Bath Tangle (by Georgette Heyer)

(Amazon UK link)

How I love Georgette Heyer's novels. They are a wonderful escape from the real world - comfort reading at its best. Her characters are excellent, her conversations filled with irony, her plots fast-paced and very clever. I re-read all her books every so often, and enjoy them just as much on the third or fourth read as I did the first time.

'Bath Tangle' features Lady Serena, a spirited young beauty. After the death of her father, she is furious to learn that her fortune is held for her by Lord Rotherham, to whom she was one engaged.

She takes a house with her young widowed stepmother Fanny, of whom she is very fond. Then Serena meets Hector, a man to whom she was once very attracted. They become friendly, and decide to become engaged.

Unfortunately, Fanny discovers - gradually - that she is in love with the gentle Hector.

It's quite a moving book, which is resolved perfectly, in Georgette Heyer's usual brilliant style.

Definitely recommended.

Still in print in the UK; available second-hand fairly readily.

(I re-read this eight years later: here's my longer review of Bath Tangle in 2008)