The Nonesuch (by Georgette Heyer)

I have been reading books by Georgette Heyer for over forty years, gradually acquiring more of her historical novels and replacing some which fell to pieces. My copy of ‘The Nonesuch’ was given to me by a relative when I was 17, and I had read it at least six times, the last time being around ten years ago. So it was clearly time to re-read yet again...

When I picked up the book, I hadn’t recalled the story at all, but I quickly remembered most of the cast. Ancilla Trent is the heroine, an unusual one even by Heyer’s standards, as she is a governess. However, as she comments, she’s rather a superior one, and her position is more that of a companion; her one student, Charlotte, is not at all academic. Ancilla was born into an upper-class family but they fell into financial straits, and she didn’t want to be a burden on her brother, who is a clergyman. She’s intelligent, has high moral standards, and also has a dry sense of humour.

The hero is Sir Waldo, known as ‘The Nonesuch’ because he’s very good at sports of all kinds, including boxing and hunting. He’s from the kind of set that Ancilla despises the most, and she’s determined to be very cool with him, should he even look in her direction.

But Waldo is also a very likeable person. He’s a philanthropist who spends a great deal of his money on housing and educating orphan children, although he’s quite private about this. He’s quite taken with Ancilla, who shares his sense of the ridiculous, and is surprised to find herself more drawn to him than she could possibly have imagined.

Theirs is a gentle, enjoyable romance that proceeds slowly, if inevitably, through the course of the book. But this is Heyer so there are many other characters with their own stories nicely woven in. Waldo’s favourite nephew Julian stays with him and is captivated by Tiffany, a beautiful but utterly selfish girl whom Ancilla is supposed to be looking after and assisting. Tiffany’s aunt wants her to marry her cousin Courtenay, but he’s rather keen on the red-headed Charlotte…

Then there’s a vicar with a gentle daughter called Patience, a few local young men who are all vying for Tiffany’s attention, and another nephew of Waldo’s whom he really doesn’t much like, but feels he has to support. Some are caricatures of course; I hope nobody is quite as cold and unpleasant as Tiffany. But Heyer’s caricatured minor characters add to the charm of her stories. As with almost all her novels, this is well-written, perfectly paced, and with some believable, often amusing conversation.

This wasn’t one of my favourite books when I was a teenager, but it’s grown on me. I remembered what was coming as I re-read it again, and yet the details felt as fresh as ever. I knew there would be a scene at cross-purposes towards the end, where Ancilla entirely misunderstands what Waldo plans to do with a house he has inherited. Yet I still almost laughed aloud as I read it.

I particularly liked the story being set in the countryside rather than the author’s more usual settings of London or Bath, and I very much appreciated Waldo’s depth of character and compassion. He has become one of my absolute favourites of Heyer’s heroes. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes this genre of light romantic fiction set mainly amongst the upper and upper-middle classes.

As with most of Heyer's novels, 'The Nonesuch' remains almost constantly in print, and is also available in Kindle form.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews