Not my favorite among Heyer’s romances, the book was nonetheless a pleasure to read: a light, slightly farcical story with a humorous flavor. Nothing outstanding, but I suspect that a few years from now, I’ll re-read it … again. The tale is charming and simple. Seventeen-year-old Arabella is a penniless vicar’s daughter from a village in Yorkshire. Her rich godmother invites her to London for a Season, and the entire family is atwiddle in preparations. It takes a while – about 60 pages – for Arabella to depart for London, but once she leaves home, the adventure starts.During a chance meeting with a wealthy and jaded bachelor, Mr. Beaumaris, she overhears his snide remark directed at her, and in a pique, declares herself a great heiress. Beaumaris doesn’t call her bluff. Quite the opposite – for his own amusement, he supports her story, and by the time she arrives in London, she is in great demand at every ball and picnic, and every gazetted fortune hunter is after her ‘fortune’.Arabella enjoys her London Season, even though it’s based on a lie, and Beaumaris enjoys watching her innocent triumphs. And of course, after some guilt trips and family emergencies, love conquers it all in the end.My problems with this novel: the action is too slow, and the narrative, although masterful, consists of too much telling instead of showing. But when Heyer offers a rare scene or dialog to her readers, there is always an emotional undertone, often highlighted by a giggle or a smile. Arabella is a great character, alive and contradictory, compassionate and temperamental. On one hand, she doesn’t feel much remorse at deceiving the ton about her dowry. After all, it’s too much fun to be ‘in vogue.’ On the other hand, she can’t even conceive the idea of her father, the worthy vicar, discovering her fib. Secrets always make into good fiction, and this book is no exception. There is so much to explore in a good secret. As sometimes happens, this book led me on a tangent of contemplation wholly unconnected with its content. The novel was published in 1949, but my paperback edition was printed in 1972, over 40 years ago. The book is a bit yellow with age but still in a pretty good condition. If I want to re-read it in 10 or 20 years, I have no doubt I’ll be able to. As I held it in my hands, I wondered: what would happen to my books on Kindle, to any Kindle file, 40 years from now? Would the files still exist? Would any device 40 years into the future be able to read the surviving files? For that matter, what about 20 years into the future? Look what’s happened in the last 20 years to the vinyl records, or audio tapes, or CDs. They’ve all become obsolete, together with the devices to read them. But the sheet music, written on paper, has persisted for centuries. I shudder to think what will happen, when the paper books are pushed out of circulation. It hasn’t happened yet, but the signs are here. We might lose the entire generation of new writers, only because paper is much more expensive than digital files. But the problem is: a digital file is immaterial. We still can read some ancient writing on clay tablets thousands of years after the writers died. What will our descendants read about us, thousands of years from now, if so many books exist only in digital format? My grandfather had a suit made of gabardine – a fabric that endured. He wore it for about 20 years, turned it (does the modern generation even know what the term means?), and wore it some more. Eventually, the suit was converted into some clothing for my son, when he was still a boy and didn’t care about fashion. Now, when someone buys a suit, how long will it last? My T-shirts start disintegrating after 2 seasons. They’re made bio-degradable, like plastic bags. It’s called progress. Will books go the way of such ‘progress’ too? I hope I don’t live long enough to witness it.
So, while I'm acting all virtuous with The Count of Monte Cristo and Les Miserables on my "currently reading" shelf, I'm still sneaking off on clandestine dates with Kindle freebies and Regency romances. Now you know my dark secret.Arabella is one of the more charming and funny Georgette Heyer books that I've read. Arabella Tallant is a lovely girl, but certain to be hampered in the eyes of London society by the fact that she's a poor country vicar's daughter. But her mother prevails on Arabella's godmother to sponsor her in making her debut into society, so despite Arabella's (and her father's) misgivings, off she goes, with strict instructions to find a rich husband so she can help bring out her younger sisters later. On the road to London, there is an accident with Arabella's carriage, and she and her companion ask for shelter in the hunting box owned by one of the leading lights of London society, Mr. Robert Beaumaris, a handsome and extremely wealthy man. Arabella overhears the rather arrogant Beaumaris tell his friend that he's certain Arabella has pursued him from London and has made up the carriage accident as an excuse, and she is so incensed by this accusation that she immediately launches into a series of lies, telling Beaumaris and his friend that she's a wealthy heiress who is unutterably weary of all the fuss people make over her. Beaumaris is amused, but his more gullible friend believes the story, especially after Beaumaris (falsely) confirms that he knows of the Tallant fortune. Arabella is horrified, as she begins to go about in society, to find that word has spread and everyone now believes she's an heiress. To seal the deal, Beaumaris begins to pay her particular attention, making certain that her Season is a success. Of course, as they get to know each other better their attraction grows, but Arabella feels caught by the web her lie has created and doesn't know who she can trust, or who will still care about her when her poverty becomes known.Arabella is a sympathetic heroine, naive but also self-aware, and determinedly resistant of the natural inclination to fall head over heels in love with Robert Beaumaris. Robert finds Arabella refreshing as he gets to know her better, despite--or perhaps because of--her charitable impulses that land him with a mongrel dog and worse. It's great fun to watch these two try to come to an understanding in spite of the lie that is still pushing them apart.I'm subtracting a star for the gambling brother subplot, which I thought was predictable and almost painfully embarrassing to read, and for Arabella's silliness at the very end, which I thought was overdone. Still, I'm sure I'll re-read this again sometime. Heyer's wit shines in this book, and it's a fun romp.
What do You think about Arabella (2004)?
Georgette Heyer. Her world is full of men polishing their eye glasses and inhaling pinches of snuff or removing tiny bits of fluff off their sleeves before they POW! take out their enemies with all the force of John McClane incinerating a helicopter with an SUV. Ah! the crooked, narrow streets where men were monocled. Arabella is an okay heroine. She is well meaning and socially conscious but essentially powerless. She is also of the dainty, big eyed type who hitches up with bored, cynical, well cravated men who are ten years older than them. When such men fall in lurve they call their ladies “adorable fools” a lot. It is to signify till-death-do-you-part affection and immense alpha male sexiness on the part of the gent. Read Cotillion or The Civil Contract or The Grand Sophy or The Masqueraders or Frederica or Devil’s Cub or These Old Shades, or the Corinthian or The Quiet Gentleman for more amusing heroines. The heroes usually have disagreeably pushy ways and oddly competitive natures but if they didn’t the world would collapse so it’s just as well.
—Sharon
Yeah, I can see how reading about genocide might require a little sweetness and light humor afterward. Good on you for persevering, however. I get too depressed by those sorts of weighty books, and have learned to leave them alone.
—Kelly
This is why I love goodreads: I never heard of Georgette Heyer until I joined (I know, shame on me!!) but it's so great that I have read so many authors that I never heard of otherwise. This book has been on my TBR list for awhile now (so many books, so little time) but I finally read it. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed it, too. I liked Arabella & Mr. Beaumaris the most; some parts reminded me a little of Pride & Prejudice. I kinda lost a little interest when the chapters focused on Bertram but I forgive those portions because the rest of it was cute. I liked the antics, the misunderstandings, and, of course, Ulysses:) I will definitely check out more of Georgette Heyer's books. I liked her style (even if I did have to look up some words in the dictionary), her humor, I love the Regency period, and I loved that it was "clean".
—Holly
