REGENCY BUCK by Georgette Heyer is one of her most famous historical novels, and pretty much invented the genre of Regency Romance.
But what is so refreshing about Ms. Heyer’s heroines is how they break the mold of what a society miss is supposed to be. They are extremely intelligent. They are athletic. Sometimes they behave like men. And they speak their minds.
That is what makes heroine Judith Taverner so delightful. She is so relatable. She is the perfect foil for Lord Worth, her young guardian, a sensible gentleman in his mid-thirties. who nevertheless enjoys teasing her, in order to see her too fierce reaction to his ploys. And so he calls her Clorinda
For those of you who do not know, Clorinda is a warrior woman of the saracen army and the heroine of Torquato Tasso’s poem Jerusalem Delivered (published 1581.) Unsurprisingly, the hero, Tancred falls in love with her. We first meet Clorinda when she saves a Christian man and woman from execution. Their crime? Falling in love. Next Clorinda, under the command of the King of Jerusalem is responsible for that city’s defenses.
But what drives this novel forward is the fact that Miss Taverner is in possession of eighty thousand pounds (an enormous fortune in 1811), and that if her brother Sir Peregrine Tavener should die, she would be the sole heiress.
Needless to say, this 19-year-old boy has various mishaps along the way, from nearly being shot dead in a duel to being poisoned by snuff and finally someone (I will not say who) concocts a plan to send him away to Barbados for the rest of his days.
Enter Lord Worth, the hero in this charming novel. His methods may be unorthodox, but at least he saves Peregrine’s life and unmasks the culprit. The novel ends in two betrothals.
Part of the enjoyment of listening to this novel is hearing the very talented Jasmine Blackborow. Not only did she do the varied accents wonderfully, thus bringing the novel to life, she was also brilliant with Lord Worth’s drawl. Some readers complained that it slowed down the narration, but IMHO her timing was perfection. I’m looking forward to hearing more from this talented lady! Five Stars.
