrates the background details into the story. She also demonstrates her knowledge of some surprising subjects, such as prize-fighting and cock-fighting.

I think most women will enjoy Regency Buck although if you’re looking for wild steamy passion you might be disappointed. But there is a love story here and it’s a good one. I can’t speak for all male readers but I enjoyed the book. Heyer’s prose is lively and witty and she has the ability to bring the world of Regency England vividly to life. Highly recommended.

I’ve also reviewed Heyer’s clever amusing detective novel Death in the Stocks.