by Jennifer Kloester

Terrifically entertaining and interesting guide to the Regency World of Georgette Heyer. Kloester goes into just enough depth on such topics as Clothing, Sport, The Wars, A typical day in a bachelor’s or a Debutante’s life, The Royal Family, etc. to both enlighten the Heyer fan, and to remind them of what they already know. It’s not for the serious historian or sociologist. She keeps it light and entertaining. As she goes from topic to topic, she adeptly and smoothly weaves in illustrations and examples from Heyer’s own novels. There are line drawings throughout on, for example, carriages, bonnets, underclothes, architecture, the leading figures of the day. One of the highlights are her appendices. The one on the cant or slang of the day is particularly entertaining and handy. I started out intending to just skip around and read the parts that particularly interested me, but I ended up reading the whole thing, cover to cover. **5 out of 5 stars**

June 13, 2017