born on August 16, 1902 in London
died on July 5, 1974 in London
British novelist
50th anniversary of her death on July 5, 2024
Biography • Quotes • Literature & Sources
Biography
Georgette Heyer's success is a phenomenon to this day. Her ability to transport readers into the past — most often into the aristocratic society of the Regency period (1811-1820) in England — with stories of exciting and amusing romantic love and adventure, remains unsurpassed. Her style is light and full of intelligent wit; her descriptions of the historical background and the smallest details of social life are both remarkably accurate and highly entertaining; the plots, cleverly arranged comedies of errors for characters often portrayed with an affectionate irony who wrestle with fates and who use the language typical of the time, appear to unfold seamlessly. Critics and readers would be wrong to assume this was achieved effortlessly; her works were based on an extensive and profound body of knowledge she had acquired for herself, and were the result of a disciplined commitment to writing.
Little is known about Georgette Heyer's youth and her private life; she hated reporters and intrusive fans and at best referred them to her works (she therefore later suppressed those novels that were most likely autobiographical). Her long-lasting friendship with the writer Joanna Cannan and the historian Carola Oman from around 1918 was certainly important: “All three were young women who would automatically have studied at that time and then, just as automatically, did not. All three wanted to become writers, all got married, and none of them let that stop them from writing. ... All three authors published under their maiden names.”
In 1921, 19-year-old Georgette Heyer published her first novel to immediate success. Over the following four years, four more novels were published. Her father died, and the 23-year-old was then responsible for the education of her two younger brothers and - for almost forty years - the upkeep of her mother. In 1925, she married the mining engineer Ronald Rougier, moved with him to Tanganyika and Macedonia for several years and, from 1930 - two years later her son was born - enabled him to complete nine years of additional training as a lawyer. After having written a further 27 novels and 12 crime novels, she faced no financial constraints by around 1953, but she continued to write. By 1972 she had published a total of 57 titles, almost all of which are still in print in Germany, England and the United States.
(Text from 1993; translated with DeepL.com; edited by Ramona Fararo, 2024)
Quotes
Don't imagine that this is a fair world for women - because it's not. (G. Heyer)
Heyer is primarily interested in the marriage of two minds, not four bare legs in a bed - and that's one of the reasons for her continued success. (Hodge.)
For my biography, I would like to tell you that neither my upbringing nor my temperament make me suitable for domesticity. (G. Heyer)
Ronald played ... bridge, and his wife spent her vacation days embroidering, doing the Times crossword puzzle, reading, knitting and writing letters. As usual, she stayed behind the mask of Mrs. Rougier. When asked what she did, she replied, “I write light novels.” ... She was more impressive than elegant, in an unfussy suit during the day and a dark gray dress in the evening. When the occasion called for it, she could dress very stylishly, but these were her vacations. She was Mrs. Rougier, sitting quietly in the drawing room like everyone else. (Hodge)
A distinguished lady rather than a good-looking woman, she made a somewhat masculine impression, a commanding figure in a dark, straight-shouldered suit. When he recognized the warm-hearted, shy and insecure woman behind the self-assured mask, he admired the style in her life and in her work and felt her silent regret that none of her critics could appreciate it. (Hodge)
Literature & Sources
Fahnestock-Thomas, Mary. 2001. Georgette Heyer: A Critical Retrospective. Saraland, AL. PrinnyWorld.
Harmon, Robert B. 1974. Georgette Heyer: A Preliminary Checklist. San Jose, CA. Dibco.
Hodge, Jane Aiken. 1984. The Private World of Georgette Heyer. London; Sydney; Toronto. The Bodley Head.
Reinhardt, Max. 1986. “Georgette Heyer”, in: The Dictionary of National Biography 1971-1980. Hg. Lord Blake & C.S. Nichols. Oxford; New York. Oxford UP. S. 404-5.
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