Venetia (by Georgette Heyer)

(Amazon UK link)

I do like re-reading my Georgette Heyer novels. They are my ‘comfort reading’ if I want something that isn’t children’s or teenage fiction, and I very much like the feeling of re-meeting old friends. Regency Romance novels of this genre are light-weight, mostly set in the world of the upper classes, only skating very lightly on the serious issues of the day. But that’s what makes them great escapism, and ‘Venetia’ is no exception.

I last read ‘Venetia’ nearly ten years ago, and thought I had entirely forgotten the story when I started. I knew I had liked it very much, so was a bit surprised that the early chapters were a little heavy-going. There’s some humour, but it’s low-key and some of the passages are quite long-winded.

Venetia is one of Heyer’s confident, outgoing older heroines. She is twenty-five, and has spent most of her life secluded in her ancestral home, after losing her mother. She has two brothers: Conway is serving abroad in the army, and 17-year-old Aubrey, who is highly intellectual, lives with her. Venetia appears to be the only unselfish member of the family, and she’s blessed with a sense of the ridiculous. But sometimes she wonders what her future will hold, when Conway returns and marries, and will no longer want her running the household.

Venetia has two suitors, whom she respectively describes later in the book as ‘romantic’ and ‘worthy’. The ‘romantic’ one is not much older than Aubrey, and is somewhat ridiculous. The ‘worthy’ one, Edward is over-confident, arrogant in his opinions, and extremely dull. But Venetia sometimes wonders if perhaps she should marry him anyway.

Into her life comes Lord Damerel, coming across Venetia when she is out picking blackberries on his estate, assuming that he is away from home. They have never previously met, but there are a lot of stories circulating about the ‘Wicked Baron’. He ran off with a married woman when he was very young, and has had a series of affairs and other shocking incidents, and all young women are warned against him…

I recalled the scene of conflict where the two met, of course, as I turned the pages. And I remembered many of the subplots and - of course - the eventual outcome. But I had forgotten the gentle satire, the way Heyer makes people’s characters shine through by their words and actions. I had also forgotten that while Damerel appears to be a very unpleasant character at first, he has a great sense of humour too, and can be unexpectedly kind and thoughtful. He can also be ridiculously noble, in a stubborn kind of way that reminded me more than once of Mr Rochester (in Jane Eyre).

Once I was a few chapters into the book, I found it difficult to put down. The pace gets going, the important people are three-dimensional, and the minor characters nicely stereotyped. There are some very good interactions with the ‘old faithful’ servants who liked their roles and their masters in a society that is long gone. And the contrast is clearly made between people who are truly generous and thoughtful and those who are puffed-up and arrogant. There are also some important and sometimes thought-provoking comments about physical disability, and how people feel about it.

All in all, I enjoyed re-reading Venetia for probably the eighth time, and look forward to reading it again in another decade or so.

Definitely recommended if you like this kind of historical romance. As with all Heyer's books, it remains almost constantly in print, and can be found second-hand in a wide variety of outlets, both online and in charity shops.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews