The Queens Of Romance
Jane Austen
&
Georgette Heyer

I had never been a great lover of love stories - or even the portions dealing with it in books of Agatha Christie and at times, Conan Doyle. I associated the genre with Mills & Boon which my cousins used to devour. Hence a certain aversion to it from a very early reading stage.Thankfully, in my very first year at college I discovered Austen and I was hooked on to her books. That historical period depicted in the books bewitched me. Once I was lured into the genre and the setting, Heyer was not too far and too difficult to adopt. Heyer created the genre of the modern Regency Romance fiction - and her humour was more in keeping with the more modern reading tastes. Her prose could be as poetic as Austen's. It is to these two wonderful writers that this page is dedicated.

Jane Austen

Georgette Heyer

The Greatest Artist- Jane Austen

Her tales hardly extend beyond a few families - her main protagonists are never more than four-five characters. And of course, it is her heroines who live through the books. That she provided us a variety of heroines - each differing from the other only serves to underline the fact that she was a author of the highest pedigree, who could write as much with her imagination as from experience. "Pride and Prejudice" was the first book of hers that I read. That it remains her most popular novel is quite understandable - for, the book captures the artistry of Austen at its very finest. Her humour is most palpable in this book - Elizabeth Bennet emerges as the jolliest and lovable of all her heroines, Mr Darcy as the silent, brooding kind of hero who becomes the epitome of a gentleman and who has been so often been the inspiration of many other leading figures later.

Apart from the lead figures, there a host of wonderful supporting characters who have been depicted with sarcasm, a touch of cruelty at times, with warmth - but always with a most becoming sense of humour.

I did not like "Sense and Sensibility" quite as much. Though equally beautifully written, the book lacked the vibrancy and wit of "Pride and prejudice". Next, "Emma". Most critics consider it to be Austen's finest work. While I would still stick with P&P, I must say that "Emma" came extremely close to my shifting my loyalty. It captures the basic essence of Austen's writing. A small group of families living in a sort of an isolated world, wherein the pure human drama is played out. Emma is a brilliantly drawn character carrying with her all the fallacies and contradictions of a human being. The book carries a greater introspection into the manners and the emotions of the heroine. It may not be as cheery as P&P, but carries a greater depth. Elizabeth Allen is a sort of ethereal creature bringing cheer and smiles - Emma is more a creature of the earth whom we love for the seeming muddles she makes of her well-intentioned plans.

"Persuasion" is her most mature tale - a tale more sober and a romance much grimmer. Personally, I loved "Persuasion". It was a mature romance - really, the chronology of Austen's literature wonderfully captures the growth of Austen - mentally and physically. "Northgamber Abbey", "Sense and Sensibility", "Pride and Prejudice", "Emma", "Mansfield Park" and finally "Persuasion". The last two books are the least lively of Austen's heroines - but while I did love Anne in the latter, I never could get much affection for Fanny Price of "Mansfield Park", Yes - at times, she was quite likable. But mostly, there is a certain moral tone running through the book and Fanny which rather upsets the applecart. This is totally absent in any of her other heroines.

Austen's prose lives on through these loud and hectic times. Here simple, enlivening literature serves to refresh the reader. Her writing has been compared to a masterly symphony - an analogy with which I whole-heartedly agree. When one reads Austen, one can sense clear sky, sun shining bright, yet a certain coolness is in the air. Girls laugh as they walk down the narrow path through the garden....and gentlemen in their most polished attire, walk around elegance personified... Austen personifies the beauty in literature. Which is why she is considered the Creator of Modern Romance.

Georgette Heyer started writing as a means to entertain her convalescing brother. She started with "The Black Moth". The fast-paced book was more of a pulp fiction - apologies to the Heyer-ians but it was. "The Old Shades" was the first book which marked her out as an author of high capability. The book was again pre-Regency, but humour permeated through the wonderful set of charcters she created. This remained an enduring appeal of Heyer - the way she managed to bring into life each and every character of her book. It was not just the hero and the heroine who stood apart. The flippant brothers and the cousins, the endearingly sentimental aunts, the lively and dull sisters and at times, the most charming villains - they were as alive as any hero and heroine. These support characters have provided me with as much joy, laughs and pleasures as the Lord Emsworth-Psmiths of Wodehouse.

Favourites
I have decided to cease expanding on her general writing wonders - they are too many to recount. Her prose is magnificent, her use of words is most succinct, and above all, her wit, her humor permeates through every word she puts. Humor is not easy writing - and to capture humour in action through words is even more difficult a task. But Heyer is a master at this art - and its amazing the way she manages to bring this all in. Take for example the characterization of Aunt .. in "Faro's daughter. Her regular sobs, the nearness to a nervous breakdown all the time - quite brilliant the way she has painted the whole thing.

"Frederica" is one of her most charming works. The story of a family, guardianed by Frederica, depending on Duke Alverstroke for the coming out of beautiful Charis - and the development of affection between the DUke, the two younths and the blushes of romance between im and Frederica are simply and quite exquisitely told. My favourite peaces are ones concerning the Duke in the conpany of the scinnce-lover Felix and the moral Jess. Frederica is one of Heyer's best heroines - she is not beautiful, yet extremely captivating. While Alverstroke is not my favourite hero (I like them a little crazier and not always so stiff and sober), he rather fits in to the scheme of things.
"Cotillion" is one of those books which you end up wondering what the whole book was about - there is really nothing in fact. But it just is plain jolly reading - good humor and a most entertaining set of characters keep you smiling till the very end.
I mentioned that the most wonderful of Heyer's books are her wonderful sidekicks. This is best examplified in The Convenient Marriage, which is one of Heyer's best comedies. For anone remotely ineterested in having a good laugh, pick this one up. It also boasts of one of Heyer's most endearing heroines - the impulsive, stammering Horry (Horatia Winwood/Rule for long). Then the wonderful sidies include her brother Pelham, his friend Pom and of all people, a highway-man comes in. Its all a terrific comedy. A big gurgle of laughter erupts out of me even now as I remember the not-too-bright-but-very-lovable Pom and Pelham with Horry exchanges. I cannot help refraining from putting down the following exchanges between Pelham, Sir G and Capt Heron in their quest to retrieve Horry's brooch.