Barren Corn

Rating:
Summary: A touching story about class differences
Review: This contemporary novel of Heyer's (i.e. one that she placed in the 1900s) isn't quite as powerful as her other novels, "Pastel" and "Helen", but it nevertheless a wonderful book in the best tradition of Heyer. Heyer touches upon the difficulties of marriages between a woman who was bred in the middle class, and a man bred in the aristocratic class, in an age and society not quite tolerant towards such unions. In a way, Heyer seems to say that "love does not conquer all", which is a realistic moral and confirms with Heyer's conservative values, if a somewhat distasteful one to our more tolerant age. I still thinks it holds, however, and in a way Heyer presents a realisic, if not satisfactory, story. The ending is still a trifle dramatic, but it touched me as a reader (I actually liked Laura better than some other Heyer heroines like Helen, though the book itself was artistically inferior). Overall, a very good book.

Rating:
Summary: Barren Book
Review: This is one of the view novels Georgette Heyer (her own sternest critic) suppressed. If youre expecting one of the lighthearted, feel-good romances Georgette Heyer usually writes, prepare yourself for a shock. The title is aptly chosen and rather gives it away: this book is barren, lacking warmth. Dont get me wrong, it is very well written and you find no difficulty in falling in love with the heroin, crying when she cries,but unable to laugh for the simple reason that there is nothing to laugh at. The story is devoid of even a light sprinkle of wit or irony, leaving it rather stark and chilling. Heyer also fails to provide us with her usual charming hero, which could have been a saving grace. A good book, well worth reading, but if this is your first Heyer novel it might be wise to start with another titel, as this will give you quite a wrong immpression of the rest of Heyers incomparable works.