If Henry Crawford Married Harriet Smith

Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is another very fun Georgette Heyer novel. I won't lie--I think it has flaws. But even a flawed Heyer book is a better read and more fun than some folks' most perfect stuff.

As always, she has engaging main characters who are not exactly like any other that I've seen in similar novels. She has a soft spot in her heart, I think, for characters who are silly or foolish or immature but basically good. Lord Sherringham, for example, is foolish and careless and impulsive and (too often) quite selfish; he marries without thinking, wastes tons of money gambling, makes little effort to get along with his own mother, and treats his young, innocent wife like she's just one of the guys. As a result, his desperately childish and trusting wife says the wrong thing and behaves the wrong way all of the time. It's perfect that he calls her kitten; she's like a little kitten that wanders through traffic and construction sites without any awareness of danger. But, like her dopey husband, she's a good person and able to change.

Sherry (Lord Sherringham) is like Mansfield Park's Henry Crawford, if we saw him in a behind-the scenes version of his life, and Hero (Kitten) is like Emma's Harriet Smith, if she were dropped off on the road somewhere and had no one to protect her. Then the reader has to see how this unlikely couple makes it work. This is not a spoiler--they do. And it's charming.

It is flawed, though. The beginning of the courtship and marriage is so improbable that it almost sinks the book, IMO. It could have used a better device. But I'll allow it. Then we probably dwell too long on Hero's introduction into society and her many screwups. (I picture her played by a young Lucille Ball.) Sherry finally loses his temper and is set on sending his wife to his mother's house, to be trained up by a woman who hates her, and Hero is forced to run away. It feels like the story really starts at that point, and it's 2/3 of the way through. I woulda liked that a hundred pages sooner. Anyway, it gets better there, and that last third is thoroughly entertaining. And though the conclusion is satisfying, I could have used a little bigger payoff at the end, seeing them happy for a few pages longer. I feel like she left a bit of the good stuff off.

To sum up--I liked it. I have my notes, but it's still a pleasure to read.

And I still insist that the BBC or somebody needs to start turning some of these novels into 6- or 8-episode miniseries. Who do I talk to?

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Where We See the World Through Jane's Eyes

Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a well-crafted story about Jane Fairfax, a secondary (1-1/2?) character from Austen's Emma, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Enough, that is, to recommend it.

Joan Aiken does particularly well (IMO) in blending "known" details with new plot points and characters. I am far from having made a serious study of the original, but I didn't find any details that contradicted it. The outings from the book, like the party at the Eltons or the picnic at Box Hill , (made familiar in the various movie adaptations) are accurate, as far as I can see, and it was interesting to view those moments from another perspective.

Her language works well, though I wouldn't say it's particularly Austenesque. Close enough to be consonant with the original, for sure.

The characters are well portrayed. Jane is more sympathetic here, not unsurprisingly, but I liked how Emma's behavior is less justifiable when viewed from a distance--and yet, she is still sympathetic, especially by the end. Emma comes off rounder and more real after seeing the story from Jane's perspective, which I approve of. I feel sorta the same about Mr. Knightley; he doesn't come off worse than in the original, necessarily, but definitely feels more complex. Frank Churchill is dealt with fairly, too, and seems both better and worse than how I saw him before. He really cares about Jane Fairfax, but the strange secrecy of their arrangement and his inability to confront his aunt or do anything to displease her looks more stark here, where Jane is the center of the story. (Jane admits to herself that Mr. Knightley is a better man than Frank, but she still loves him, which I thought was wise and poignant.) The one character who always seems to come out on top is Miss Bates, who is still silly and chatty and cheerful and desperately dull, but so kind and considerate and unselfish that she always reminds me of some thoughtful older woman at church or at the grocery store or across the street who talks too loud about nothing but always thinks about everyone else first...

It's a pretty fun book, too, but if it falls down at all it's in keeping things rolling in the final third, where the story bogs down a bit. (Heyer would have introduced a highwayman or a duel or something.) I enjoyed it enough to keep rolling, but I wish we could have had a few changes of scenery or bigger drama. Still, I liked it and thought it worked well.

I feel confident in recommending this to Austen readers (the ones who didn't read it long ago).

I already bought the author's other Austen books. Looking forward to those.

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