Sprig Muslin

Sprig Muslin was so far outside of my comfort zone I continually postponed reading it. Out of library renewals, I finally sat down and read the book and I am so glad I did. While I did have to spend some time looking up words and phrases like "box her ears", abigail and dropsy, I found myself swept away in a world very much like those created by Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, but with a touch more adventure. Sir Gareth was very entertaining, but I spent most of the book wanting to smack Amanda right in the mouth. She was one of those characters that you hate, but know how necessary they are to the story. And what a good story it was, with an ending that could only be described as completely heartwarming.

Sprig Muslin has to be one of my favourite books, it is the hilarious road trip by the irrepressible Amanda. Amanda is 'rescued' from the roadside by the hero of the story (Gareth), who takes her to visit the family of the woman he intends to offer for. He is still recovering from the death of his great love and has decided to offer for a friend instead. Amanda however, casts a spanner in the works, simply by being young and beautiful - and then escaping. He sets off in pursuit however Amanda, an ingenious liar, manages to escape at least once more, and then manages to convince another youth, Hildegarde, to pretend to be a highwayman to rescue her. Unfortunately injuring Gareth. The wonderful story has many loops, tie-ins, unfortunate ramifications and otherwise strange and hilarious upshots as Amanda tries to avoid being found by her family, and Gareth recovers. Almost indescribably funny in parts. A really successful road-trip book.

I have enjoyed all of the Georgette Heyer novels I've read thus far. She wrote several of the best Regency novels out there and her sense humor is only second to Jane Austen. I have always compared Heyer to Austen because there are some similarities in the writing, for it is obvious that Jane Austen was a major influence on this author. And it especially shows in this wonderful offering. Sprig Muslin is the best Heyer novel I've read thus far. The wit and comic timing are pure genius and the storyline is very unique and keeps you wondering how it would end all the way till the final pages. Sir Gareth Ludlow is ready to get married years after his beloved Clarissa's death. He has finally agreed with his sister that he should take a wife and produce an heir. However, the handsome and sought-after bachelor is more inclined to choose duty over love and would rather pick a plain wife. So he chooses Lady Hester Theale as his future wife. Lady Hester is unremarkable in every sense -- plain, safe and an old maid at twenty-nine. They both agree on a marriage of convenience and not love... until the wild, spirited and creative runaway who goes by the name of Amanda Smith comes along. He finds the lively seventeen-year-old on his way to see Lady Hester in Brancaster (her estate). This strange woman would have him embark upon a unique adventure that he'd never envisaged, and in the process makes him rethink his previous thoughts on marriage. There are many twists throughout the novel. I love, love, LOVE this novel! I was riveted and enthralled from beginning to end and I turned the pages until the wee hours of the night wondering how the story would end. I loved the ending. It left me all warm and fuzzy inside. The Regency setting, like in the other three Heyer novels I'd read (The Grand Sophy, The Convenient Marriage and Lady of Quality), comes alive here with all of the beautiful and precise descriptions that make historical novels all the more vivid. And the author's sense of humor makes everything all the better. You feel as though you're reading something similar to Pride and Prejudice or Emma. The characters are wonderful. Hester is portrayed as quite a bland woman, but I liked her and she deserved a happy ending all her own. Gareth is a wonderful hero, not overly rakish or smug like most Regency heroes. His decision to marry out of duty and not love is due to his undying love for Clarissa and that endeared him to me. Amanda is hard to take at times. She is so over the top in some scenes that I wish I could somehow strangle her. The stories she made up annoyed me in some occasions. Sometimes she reminded me of Sophy Stanton-Lacy from The Grand Sophy. Despite the fact that I thought the ending was somewhat rushed and abrupt, I thought it was wonderful and I loved how everything was resolved. My one disappointment here are the spoilers from the author intros. Skip the intros if you don't want them to ruin the story for you. They almost ruined it for me.

I discovered this late in my Heyer career, having read almost every Regency she had written. What a delightful discovery! I loved Amanda's incredible, outrageous inventiveness, which keeps the story moving and never lets you guess what's coming next. Evidently some readers find her hard to take, but I love her ability to get herself out of almost any scrape. Very much the opposite of your demure young lady. I like Lady Hester as well, but I agree that chemistry between her and Gareth is somewhat lacking. I've always wished Heyer would have given her just a bit more "star quality." I feel like I've stabbed poor Hester in the back by saying that...but it's not her fault. She's written that way. My major disappointment with the new edition of Sprig Muslin is the introduction. The new paperback issues (by Harlequin, I think) all have intros written by current bestselling romance writers. Some are fun to read, others a waste of time, especially if you don't know the author. To my dismay, this one was full of spoilers. The writer reveals almost every plot twist, all the way to the end. Luckily I've read the book before, but after reading the intro I felt like I didn't need to. No fun. So if by some chance you've never read Sprig Muslin, do NOT read the intro unless you want to know the entire story beforehand. And in Sprig Muslin, it's the story that makes the fun.

Sir Gareth Ludlow is handsome, rich, personable, and an all around gentleman. One of the most eligible bachelors on the Marriage Mart, he has also never gotten over the tragic death of his dashing and beautiful first love. Everyone is shocked and dismayed when he decides to offer for Lady Hester Theale, a lady as quiet, plain, and insipid as could be. The lady herself can't believe it. The situation becomes complicated by a very young, intrepid, and beautiful runaway heiress who attempts to force her grandfather into allowing her to marry a Brigade Major and follow the drum. Sir Gareth is swiftly and irreparably embroiled into her crazy 'plans of campaign' as he tries to return her to her family, and everyone begins to wonder if he is finally falling in love again... and how any 16 year old girl could resist his charm. This is a fabulous example of Georgette Heyer's skill in writing charming, lively, and downright funny dialogue. It has a delightfully convoluted! plot, and a happy ending that wraps up all the loose ends neatly and humorously. Pick it up and enjoy!