Georgette Heyer, History and Historical Fiction

The Nonesuch is the name of one of Georgette Heyer’s most famous novels. It means a person or thing without equal, and Georgette Heyer is certainly that. Her historical works inspire a fiercely loyal, international readership and are championed by literary figures such as A. S. Byatt and Stephen Fry.

Georgette Heyer, History, and Historical Fiction brings together an eclectic range of chapters from scholars all over the world to explore the contexts of Heyer’s career. Divided into four parts – gender; genre; sources; and circulation and reception – the volume draws on scholarship on Heyer and her contemporaries to show how her work sits in a chain of influence, and why it remains pertinent to current conversations on books and publishing in the twenty-first century. Heyer’s impact on science fiction is accounted for, as are the milieu she was writing in, the many subsequent works that owe Heyer’s writing a debt, and new methods for analysing these enduring books.

From the gothic to data science, there is something for everyone in this volume; a celebration of Heyer’s ‘nonesuch’ status amongst historical novelists, proving that she and her contemporary women writers deserve to be read (and studied) as more than just guilty pleasures.

Praise for Georgette Heyer, History and Historical Fiction

‘A varied and pleasant read … the best parts of Georgette Heyer, History and Historical Fiction offer much food for thought.’
Journal of Popular Romance Studies review

‘Academic in style, but accessible to read, the collection both celebrates and elevates an author whose work is much loved but often dismissed. A fascinating read.’
Historical Novels Society

‘This fascinating resource [is an] invaluable contribution to our understanding of this reclusive but enduring author whose work has been overlooked by serious critics for far too long.’
Jennifer kloester, jenniferkloester.com

‘A powerfully interesting interdisciplinary collection, which offers rich new insights for the many who love reading the works of Georgette Heyer.’
Bex Lewis, Manchester Metropolitan University

‘The volume’s editors succeed in producing an invaluable compilation enriching the studies of 1920s English genre literature by considering Heyer’s work in the context of post-war culture, with its heightened interest in the Napoleonic era, as well as in relation to literary tradition, especially Jane Austen’s works, but also referencing adventure novels of Heyer’s older contemporaries Baroness Orczy and Rafael Sabatini.’
Voprosy literatury

‘Academic in style, but accessible to read, the collection both celebrates and elevates an author whose work is much loved but often dismissed. A fascinating read.’
Historical Novel Society