On reading Regency Romance, and Georgette Heyer in particular, and thoughts on 'Venetia'
After a binge of "cozy" murder mysteries since November, in the last couple of weeks I have been indulging in what is termed as regency romance. I revisited Victoria Holt, whose books I just loved in my late teens (the only books in the romance genre that I liked), but was disappointed in the two books I read in last few years. The current encounter was more satisfying - I liked 5 of the 6 I read, some of them quite a lot. And then I introduced myself to Georgette Heyer. I heard of her soon after college, but I had developed an impression that her books were similar to MBs (which I went into and grew out of during college). However, in last couple of years I saw numerous recommendations for her on my online reading group, and was convinced that I should give her a try.
The first Georgette Heyer I read was 'The Grand Sophy' - it was a laugh riot, and the wit and repartee was really entertaining. Then I read 'Fredrica' and loved it, and concluded that my earlier impression was quite misplaced. Her heroines were not simpering damsels in distress, but frank, cheerful, intelligent and independent - something of an anomaly in the times they were placed. I was encouraged to read more of her, and followed it up with 'Venetia'; this however I did not enjoy much.
I ended rating it 2 stars, though I might have given it 3 stars, had I not already read Fredrica, and read it just before Venetia. The plot of the two have too many similarities, far beyond the usual tropes of the books of this genre. Just like Fredrica, Venetia has lost her parents; the oldest brother who is supposed to be the guardian of his siblings is very selfish and absorbed in pursuits of his own pleasures, leaving the oldest sister to shoulder his responsibilities and thus get past the marriageable age and resign herself to spinsterhood. They are both cheerful, frank and very independent, and fulfill their obligations without reservations and with love and care. In comes the self-serving hero, who has earned himself a bad reputation regarding women. He is not just kind to our heroine, but belying all expectations, also takes care of her younger brother when he has been gravely injured. In the end, for me the only thing going here was the witty exchange of conversation between many characters, particularly Venetia.
In these times, it is difficult to reconcile oneself to the restrictive (for women, that is) social norms of 18th and 19th century, but there are things that strike a discordant note even in this context. In this book though, these notes assumed a much greater magnitude to become downright disturbing.
In their first encounter, Venetia is forcibly kissed by Damerel, and told that he thought she was a village maiden. For all inferences, she may have undergone a far worse fate had she really been a simple girl rather than a member of the nobility. Yet, she is only momentarily angered, and subsequently accepts it as a matter of fact - a natural tendency of men, considering it either a privilege or a weakness of their gender.
Damerel committed an unforgivable sin in his youth - eloping with a married woman - for which he was labelled as an immoral rake by the society, and shunned by his own family, which led him further down on the path of destruction. It was indeed unfortunate that he did not have appropriate guidance when he needed it, but I found it inexcusable on Venetia's part to assign the blame to the woman, his parents, his family (basically everyone except himself) for his continued reprehensible behavior.
*** SPOILER ***
We are told that his reputation
is so far beyond redemption that marriage to him would destroy her own
(how, and why does it matter?), so he chooses to ignore the deepest
desire shared by them, and spurns her. So what does our calm and
practical heroine do - instead of reasoning with him, she decides to
ruin her reputation. And how does she do it? She finds that her mother
is actually alive, was divorced by her father for having an affair (too
much of coincidence here?), and is therefore a 'persona non grata' -
never mind that she is married to that man for 15 years, and he is in
the highest echelons of aristocracy. So, Venetia walks down a busy and
fashionable street with her stepfather - and that is enough to send her
into disrepute!! This all is so irrational, beyond my comprehension at
least.
*** END SPOILER ***
Last but not the least, the book emphasizes the view that as long as a man treats his wife with consideration, she must ignore his philandering ways and even occasional violence. Surely a great foundation for a marriage!!
Overall, what I really felt that at the time of writing this book, Heyer had run out of ideas.
