Where I Have Notes

Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Georgette Heyer is always fun to read. Her characters are vivid and sharply drawn, her dialogue is snappy and amusing, and she always nails the setting. That's true in this novel as much as anywhere else. However, while I typically find her plots to be well thought out and the pacing to be excellent, the plot here is only half-baked, and the second half of the novel feels strangely rushed and patched together. (Instead of saying "This is a good book," then, one might say "This is a good read"--lacking as a novel, but still entertaining to read. It is that. Others might consider this a 2-star or 3-star novel, in other words, but I still enjoyed it.)

I like Miss Wychwood, and I appreciate her independence of mind and confidence, and overall she is a pretty good example of a Heyer protagonist. When she takes in a young woman, Lucilla, who's left her family's home, and we meet her overbearing uncle--the inevitable love interest--it seems like everything is well set up for an excellent story. Somehow, though, the author skips quickly and awkwardly to the falling in love part, forgets to finish Lucilla's story (I was convinced she was going to end up with the guy her family tried to set her up with, as he had been very kind to her, but we don't know what she does after the novel), and rushes an ending where everybody gets the flu and nothing much happens. It was a quite muddled.

As always, the author's wit makes it fun to read, but I wish she'd spent a little more time working out the plot. I usually think her novels would make good movies or short series, but I'm not feeling it this time.

Recommended for fans only.

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