Excessively diverting! |

Georgette Heyer has been dead for well over thirty years, her books have never been seriously reviewed, she never did any publicity or gave any interviews and yet we have to keep replacing our copies of her books at the library because they are so popular they wear out.

She had her first novel published in 1921 when she was only 19 and was successful from the start. She wrote historical novels and mysteries but she is best known for her Regency Romances, set during the period between 1811 and 1820 when the Prince of Wales ruled in place of his father George III (the mad one). Her books are meticulously researched and correct in every detail which might sound dull but they are fresh, funny and very entertaining.

In Frederica, our heroine Frederica Merriville is responsible for her orphaned siblings and wants her distant relative the Marquis of Alverstoke ("without question, the most selfish, disobliging creature alive") to sponsor her beautiful younger sister's launch into society. If only the lovely Charis can make a good match, she can support the rest of the family. Things don't work out quite the way Frederica expects and she has her hands full keeping her family out of hilarious scrapes including a stowaway balloon trip.