Georgette Heyer (/ˈheɪ.ər/; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ailing younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika Territory and Macedonia before returning to England in 1929. After her novel These Old Shades became popular despite its release during the General Strike, Heyer determined that publicity was not necessary for good sales. For the rest of her life she refused to grant interviews, telling a friend: "My private life concerns no one but myself and my family."[2]
Heyer essentially established the historical romance genre and its subgenre Regency romance. Her Regencies were inspired by Jane Austen. To ensure accuracy, Heyer collected reference works and kept detailed notes on all aspects of Regency life. Whilst some critics thought the novels were too detailed, others considered the level of detail to be Heyer's greatest asset. Her meticulous nature was also evident in her historical novels; Heyer even recreated William the Conqueror's crossing into England for her novel The Conqueror.
Beginning in 1932 Heyer released one romance novel and one thriller each year. (See List of works by Georgette Heyer.) Her husband often provided basic outlines for the plots of her thrillers, leaving Heyer to develop character relationships and dialogue so as to bring the story to life. Although many critics describe Heyer's detective novels as unoriginal, others such as Nancy Wingate praise them "for their wit and comedy as well as for their well-woven plots".[3]
Her success was sometimes clouded by problems with tax inspectors and alleged plagiarists. Heyer chose not to file lawsuits against the suspected literary thieves but tried multiple ways of minimizing her tax liability. Forced to put aside the works she called her "magnum opus" (a trilogy covering the House of Lancaster) to write more commercially successful works, Heyer eventually created a limited liability company to administer the rights to her novels. She was accused several times of providing an overly large salary for herself, and in 1966 she sold the company and the rights to seventeen of her novels to Booker-McConnell. Heyer continued writing until her death in July 1974. At that time 48 of her novels were still in print; her last book, My Lord John, was published posthumously.
^Joseph McAleer (1999), Passion's Fortune, Oxford University Press, p. 43, ISBN 978-0-19-820455-8
GeorgetteHeyer (/ˈheɪ.ər/; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction...
GeorgetteHeyer (1902–1974) was an English author particularly known for her historical romance novels set in the Regency and Georgian eras. A best-selling...
novel by the British author GeorgetteHeyer, set around 1751. The Black Moth was Heyer's debut novel, published when Heyer was nineteen. It was a commercial...
by television, children's literature, and the works of Jane Austen, GeorgetteHeyer, and Dorothy Dunnett; in fantasy fiction, Fritz Leiber was important...
the 19th-century contemporary works of Jane Austen, but rather from GeorgetteHeyer, who wrote over two dozen novels set in the Regency starting in 1935...
inspired GeorgetteHeyer, the British author of historical romance set around the time Austen lived, as well as detective fiction. Heyer's first romance...
a historical romance written by British novelist GeorgetteHeyer. The novel is set around 1755: Heyer refers to the Duke of Avon's participation in the...
Beauvallet is an adventure novel by GeorgetteHeyer, published in the UK in 1929 by Heinemann and by Longmans, Green & Co. in 1930 in the US. The year...
False Colours is a Regency romance novel by GeorgetteHeyer. Set in 1817, it concerns a young man temporarily impersonating his missing twin brother....
The Grand Sophy is a Regency romance novel by GeorgetteHeyer. It was first published in 1950 by Heinemann in the UK and Putnam in the U.S. Sales were...
Lady of Quality is the final Regency romance written by GeorgetteHeyer. Published in the UK by The Bodley Head in 1972, and by E. P. Dutton in the U...
The Convenient Marriage is a Georgian romance novel by GeorgetteHeyer published in 1934. The novel is set in 1776 and concerns the relationship between...
San Francisco: Sufism Reoriented. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-880619-09-4. GeorgetteHeyer, The Grand Sophy (London 1974) p. 101. Gouda, Gururaj Ganapati; D’Mello...
The Masqueraders is a 1928 novel written by GeorgetteHeyer. It is set in Britain at a time shortly after the 1745 Jacobite rising and is concerned with...
The Nonesuch is a Regency romance novel by GeorgetteHeyer. The story is set in 1816/1817. Sir Waldo Hawkridge, known in London society as 'the Nonesuch'...
omnibus Miles in Love. The title is an homage to the GeorgetteHeyer novel A Civil Contract and, like Heyer's historical romances, the novel focuses on romance...
a character in The Sandman comics The Corinthian (novel), novel by GeorgetteHeyer The Corinthian (New York), a skyscraper in New York City The Corinthian...
Sprig Muslin is a Regency romance novel by GeorgetteHeyer. The story is set in 1813. Sir Gareth is a noted Corinthian and has been a confirmed bachelor...
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