The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
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Genre: Regency Romance Main characters: Miss Sophia Stanton-Lacy Time and place: 19th century London First sentence: “The butler, recognizing her ladyship’s only surviving brother at a glance, as he afterward informed his less percipient subordinates, favored Sir Horace with a low bow, and took it upon himself to say that my lady, although not at home to less nearly connected persons, would be happy to see him.” Summary: Lady Ombersley’s household has its share of problems. The head of the family has gambled away all his fortune and more, leaving the eldest son, Charles, to shield the loss as well as he could. Cecilia, one of the daughters, has contracted a marriage with a man highly-esteemed in society, only to fall in love with a handsome but penniless poet while her affiance was bedridden with a case of mumps. Both her mother and Charles are horrified, but their opposition only serves to harden Cecilia’s decision even more. Adding to that the fact that Charles’ betrothed was a particularly sour girl, and that Charles’ brother Hubert had a few debts of his own, we will get a fair idea of the general air of the house. Enter Sophy, whose father sent her to live with the Ombersleys, both because he had to be away for a while and also because she, at twenty, was in need of a husband. Upon arriving, Sophy was so saddened to see the sorry state of affairs this family was in that she instantly committed to solve all their problems. |
Ever since I first met Sophy I couldn’t help liking her. Even her physical description was the kind I like most seeing in books:
“Sophy would never be a beauty. She was by far too tall; nose and mouth were both too large; and a pair of expressive gray eyes could scarcely be held to atone entirely for these defects. Only you could not forget Sophy, even though you could not recall the shape of her face or the color of her eyes.”
Sophy’s personality shines through the pages of the book. She has been brought up by her father,a diplomat who spent most of his life in foreign places, so she cares little for the propriety taken for granted by people who never left London. She is very confident in her own abilities (with good reason to), has a good deal of common sense, seeing straight through everyone’s pretenses, is smart and also caring for everyone around her. Just what the house needed, as Charles, the ruler supreme, was rather cold and reserved, caring very much for propriety above all else. It doesn’t help matters that he has an almighty temper, scaring all his relatives into submission.
There are a lot of supporting characters in the book, some of them very much amusing. One of them is Sophy’s future stepmother, Sancia, a Spanish woman with a fiery disposition; when she’s not busy sleeping that is. The man Cecilia professes to love is another, as he is a poet mostly out of this world: nothing exists for him when he’s under the spell of one of his poems (and that’s usually most of the time). Last but not least there is Eugenia, the priggish woman Charles has chosen for himself, a woman who holds propriety as her only god, whom she never hesitates to preach to everyone in sight (one can guess that she and Sophy are not precisely the best of friends). My feelings for her alternated between pity, as she was oblivious that she alienated the people around her by her constant nagging, annoyance, due to the said nagging, but also a bit of admiration, as she seemed to have read quite a lot for that time (which then led me to pity, because albeit cultivated she was alienating people, and the cycle started all over again).
Overall, the book is simply delightful. Sophy’s good humor is infectious, and she never allows anything to put her down, ensuring a fun right for the reader alongside her.
Thoughts on the ending: To me it seemed a bit hurried off, as the happy pair only get to be so in the last very few pages. To my chagrin because I was so very looking forward to see them as a couple (of course I understand that there’s nothing more to be said in a romance book after the hero/heroine have professed their love for each other, but I was a bit sad nevertheless).
What I liked most: Sophy’s personality was like a hurricane, sweeping everything down its path. As such, I loved reading about it on the whole, but my absolute favorite trait was the fact that she was witty and never afraid to tell people what she thought. As such, her dialogue with her uptight cousin Mr. Rivenhall are delighting, an example being my favorite line of hers:
““I’ll take care of that!” he retorted. “Let me tell you, my dear Cousin, that I should be better pleased if you would refrain from meddling in the affairs of my family!”
“Now, that,” said Sophy, “I am very glad to know, because if ever I should desire to please you I shall know just how to set about it. I daresay I shan’t, but one likes to be prepared for any event, however unlikely.””
What I liked least: While I simply adored the first two thirds of the book, everything went a bit downhill for me since Sophy started planning her grand scheme that was supposed to make everyone happy. show spoiler
Recommend it to? I am not a big romance fan but I have thoroughly enjoyed this one (admittedly some parts less than others, but the strong characters made up for everything in the long run). So I just have to recommend it to everyone, right? :)
I read this book for The Classics Circuit – yay! Interested in more Heyer reviews? Click here for the full schedule of the tour.
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I adore Grand Sophy. I am glad you enjoyed it too. She is an outrageously funny character and one of Heyer’s best creations.
Thanks for the great review. I like your format very much.
.-= Laurel Ann´s last blog ..Pride and Prejudice 1995 (Restored Edition) Available April 27th, 2010 =-.
I love this book! Sophie is just so much fun. And the ducklings are so fun, too :-) I agree I’d have liked to see Charles and Sophie together a bit more as a couple. I feel like it would be a very passionate start to a relationship, both trying to get the upper hand!
.-= Aarti´s last blog ..Review: To Kill a Mockingbird =-.
I am so glad you enjoyed it! I have decided I must give this one a try!
.-= Rebecca Reid´s last blog ..The Masterpiece [L’Oeuvre] by Emile Zola =-.
My sister loves to read romance novels she could just sit and read without eating. I think she’ll love this book. Thanks for that review.
The Grand Sophy is my favourite Heyer, so I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’m terribly jealous that you’re just starting to read Heyer, that you still have so many lovely discoveries ahead of you: Frederica, Sylvester, The Regency Buck…What fun!
It is so nice to see that such “old” English literature favourites are still appreciated around the world. Long may it continue.
Great review, Kay. I just ordered a copy of this book online. Waiting for it to arrive! :)
All the best,
Mary