The Quiet Gentleman, by Georgette Heyer – A Review

From the desk of Deb Barnum: 

The return of Gervase Frant, Earl St. Erth, to his ancestral home of Stanyon Castle following the death of his father should, by all events, be a time for celebration.  But he finds his step-mother and younger step-brother quite disappointed that he has managed to survive his war service and openly resentful of his claim to the estate.  His cousin Theo, the only welcoming family member, steers him through this less than happy homecoming – but when a series of cruel “accidents” begin to plague him, the question becomes – who would benefit the most by the untimely death of the new Earl?

The Quiet Gentleman is a different sort of Heyer – our Hero is soft-spoken, fair-haired, delicate, almost feminine in his address, “nothing but a curst dandy”, but his family and the reader soon learn that “his apparent fragility and gentleness were alike deceptive” – he might be kind and generous but “was not easily to be intimidated.”  Our pseudo-heroine, Marianne Bolderwood [reminding us of another overly romantic “Marianne _____wood”] has her requisite fall from her horse, is stunningly beautiful, young and innocent awaiting her come-out, and has everyone at her feet, including the three men of Stanyon.  Enter Miss Drusilla Morville, the visiting companion to the Dowager step-mother and a very un-Heyerish female:  she is “not a beauty” as we are continually reminded. Indeed, the Hero rules her as not having “a pleasing enough countenance or conversation.” And, she has “peculiar parents” – liberal feminists, her father a “Pantisocrat” cohort of Coleridge and Southey, her mother a raving writer of novels in the line of Wollstonecraft.  She appears at first as only a bystander, barely attending, very practical and helpful, accomplished it seems in nearly everything: household management, medicine, horsemanship, the pianoforte, dance [the WALTZ!], fashionable, and unflappable, yet lacking “sensibility” and a romantic imagination [“not in her nature to go into raptures”!]. We learn nothing of her inner thoughts until more than three-quarters through the book, where she has one of the more amusing dialogues with herself that I can recall ever seeing in print!

Subordinate Characters? The Domineering Dowager, a carbon copy of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, controls all conversation, overindulges her son, and appears “formidably attired in purple grosgrain and velvet, wearing the famous Frant diamonds …. all of which would have been the better for cleaning…” [sounds like an Austen letter!]; Martin, her son, hot-tempered and moody, though quite humorous when not in one of his dark sullens; the visiting Viscount, friend to the Earl, who suspects foul doings; and as always in Heyer, the various servants and bit players, an all-star cast, who add interest, much humor, and foils to the main characters and have great names like Chard and Leek.

The expected Heyer is all present: the fashion of the men in their Weston duds, snuff boxes, various neckcloths, Hessians, pantaloons, and quizzing glasses; the women in their gowns and ribbons and laces and hairdos; the historical settings and literary allusions with facts seamlessly woven into the narrative; the social life and customs – hunting, horses and carriages, fencing [Heyer must have taken lessons!], and The Balls; and a treat here is the well-described Castle with its winding cavernous passages and hidden secrets complete with a scene right out of Northanger Abbey; and of course, that Heyer wit, albeit less lively, with cant expressions only occasionally peppering the talk, but full of sharp-tongued social commentary, and thankfully Miss Morville’s placid prosaic comments on everything quite saving the day.

I found too often an odd transition from one paragraph to another – disjointed really, and the conversation oftentimes seemed quite silly, Heyer perhaps not quite sure of her direction? – but I began to see the whole narrative as a set-piece, nearly an Agatha Christie mystery play coupled with a rollicking comedy of errors, with so many characters entering and exiting, one of whom will prove to be out for murder.  It is a mystery of course, of which I shall not speak, so as not to ruin the fun.  Do I dare say that I figured it out by page 15, but that it doesn’t matter?

And Romance? – this is not the passionate dagger-drawing sword-play Heyer – here we have a highly intelligent Hero and Heroine that find the Truth about each other as they work their way through a Dangerous Game where life is at stake.  But it is Drusilla, certainly one of the most interesting, engaging and “very remarkable” of all Heyer’s Heroines, who unromantic as she may be is really the precursor of Renee Zellweger wherein the Hero “had her at ‘hello’” – but this tale unique in its outcome being far from clear until the very, very end.  A Masterpiece Mystery production would suit! And I have the cast nearly all figured out….

4 out of 5 Stars

BOOK INFORMATION

• The Quiet Gentleman, by Georgette Heyer
• Sourcebooks Casablanca (June 7, 2011)
• Trade paperback & eBook (368) pages
• ISBN: 978-1402238833
• Genre: Historical Suspense, Regency Romance

ADDITIONAL INFO | ADD TO GOODREADS

We received a review copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Austenprose is an Amazon affiliate. Cover image courtesy of Sourcebooks Casablanca © 2011; text Deb Barnum © 2010, austenprose.com. Updated 19 March 2022.