April Lady by Georgette Heyer

Tanya Simmons visits a classic romantic comedy and is enchanted by its light-heartedness and sharp humour

____________________________________________________________
Tanya Simmons
The Guardian, Tuesday 10 November 2009
Excerpt
Related articlesWhich authors are worth a whole conference? and Pulp romances 
____________________________________________________________

April Lady
by Georgette Heyer 246pp, Arrow Books, $24.95

Like a steaming bowl of chicken soup or a warm, fluffy blanket, a novel by Georgette Heyer is a comfort. Her heroines are always bright and dazzling and her waggish heroes firm but good-hearted. Heyer’s knack of balancing melodrama and wit keeps some of the most ludicrous plots fresh and engaging, and April Lady’s premise is utterly absurd. 

Earl Giles Cardross has recently married his considerably younger Lady Nell, choosing her from society’s debutantes by falling in love with her at sight. Their marriage is one of necessity to Nell’s noble but financially-stricken family and, unfortunately for Nell, her ninny-headed mother impresses this upon her. Nell, who is as struck with Giles as he is with her, is overly demure and distant as a new bride because she does not wish to be bothersome as a “convenient wife”. Naturally, she throws her energy into society, balls and the ton, but by settling the debts of her gambling brother, she runs up her own on gowns and bonnets. Nell reluctantly tells Giles that she has overspent her quarterly allowance and he promptly clears her accounts but is left with the impression that Nell has married him for his riches. When Nell discovers a forgotten bill she is ashamed and hides it from Giles, fearing to lose his affection and further excite his perception of her as a gold-digger. She enlists her black-sheep brother to raise the funds instead of risking Giles’ wrath by revealing her plight.
 
A multiplicity of mix-ups and preposterous schemes for procuring the “blunt” follow and although the reader knows Nell and Giles will be reconciled eventually, the journey to that point is erratic and unpredictable.
 
April Lady sprints along, juggling and incorporating subplots to create a finely-polished and enthralling tale. Heyer’s blend of historical romance and immaculately-timed comedy is like a Jane Austen and PG Wodehouse cocktail—charming and pithy.
 
Part of the success of April Lady is Heyer’s well-drawn characters. In other hands, Nell would be insipid and frustrating for not clearing up the misunderstanding with her husband immediately. Instead, she enchants with the cool management of her unruly brother, Dysart, and idealist sister-in-law, Letty, and has a ready-wit to counter the quibbles of her fashionable and fastidious cousin, Felix. Giles also is well-fleshed out as the charismatic and droll, much-put upon earl and his fast-paced dialogue keeps the pages turning.
 
April Lady’s comedy of manners is best shown, however, through Dysart, the compulsive gambler and loveable scamp whose aid to Nell includes holding her carriage up in a highway robbery. His inebriated antics are hilarious, especially at the climax of the book, and the quips of this good-natured daredevil are expertly rendered in the colloquialisms of Regency England.
 
Heyer wrote forty historical romances in meticulously-researched detail. Her novels, which were published from the 1930s to 1950s, may not suit all readers because her wild heroines are always and eventually tamed by their leading men. However, if some light-hearted, feel-good escapism is what you need, this book is for you.