My Lord John

Despite my love of Georgette Heyer, I don't have much experience with either her mysteries or her historical fiction. I had no idea what I was missing. I am not an expert in this historical period. Not by any means. It is not one of my favorites and I've not done much research about it. From what I know about this time period, which is admittedly not very much, the historical characters were portrayed very accurately. They really come alive through Heyer's prose and attention to historical accuracy. I loved all of the character in the book and really got into their stories. Heyer gave all of the the main characters sufficient time in the spotlight which I find to be a really amazing asset to the book especially considering the complexity of the story and the amount of characters in the book . Heyer also perfectly captured the language, customs and feel of the period. If I thought that Heyer's attention to historical accuracy was intense in her regency romances, it is nothing compared to the historical complexity and detail that I found in My Lord John. This book was so rich in history that I sometimes completely forgot that I was reading a Heyer novel. Given that this was Heyer's favorite historical period, this level of detail is to be expected. I did find that sometimes the story became too complex and I became a little lost and disinterested in the story and, perhaps, Heyer sacrificed plot for detail. I did recover but this period of disinterest did take a little away from my interest in the novel. I, however, can't fault Heyer for her attention to historical fact because as a historian, I love detail and accuracy in my historical fiction . It is to be noted that Heyer died before My Lord John was finished, so, you will be left without conclusions. It is definitely worth checking out because this might be one of the most richly detailed and interesting historical fictions I have read.

I'm not even finished yet and already I know it's going to be a favorite. Georgette Heyer had to be one of the all-time greats for historical fiction. Her research was perfect. She captured the language, the customs, the *feel* of the period so well, it's almost like you were right there living it with her characters. This is the story of John, Duke of Bedford, younger brother to King Henry V and takes the boys (all 4 of them) from 1393, when John is just 4 years old to 1413 when their father, Henry IV, dies. I just wish she'd been able to finish the trilogy she had planned. What a grand work that would have been.

My Lord John was Georgette Heyer's last book. It was supposed to be the first of a 3 part series but she died before completing it. It is the story of John the second son of Henry IV, brother to Henry V and grandson of John of Gault. The book begins in the nursery playroom with three little boys and dances back and forth between the views of their beloved grandfather, their father, their step grandmother, Katherine Swynford, the strange and sometimes insane Richard II and back again to each one of the boys. This is an impressive literary feat. Getting into a character's head and making that character come to life for the reader is hard and Heyer did it beautifully. Their are heroes here and villains, pitiful victims and people who were simply trying to get along. Heyer brought the Middle Ages to life. What a shame that she never got to finnish the series.