The Reluctant Widow has a very gothic setting since the majority of the action is set in a house that makes our heroine think of phrases such as "decayed grandeur" and "depressing dilapidation" when she sets foot in it, which she never would have had to do had she not mistakenly gotten into the wrong coach when she arrived in the village of Billingshurst. Because of this one innocent mistake Elinor Rochdale instead of finding herself at the end of her journey in Mrs. Macclesfield's establishment where she was to take up position as a governess to her high spirited boy finds herself instead in a forbidding house talking at cross purposes with a gentleman of fashion who thought she was there in answer to the advertisment he had set out for a woman who would agree to marry his dissolute and alcoholic cousin Cheviot whose guardian he was in order to quell rumours that he had designs upon his relative's fortune. Due to certain circumstances and Lord Carlyon's persuasive nature Elinor does end up marrying Cheviot on his death bed and the story only grows stranger (or should I say funner?) from there for the house hides a stolen memorandum that French supporters of Bonaparte would very much like to get their hands on and which Elinor, Carlyon and his family must try and discover before anyone else can. Heyer has combined adventure and mystery elements in her romance wonderfully and her dialogues, as always are a delight to read. She has a wonderful way of capturing the voice of her characters and making them all distinct from one another. The Carlyon family is now on my list of favourite Heyer clans and I only regret that we never got to see the other two sisters of the family. But we did get to meet Ned or Lord Carlyon who is the head of his family and has the knack of phrasing outrageous plans in the most sensible manner - a trick which often puts Elinor out of countenance with him. There is also John the second youngest brother who always tries to be sensible and straight-laced and is often seen chastising his younger brother Nicky but if anyone were to speak against Ned's outlandish schemes or deride Nicky's high spiritedness he will instantly take umbrage and defend them to death (and he is not averse to flying kites if only to ensure that Nicky does it in a proper way). Nicky is the youngest in the family and is currently rusticated due to reasons involving a performing bear that he was tempted to borrow. Happily though his time at home seems to be proving as adventurous as anything since it involves accidentally killing his cousin, finding hidden passages in aforementioned dead cousin's house, getting shot at because of inconveniently placed rusted armours, trying to discover important documents gone astray and keeping an eye on potential killer dandies (which he does not think are dangerous at all, only Ned would have it said that the paltry fellow Francis Cheviot is actually very cunning). The women in the book do not get as much screen time except for Elinor ofcourse but when they do they are as charming as ever. Elinor, our herione, is actually very independent and free spirited but whenever she encounters Ned has a tendency to become very cross at his inconsiderate plans that always seem to place her in the middle of danger. Miss Beccles, her companion, is so awed by Ned and is continually singing his praises which makes Elinor even more cross because her ex-governess seems to go along with the most ridiculous of plans instead of opposing them like some strict old scandalised woman. Also we see in the briefest of glimpses Georgy - one of the three sisters in the Carlyon clan, and she seems very perspicacious and affectionate. Finally I have to mention Francis Cheviot - another one of the wonderful foppish characters Heyer has such a skill for creating. Except this isn't a dandy you would like to cross paths with because for all his whining and melodramatic ways he has a very ruthless streak that makes even Ned shudder. And Ned isn't the kind to be put out of countenance often (or so Elinor claims).
Elinor, our genteel-but-fallen-on-hard-times heroine, is on her way to a dubious governessing job when she accidentally gets into the carriage of Lord Carlyon, a man expecting a woman for a very different job: to marry his dissolute and dying cousin Eustace. His reasons are barely plausible, but this is one of those cases where you just have to roll with it. Elinor doesn't think this sounds like a great idea, but when Eustace gets mortally injured in a fight with Carlyon's reckless young brother, Carlyon's timetable for getting Eustace married off is accelerated -- he needs to get married TONIGHT, before he kicks the bucket -- and Carlyon sweeps Elinor along with his plans despite her increasingly feeble objections. Eustace obligingly marries her and dies a few hours later, but this is only the beginning of Elinor's problems: there's a large and rundown estate to try to fix up, a mansion with secret passageways, dislikeable relatives of her late husband showing up to search for ... something. And Carlyon, administering the will of Eustace and smiling and brushing off all of Elinor's concerns and complaints.This is a lightweight mystery that seemed a little scattershot to me, with an improbable setup and a barely-there romance... But hey, it's Heyer, and it's lively and filled with witty repartee that carried me along effortlessly to the end, and left me smiling. And even though Carlyon was a little (or a lot) too high-handed and Elinor spent too much time and breath complaining to and about him -- with complete justice, I might add -- I still liked the main characters, and the secondary ones were delightful. Especially Bouncer the dog, a hilarious mastiff cross-breed.‘Dear old fellow!’ said Miss Beccles, fondly regarding the faithful hound, who had followed her into the room, and now sat on his haunches, with his ears laid flat, and an expression on his face of vacuous amiability. ‘I am sure he is not a nasty fierce dog, are you, Bouncer?’ Bouncer at once assumed the mien of a foolishly sentimental spaniel, and began to pant.3.5 stars. A fun and light mystery.
What do You think about The Reluctant Widow (2004)?
Elinor Rochdale is just trying to be a governess when she is mistakenly taken to meet Lord Carlyon who is awaiting a woman who answered his advertisement to marry Mr. Eustace Cheviot, a repulsive drunk. Elinor is not quite what he was expecting but then Ned always makes do, so he convinces her to marry the mortally wounded Eustace. By morning, she's in mourning. Except now there's a good chance that in addition to being very suddenly a widow, Elinor is also going to have to deal with French spies, secret passages, incriminating documents, the overbearing Lord Carlyon, and perhaps murder!!1. I had the very real pleasure of reading this as though everyone was made of the absolute dryest stuff imaginable, which made it a complete delight. Elinor's commentary read 100% to me of the sassiest sass, and Ned's brittle rebuttals seemed to be in kind: I don't think I could have liked this half as well if they hadn't nettled one another so brilliantly and thoroughly. 2. I have in the past commented upon how much I dislike the close-lipped bossy type (see my review of Regency Buck), but it didn't particularly bother me here. I think most of that has to do with the fact that Ned's bossiness was very much belayed by my belief that Elinor was willing to go along with him. And anytime Ned did play his Asshole card, Elinor was waiting in the wings to berate him--something that made me feel a bit more certain in their happy ever after. 3. Nicky's foolish gambits grew tiring--I didn't realize how much I didn't miss him until he showed up after spending an entire day searching for his dog. Bouncer, on the other hand, was a delight. 4. While part of me shirks from reading any of Heyer's marrieds books--too many unhappy reviews--I would LOVE to see awkward courting stories while Elinor is in half-mourning and Ned's stuffy and eager. 5. What in the hell was Francis Cheviot though. Someone explain that one to me.
—kris
3.85* for this Georgette Heyer endeavour because I didn't get what I was expecting out of the book.Firstly, lets begin with the cover. I have an Arrow Publication edition which has a Charles Haigh-Wood painting titled 'Waiting'. I absolutely loved this cover, it is beautiful. Reminded me of my childhood days in my grandparents' home and gave me a nostalgic feel.Coming to the story, its not an out and out romantic story, but rather a mystery and suspense story entwining romantic elements in the midst. Frankly I expected something more from this book. There could have been further elements added to enrich the story. It was different from all the earlier Georgette Heyer books I read but with a different storyline, but there were also some common elements like an independent heroine and a sauvé hero and differences of opinion amongst them. When the story began I really was hooked onto it and was very excited with the happenings. Lord Cralyon steals the show hands down and that's what caught my fancy. But later on the developments became a bit tedious and I was started to getting bored.The star of the show is no doubt Lord Carlyon. His impeccable cool and calm undeterred, persistent nature is superior in quality. Plus his views on any matter are really very interesting. I really like his personality, it is intriguing and superlative in its quality. Again, he enlists in my favourite Georgette Heyer heroes list!Miss Elinor Rochdale is really sweet and real. She is very natural and unimposing. I liked her as well as Lord Carlyon. Her sarcasms are really witty and in many places I had to re-read many dialogues to understand the parallel meanings! But her agitations were beautifully complementary to Lord Carlyon's cool views and made them a couple who was not a bore!Nicky and John are also necessary for the story and do capture interest. Out of the secondary characters the one of Francis Cheviot was remarkable! A really scary character, very deceptive and it I worth great appreciation that such a character was penned at the hands of Georgette Heyer.The only thing was there was something lacking, it felt like something else should also have been there in the story. More importance was given to the memorandum and its mystery and that stole the romance's thunder to my utter disappointment! I loved the starting bit though. Enjoyed some parts heartily I must say! Nonetheless, as I always state my view that any Georgette Heyer book is worth a read at least once, I maintain the same this time as well. Enjoy the read!
—Seema Khan
3.5 stars.Really quite a lot of fun, with plenty of snark and sass amid all the spying and mystery shrouding the murders, secret entrances, and other sinister incidents, events, and characters.It had a lot of flaws, no doubt. The worst one being, for me, the failed "romance". Ned and Elinor barely interact at all throughout the book. Their longest conversation is when he's telling/asking her she has to marry his cousin!! When they do interact, she's mostly berating him and he just smiles (odious
—Elevetha
