Book cover of Venetia

Book description

Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen."—Publishers Weekly

Beautiful, capable, and independent minded, Venetia Lanyon's life on her family's estate in the country side is somewhat restricted. But her neighbor, the infamous Lord Damerel, a charming rake shunned by polite society, is about to shake…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Venetia as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is an oldie but goodie. I’m rereading all the Georgette Heyer novels in my library, and I started with this one. Charming, alternately funny and sad, full of memorable characters, and it is utterly accurate historically, including the slang. Heyer’s work was required reading for anthropology students in some universities. Lucky kids!

Like authors Montgomery and McKinley, Georgette Heyer specializes in bringing us heroines that have interests and spunk that set them apart from the conventions of their time. I could have chosen nearly any Heyer heroine to mention, but if you’ve not yet read one of her Regency historical romances, I recommend beginning with Venetia. 

Venetia Lanyon has a good deal of common sense and sees herself as intellectually equal to the men around her, even if they don’t recognize it. She is beautiful, yes, but more interested in being valued for her smarts. A kind, yet plain-speaking heroine, it’s…

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