Nonesuch

I love this book. It has multiple romances, funny characters and plotlines, and a hero who makes my heart flutter. He’s neither a rake nor a dandy and though he is good at pretty much everything he does and very attractive to all the ladies, he doesn’t play with a lady’s emotions. He’s wonderfully sincere and mature and it’s hardly a wonder that the intelligent and genteel companion of the outrageous Miss Wield falls in love with him. The only problem I had with The Nonesuch was that I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to keep reading about Ancilla and Sir Waldo. Oh well, I guess it means I just have to reread it again and again! Highly recommend.

What follows is not a review - just a few thoughts about The Nonesuch. I would think anyone looking at the reviews here probably knows the plot anyway!I really think that the whole of my adult reading life has been spent looking for something to fill in the gap left on Georgette Heyer's death. I first read Austen in high school and discovered Heyer in my freshman year at university when someone suggested to me that she was "the next best thing to Austen". I guess that was a truth self-evident. I've read thousands of romances, sandwiched in between the serious history and biography I adore, on buses, trains, in the car, in waiting rooms, during hurried lunch hours and in bed at night to relax after another stressful, hectic day. But, really, if I am honest with myself, there are just a very, very few authors that are on my keeper shelf. Hundreds of authors have come and gone for me. Some I have dismissed after reading a chapter as too puerile, too facetious, too ill-researched, too derelict in the simple use of the English language.Heyer, however, rarely disappointed. I adore her later books, filled with characters of great wit, insight, morality and self-knowledge who mature and come together through real life experiences - all conveyed in prose of the very highest standard. I guess that's it - Heyer's exquisitely wrought prose telling stories of genuine human emotional experience, all carefully and perfectly set in the Regency world - immaculately researched and painted for the eager reader.The Nonesuch is, of course, one of my favourites - and I expect I would say that about most of her works. But Sir Waldo and Ancilla so perfectly epitomise adult love, good works and social constraints and decent moral standards that you have to love them. Village life is portrayed beautifully - so much remains the same!Rant, rant, rant. Every time I go back to Heyer, I am demoralised when I pick up a modern "wanna be". What to do about that?

I love this book! This is my favorite Heyer novel by far. The dialogue is very funny and witty and the hero and heroine are both "good" people. (No rakes or schemers here). The dialogue between the hero and heroine reminds me a little of Darcy and Elizabeth in "Pride and Prejudice". The heroine, Ancilla, is a very intelligent, competent, nice woman- one you really can root for. Her counterpart Waldo is everything you would want him to be. I once read that Georgette Heyer actually didn't like this book. I'm not sure if that is true, but if it is I can't understand why. Perhaps some people prefer a more stormy heroine like Sophy in Heyer's "The Grand Sophy", but that kind of obnoxiously outgoing character gets old. And the scene where Sophy is nursing her young relative in the presence of the hero and it dawns on him that he is in love with her is so cheesy. The Nonesuch has no chessy, contrived scenes because the attraction is totally natural and believable.By the way, this is a great book for younger readers as well. It isn't very heavy and totally clean. Perfect for a mother-daughter read!

Instead of her more usual London or Bath settings, in this delightful novel - which is a comedy of manners every bit as much as a romance - Heyer takes her characters to the village of Oversett, in Yorkshire, close to Harrogate and Leeds. Sir Waldo Hawkridge has just inherited the run-down and ramshackle estate of Joseph Calver, purely on the basis that Sir Waldo was the only relative 'who paid as little notice of me as I did of him'. Naturally, there are relatives who are unhappy about this bequest, and these add a further element of humour to the tale, especially when one - Laurence Calver - follows Waldo to Oversett.Society in Oversett may not be what Sir Waldo is accustomed to, but the local residents are very quick to include him in their activities: balls, routs, simple country dinners, the ridotto that no-one came to, and quiet evening entertainments. It helps that Sir Waldo is known in London circles as 'The Nonesuch', a great Corinthian admired by many. And his nephew, Lord Lindeth, a charming and handsome young man, is of course the delight of the young unmarried girls.However, Sir Waldo appears to be most intrigued by Ancilla Trent, who is, she informs him, a most superior governess/companion. Her charge is the Beautiful Miss Tiffany Wield, quite the most lovely girl Sir Waldo has ever seen... but whose personality by no means matches her looks. This is where Heyer's talent for humour comes to the fore. Tiffany is an incredibly selfish and self-centred young woman, and Waldo and Ancilla frequently join forces in a hilarious manner in order to make her see the error of her ways - not to criticise her, for she would refuse to listen, but to persuade her that such behaviour would cause her to lose her looks, or to make the mythical Marquis she wishes to marry to have a disgust of her.Ancilla certainly finds Waldo's company congenial - and more than that, he makes her laugh. But it never occurs to her that his interest in her is any greater than the fact that she is intelligent and can actually make conversation - after all, one of these days he will return to London and forget all about the governess he knew briefly. However, she doesn't know Waldo...This is a lovely, entertaining read, full of deliciously entertaining character studies (Tiffany, Mrs Underhill, the Squire, Mrs Chartley, Laurie Calver and many more), witty dialogue, a gentle secondary romance and, of course, the main love story, between Ancilla and Waldo. This is another of Heyer's 'older heroine' novels, subtle, romantic and very enjoyable. Highly recommended!

Even if you can't abide romances, read The Nonesuch anyway! I have only recently discovered the Heyer novels, and The Nonesuch is definitely my favorite. Ms. Heyer has created a memorable cast of characters with depths of personality not always seen in lighter romance novels. Tiffany Wield is one of the funniest and most realistic brats I've ever read about. It's worth reading just to laugh (or cry) at her. Though heaven help anyone who would tell her so, Tiffany isn't the heroine of this story. That honor belongs to Miss Ancilla Trent, practical, "old-cattish" (as she describes herself), and not in any way a victim of circumstance. But Miss Trent's self-designation as an old maid does not fool anyone, least of all the Nonesuch himself, Sir Waldo Hawkridge. As I said before, this isn't just a romance. In fact, as in most of Ms. Heyer's novels, the plot itself and the interactions among characters are the attractions of the book. The middle-aged Mrs. Underhill is just as entertaining as the handsome Sir Waldo or Lord Lindeth. I pick up the Nonesuch whenever I'm bored. It never becomes boring. Step into this magical summer of balls and parties in this quaint English village, and you'll be glad you did.

From memory The Nonesuch was one of the first Regency romances that I read, I was very impressed, certainly enough to find moreThe book is placed for the most part in Yorkshire, which at this point in time started to see the appearance of the Neuveau Riche, who had made their money from the wool or other trades that were happening in the area. As always Georette Heyer is accurate historically, I like the difference between what is acceptable at a private dance and a public dance for example. The language used is correct, the minor characters are interesting in themselves. Laurence Calver for example definitely has my sympathy.From the dust cover of the Heinemann edition....Old Joseph Calver's will is a surprise to all his relations and a disappointment to most of them. Its consequences also cause a great stir in the parish of Oversett in the West Riding when the news arrives that Sir Waldo Hawkridge is coming north to inspect his inheritance, the late Mr Calver's decaying residence, Broom Hill. For Sir Waldo is the most discussed man in London Society, wealthy, handsome, still a bachelor, the acknowledged leader of the Corinthian set, and known as the Nonesuch for his athletic prowess.At the Manor and the Rectory, and particularly at Staples, the home of Mrs Underhill, where her tempestuous, beautiful niece, Tiffany Wield, and her governess-companion, Miss Ancilla Trent, are also living, there is excited anticipation of the increase in social activity which the presence of the Nonesuch will bring. The young men of the neighbourhood look forward to learning from him all the latest refinements of dress and the most daring new tricks to be performed with well-bred horses, while their elders express their doubts about the expensive habits in which they expect the None-such to encourage their wives and children. Both excitement and doubts increase when it is heard that Sir Waldo is accompanied by his young cousin, Lord Lindeth.Miss Heyer writes with her usual wit and grace of the commotion which the arrival of the two fashionable strangers inspires, of Sir Waldo's real intentions and of the unexpected train of events to which they lead. The Nonesuch ranks amongst the most entertaining and accomplished of her Regency romances.