by Georgette Heyer

“You are shameless!” he said angrily.
“Nonsense! You only say so because I drove your horses,” she answered. “Never mind! I will engage not to do so again.”
“I’ll take care of that!” he retorted. “Let me tell you, my dear Cousin, that I should be better pleased if you would refrain from meddling in the affairs of my family!”
“Now, that,” said Sophy, “I am very glad to know, because if ever I should desire to please you I shall know just how to set about it. I daresay I shan’t, but one likes to be prepared for any event, however unlikely.”

There are few strong Georgette Heyer heroines that match Sophy for their spirit and agency, but none that have her combination of sangfroid, confidence, and levelheadedness. Serena? Too hot-tempered. Deb? Too impulsive. Judith? Too bullheaded. Babs? Too tempestuous. Yes, they are all formidable. But Sophy is a “fixer.” She will stop at nothing to prevent people from going down their chosen path if she knows it will only lead to misery. To the point that she will take out her ladylike pistol and shoot someone for their own good. Luckily. she is always right or she would be intolerable.

“Resolution is all that is needed!” she said. “One should never shrink from the performance of unpleasant tasks to obtain a laudable object, after all!”

Plus she is wise, kind, brave, charming, and witty. Is she my favorite heroine? Surprisingly, No. That would be Arabella. I listened to this book on audible and my enjoyment and admiration for the book was increased by the narrator who got my attention by imbuing the energetic Sophie with a languid tone that gave her a new dimension.

Most of Heyer’s male characters are the kind of heroes that the reader feels are so “Master of the Universe” that every other character seems like they are dancing to their tune. Sophie is the only female character that I think matches her male heroes in that kind of power and leadership. When Lady Ombersley welcomes “little cousin” Sophy into her home for the season, Sophy discovers a lively and charming family of nine, three of whose members have seemingly put themselves on paths to an unhappy future. Her new temporary family discovers that Sophy’s father’s description of her as “a good little thing…not an ounce of vice in her” doesn’t even begin to describe the force of nature that is Sophia Stanton-Lacy. It isn’t long before Sophy discerns what ails them. Cecilia, the eldest daughter, has turned her back on the perfect man and has fallen head over heels for a dreamy (in looks and spirit) poet who will never amount to anything and never be able to support a wife. The second oldest son, Hubert, has gotten himself into trouble with a moneylender and is afraid to tell the de facto head of the household about it, his older brother Charles. And Charles, under the strain of rescuing the family from his father’s gambling debts, has, longing for respite, gotten himself engaged to a very proper and sensible woman of good family but who, under her facade of kindly helpfulness, is a cold and spiteful prig. Charles, against his better nature, but encouraged by his fiance, has kept too tight a rein on his family in an effort to repress the careless and irresponsible behavior that has nearly driven them into disaster. He’s become a bit of a tyrant, and as a result, His mother and the 2 oldest of his 6 siblings have become fearful or hostile towards him.

Sophy has her work cut out for her and sets about putting everything to rights. It takes her the whole book, but by the end, Cecelia is disentangled from her poet and engaged to the right man, and Hubert’s troubles have been uncovered and the moneylender has been dispatched at the point of Sophie’s gun. Charles himself, trapped by propriety to remain engaged to a woman whose unpleasantness, thanks to Sophy, he has finally come to discover, has been rid of her without scandal. And thoroughly in love with Sophie. And vice versa. I assume. But it’s hard to tell. The book concludes with Charles hauling Sophy away in his curricle and Sophy protesting, “Charles! You cannot love me”, and Charles kissing her and “savagely” responding “I don’t: I dislike you excessively!” And that is my one quibble with this book. I wish there had been more romantic interaction between the two. It seemed obligatory only that the two ended up together. Even for Heyer, the “happily ever after”, though a given, left a lot to the imagination.