Scan barcode
A review by carolynf
Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
4.0
I was completely unaware of Georgette Heyer until just a few weeks ago. Apparently one of the the most prolific and well-research historical fiction writers managed to fly completely under my radar. I quickly picked up four of her most popular books: Cotillion, False Colors, Frederica, and The Grand Sophy. I read Cotillion first and I liked it the best.
The time period and social class is depicted in immaculate detail. It is the kind of book that makes people want to travel back in time, because they imagine that they would land in circumstances like these characters are in instead of working in a mine or popping out 19 kids or something. The main character, Kitty, has to marry a cousin in order to get her inheritance. The cousin that she wanted to marry, Jack, was a no show to the bidding party, so she gets fake engaged to her other cousin, Freddy. This enables her to get a trip out of the sticks and into London, where she can hopefully meet up with Jack. NON-SPOILER: Freddy turns out to be her ideal partner and Jack is a loser.
Kitty is a bit bland but I love Freddy. He is obsessed with his appearance and social standing, but is also polished, poised, and extremely kind-hearted. He is a stand-up guy and sacrifices his own values in order to do right by others. When Kitty got emotional and clung to his coat, potentially creasing the sleeves, and yet he overlooked this tragedy in order to comfort her, I knew he was a keeper. As she points out in one scene, girls dream of a knight who can save them from dragons, but really isn't it much more practical to have someone who can save them from embarrassing social situations. Remember the adaptation of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" starring Leslie Howard? The main character was putting on this persona to throw his enemies off, but he still reminds me of Freddy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD0cE8B5Dj0.
The time period and social class is depicted in immaculate detail. It is the kind of book that makes people want to travel back in time, because they imagine that they would land in circumstances like these characters are in instead of working in a mine or popping out 19 kids or something. The main character, Kitty, has to marry a cousin in order to get her inheritance. The cousin that she wanted to marry, Jack, was a no show to the bidding party, so she gets fake engaged to her other cousin, Freddy. This enables her to get a trip out of the sticks and into London, where she can hopefully meet up with Jack. NON-SPOILER: Freddy turns out to be her ideal partner and Jack is a loser.
Kitty is a bit bland but I love Freddy. He is obsessed with his appearance and social standing, but is also polished, poised, and extremely kind-hearted. He is a stand-up guy and sacrifices his own values in order to do right by others. When Kitty got emotional and clung to his coat, potentially creasing the sleeves, and yet he overlooked this tragedy in order to comfort her, I knew he was a keeper. As she points out in one scene, girls dream of a knight who can save them from dragons, but really isn't it much more practical to have someone who can save them from embarrassing social situations. Remember the adaptation of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" starring Leslie Howard? The main character was putting on this persona to throw his enemies off, but he still reminds me of Freddy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD0cE8B5Dj0.