Line #227 Creator/GeorgetteHeyer


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/georgette_heyer.png]]
2	Georgette Heyer (16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was one of the most successful English romance novelists of the 20th century. Her books were famous for her intelligent comedy, the genuine sweetness of her romances and [[ShownTheirWork her meticulous research]] on the [[RegencyEngland Regency period]] - which in turn leads to ''An Infamous Army'' rather incongruously being on the recommended reading list at, of all things, Sandhurst, the UK equivalent of West Point, for its superb description of the Battle of Waterloo. She also wrote a few detective novels here and there, but these aren't nearly as well-known, which is a shame.
3
4	Heyer's heroes and heroines (occasionally dubbed [[FanNickname Heyeroes and Heyeroines]]) tended to come in two types each:
5
6	* '''Hero #1:''' Tall, usually dark, and definitely handsome. [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Almost always has a past]]. While highly unlikely to actually mistreat the heroine, he's not above scaring her into submission (however, as he's often dealing with Heroine #1, it's unlikely to work).
7	* '''Hero #2:''' This is the consummate gentleman, who invariably comes up with the perfect response to any situation. Their usual role is to [[KnightInShiningArmor provide the heroine with an escape from any difficulties]], whereas Hero #1 is frequently the ''cause'' of those difficulties.
8
9	* '''Heroine #1:''' A [[SpiritedYoungLady lively young woman]]. She naturally gets herself into many a social scrape, [[DamselInDistress from which the hero must rescue her]], and either bounces back or feels humiliated deep down inside that he saw her in such a state.
10	* '''Heroine #2:''' Overlooked and ignored, she may seem quiet. However, once the hero talks to her, or needs help, Heroine #2 comes into her own and reveals HiddenDepths.
11
12	Heyer was not above mixing and matching types, as well as subverting the expectations of her readers. In ''Sylvester'', for example, the eponymous hero appears to be a Hero #1, whereas he's actually a Hero #2 (he merely has an unfortunate pair of eyebrows).
13
14	Heyer used a lot of tropes in various ways, so listing them by novel seems the best way to go.
15
16	!!Tropes present in most Heyers include:
17
18	* AssholeVictim: Always present in her whodunnits.
19	* AuthorAppeal: Expect at least one kiss to be described as "crushing."
20	* CostumePorn: Clothing will be described in loving detail. As many of her heroes are {{Sharp Dressed M\|an}}en, the men's clothing will very likely be described in even more detail than the women's.
21	* DeadpanSnarker: Hero #1 almost certainly; frequently Hero #2 as well. Less common but far from unknown among the heroines; it may come up as part of Heroine #2's HiddenDepths. Given Heyer's milieu, the character is usually a GentlemanSnarker as well.
22	* HappilyEverAfter
23	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Her Regency and historical novels are peppered with cameo appearances by real people.
24
25	!!Works with their own pages:
26	[[index]]
27	* ''Literature/ABluntInstrument''
28	* ''Literature/AprilLady''
29	* ''Literature/BathTangle''
30	* ''Literature/TheBlackMoth''
31	* ''Literature/BlackSheep1966''
32	* ''Literature/ACivilContract''
33	* ''Literature/TheConvenientMarriage''
34	* ''Literature/TheCorinthian''
35	* ''Literature/{{Cotillion}}''
36	* ''Literature/DevilsCub''
37	* ''Literature/FridaysChild''
38	* ''Literature/TheGrandSophy''
39	* ''Literature/PowderAndPatch''
40	* ''Literature/TheQuietGentleman''
41	* ''Literature/TheReluctantWidow''
42	* ''Literature/SprigMuslin''
43	* ''Literature/{{Sylvester}}''
44	* ''Literature/TheseOldShades''
45	* ''Literature/TheUnknownAjax''
46	* ''Literature/{{Venetia}}''
47	[[/index]]
48
49	!!Individual works provide examples of:
50
51	[[foldercontrol]]
52
53	[[folder:Arabella]]
54	* CreditCardPlot: [[spoiler:For Bertram.]]
55	* {{Elopement}}: [[spoiler:Started, but Arabella decides she can't go through with it. Much to Mr. Beaumaris's amusement and gratification.]]
56	* GoodSamaritan: Arabella.
57	* HappilyMarried: Arabella's parents.
58	* LoveEpiphany: Mr Beaumaris has a very strong one, when he sees Arabella defend a poor urchin. It impacts him so strongly, he has to grip the back of a chair.
59	%%* MeetCute
60	%%* MouthyKid
61	%%* PreachersKid: Arabella and Bertram.
62	* RichBoredom: Robert Beaumaris. He's especially bored with [[GoldDigger Gold Diggers.]]
63	%%* SecretTestOfCharacter
64	%%* SnowballLie
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Beauvallet]]
68	%%* GentlemanAdventurer
69	%%* HistoricalInJoke
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Behold, Here's Poison]]
73	%%* AssholeVictim
74	%%* BeAsUnhelpfulAsPossible
75	%%* EvilUncle
76	%%* KissingCousins
77	%%* NeverOneMurder: Subverted.
78	%%* ParentalMarriageVeto
79	%%* SympatheticMurderer
80	%%* WrongGuyFirst
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Charity Girl]]
84	%%* ChildhoodFriendRomance
85	* DamselInDistress: But not the heroine herself.
86	* GreenEyedEpiphany: Implied. Both Desford and the heroine experience the jealousy, but the epiphany part happens off-page.
87	* HonorableMarriageProposal: Discussed; Cherry's father says that Desford should offer to marry Cherry to save her reputation after he took her to London. Everyone who hears the idea laughs it off, as Desford went to great lengths to make sure Cherry's reputation was not damaged.
88	* TheIngenue: Cherry, who is even referred to as such at one point.
89	%%* JustFriends
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:The Conquerer]]
93	%%* HeroicBastard
94	%%* HistoricalInJoke
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Cousin Kate]]
98	* ArrangedMarriage: Minerva tries to press-gang Kate into one of these.
99	%%* AxCrazy
100	* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Subverted.
101	* EvilDetectingDog: ...or insanity-detecting dog, whatever.
102	* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Kate for Torquil.
103	* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Kate's relationship with Philip.
104	* {{Yandere}}: Torquil.
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Detection Unlimited]]
108	* AnimalHoarding: The animals in question are Pekinese dogs. {{Justified\|Trope}} in that the woman who owns them breeds them, but she still treats them like they're her children and gives them weird names like Ulysses.
109	* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: The AssholeVictim tried this, simply to become TheChessmaster of the county.
110	* DrivenToSuicide: The SmugSnake's late brother claimed this is what the SmugSnake had done to him in a letter... [[spoiler: Actually, [[NeverSuicide it was murder made to look like suicide]], which the AssholeVictim was blackmailing the SmugSnake about, hence why he was killed.]]
111	* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: As Heyer herself states at the very beginning of the book:
112	-->There are some who may believe that this book is about them. They are, in fact, mistaken.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:False Colours]]
116	%%* BecomingTheMask
117	%%* EmergencyImpersonation
118	* FatIdiot / FatSlob: Averted with Bonamy Ripple. He may be enormously fat, but he's a [[TheDandy fastidious dresser]] and surprisingly perceptive (given his easygoing nature).
119	* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: [[spoiler:What Evelyn is experiencing while Kit takes his place.]]
120	* MsRedInk: Lady Denville.
121	* NoodleIncident: Just what did the twins do to get themselves sent down from Oxford? Whatever it was, they consider it [[TricksterTwins one of their best stunts]], and the students are still talking about it years later.
122	* TwinSwitch: The entire premise.
123	* TwinTelepathy: Kit rushes back to England because he has a premonition that Evelyn is in trouble. He is also sure that Evelyn isn't dead, even as time drags on with no sign of him.
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Faro's Daughter]]
127	* ComedicSociopathy: Deborah has Max kidnapped and apologises for her servants going about it so roughly.
128	* TheIngenue: Phoebe.
129	* MasochismTango: It's PlayedForLaughs, but Deborah and Max have this in spades. She kidnaps him, for heaven's sake.
130	* TheMatchmaker: Deb for Lord Mablethorpe and Phoebe.
131	%%* SlapSlapKiss
132	* SpiritedYoungLady: Deborah.
133	* SugarAndIcePersonality: both Max and Deborah.
134	* TheVamp: [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Max]] believes Deborah to be this.
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:The Foundling]]
138	* BettyAndVeronica: Subverted: everyone ''thinks'' Gilly is in love with Belinda, but he isn't.
139	%%* ComingOfAgeStory
140	%%* MommasBoy
141	%%* ShrinkingViolet
142	* TooDumbToLive: Belinda, as {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d by many, many characters.
143	* TwiceShy
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Frederica]]
147	* CoolBigSis: Frederica.
148	* FacePalm:
149	--> "You might well!' said Alverstoke, who had sunk his brow on his hand.
150	* TheIngenue: Charis.
151	* LoveAtFirstSight: Charis and her suitor.
152	* MouthyKid: Felix.
153	* ObliviousToLove: Frederica about Alverstoke.
154	* PromotionToParent: Frederica.
155	* PuppyDogEyes: Invoked when Felix is pleading with Alverstoke.
156	* SpiritedYoungLady: Frederica is a slightly more responsible version of this.
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:The Great Roxhythe]]
160	%%* GentlemanAdventurer
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:An Infamous Army]]
164	* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Subverted: Charles has his arm amputated.
165	%%* BrokenBird
166	%%* HistoricalInJoke
167	%%* WellExcuseMePrincess
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Lady of Quality]]
171	%%* AnnoyingYoungerSibling
172	%%* RunawayFiance
173	%%* SlapSlapKiss
174	[[/folder]]
175
176	[[folder:The Masqueraders]]
177	* AttractiveBentGender: Both ways!
178	* TheChessmaster: Lord Barham
179	* {{Crossdresser}}: Again, both ways.
180	* SweetPollyOliver
181	[[/folder]]
182
183	[[folder:My Lord John]]
184	* DiedDuringProduction: Heyer died while writing it.
185	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: John of Lancaster.
186	[[/folder]]
187
188	[[folder:The Nonesuch]]
189	* UnclePennybags: Sir Waldo Hawkridge
190	%%* WellExcuseMePrincess
191	[[/folder]]
192
193	[[folder:No Wind of Blame]]
194	* RubeGoldbergHatesYourGuts: The murder method is this in spades!
195	[[/folder]]
196
197	[[folder:Penhallow]]
198	* AbusiveDad[=/=]AssholeVictim: Penhallow himself.
199	* DownerEnding: Unusual for a Heyer novel, but it's a doozy. [[spoiler: Penhallow's death doesn't make things better; in fact, [[FromBadtoWorse it makes things even worse]]. The family are drawn together even tighter, even though few of them wish to be so, and the eldest is DrivenToSuicide because he thinks he'll be implicated by the BastardBastard, although on the last page it's revealed that the bastard in question did nothing of the sort. The police never catch the killer at the end, making the whole thing one big ShootTheShaggyDogStory]]. Some Heyer fans suspect that she was writing this book to make up for all the cheeriness in all of her other novels!
200	* OpenMystery: You know full well who killed Penhallow... [[AssholeVictim and you don't blame]] [[spoiler: her]].
201	* PoliceAreUseless: The policeman in charge of the case actually thinks Penhallow [[FlatWhat was a pretty generous patriarch]], and the rest of the family were just being whiny spongers.
202	* TheUnfavourite: Technically, every one of Penhallow's children--legitimate [[BastardBastard or otherwise]]--qualify, but [[TheWoobie his youngest son]] definitely qualifies.
203	[[/folder]]
204
205	[[folder:Pistols For Two]]
206	* AccidentalMarriage: In "Hazard", the hero is so drunk when he wins the card game that he and the heroine are halfway to Gretna Green when he wakes up the next morning.
207	* ArrangedMarriage: The hero of "Hazard" is about to go through with one of these; luckily for him, he has a RunawayFiance.
208	* LostHimInACardGame: "Hazard".
209	* PlatonicLifePartners: Annabella and Tom from "Full Moon", who are very fond of each other and plan to elope only because Annabella is so horrified at the idea of marrying an old man.
210	* RepetitiveName: Carlington Carlington in "Hazard". Though that's probably a typo/omitted comma.
211	* RightInFrontOfMe: Annabella and Tom complain bitterly to a friendly stranger about the "horrid old friend" of Annabella's father whom she's expected to marry. Neither of them have ever met him, leading to predictable results.
212	[[/folder]]
213
214	[[folder:Regency Buck]]
215	* AgentPeacock: Worth. He is one of the dandy set, close friends with dandy-in-chief Beau Brummell, and Judith is convinced that all dandies are horrid sissies, only to be shocked to find them actually kind of classy, very well dressed and in the case of Worth surprisingly badass. Worth is a skilled boxer, who can knock another man out cold when it becomes necessary.
216	* BelligerentSexualTension: Judith really does not get on with Worth for about half the book.
217	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: [[spoiler: The climax of the plot reveals that the Taverner siblings' cousin, Bernard, has been trying to dispose of Peregrine so Judith could inherit the whole of the family fortune, and then marry Judith (to his credit, he does appear to have genuinely fallen in love with her). Judith despairingly says that if he needed money, all he had to do was ''ask'' them for it. However, Worth points out that Bernard likely wouldn't want to be beholden to his cousins, and in any case his own debts were far too great to be paid by an indulgent relation and Worth himself would have forbidden it.]]
218	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Worth, who is busy being an arse to Judith's face while protecting her from fortune-hunters and her brother from murderers behind her back.
219	* MeetCute: Worth first meets the siblings when their curricles collide. The next day he happens upon Judith in distress by the side of the road and insists on escorting her back to town.
220	* ResentfulGuardian: It's a downplayed example since he's only responsible for them for a year or two, but Worth does make it clear he finds being Judith and Peregrine's guardian very annoying at times. Partly because they sometimes behave foolishly and he dislikes his name being connected to their antics, mostly because [[spoiler:he's in love with Judith but can't propose to her until she comes of age and is no longer his ward.]]
221	* ReversePsychology: How Worth gets Judith to take the house he wants in Brighton.
222	%%* SlapSlapKiss
223	[[/folder]]
224
225	[[folder:Royal Escape]]
226	* ChivalrousPervert: Charles Stuart is an unashamed womanizer but he will not take advantage of an honest young woman who is helping him at the risk of her life.
227	%%* HistoricalInJoke:
228	* KingIncognito: Charles II. He is in fact a little too comfortable with incognito to suit some of his stiffer supporters.
229	* NiceToTheWaiter: Charles is tired, hurt and scared but he makes an effort to be courteous and friendly to the common folk helping him.
230	[[/folder]]
231
232	[[folder:Simon the Coldheart]]
233	%%* HeroicBastard
234	* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Averted: the language used is thick with genuine Middle English, so much so that a ''glossary'' was included.
235	[[/folder]]
236
237	[[folder:The Spanish Bride]]
238	%%* HistoricalInJoke
239	%%* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory
240	[[/folder]]
241
242	[[folder:The Talisman Ring]]
243	* ArrangedMarriage: Tristram and Eustacie.
244	* ClearMyName: Ludovic.
245	* OnlySaneMan: Poor Tristram. None of the other characters like his practical and effective plans, because the plans aren't adventurous enough.
246	[[/folder]]
247
248	[[folder:The Toll-Gate]]
249	* AltarTheSpeed: John and Nell are...unexpectedly...married by Sir Peter's bedside because he's decided he wants it done before he dies.
250	%%* HistoricalInJoke
251	%%* StrangerInAFamiliarLand
252	[[/folder]]
253
254	[[folder:The Unfinished Clue]]
255	* AssholeVictim / Complete Monster / AbusiveDad: Sir Arthur Billington-Smith
256	* CulturalStereotypes: [[LatinLand Lola de Silva]] and her agent, a GreedyJew.
257	* IHaveNoSon: Arthur Billington-Smith tried to do this [[spoiler: and that was why he was killed.]]
258	* [[spoiler: MamaBear]]: [[spoiler: The murderess was Billington-Smith's first wife, making sure her son wasn't disinherited. [[TitleDrop The unfinished clue]] is the word "There", the last thing he wrote. [[ChekhovsGun In spite of most people not paying too much attention to it, TheInspector realises it's the first letters of]] ''Theresa'', the Major's first wife. ]]
259	[[/folder]]
260
261	[[folder:Why Shoot A Butler?]]
262	* AmateurSleuth: Frank Amberley--the person who solves the mystery--is a barrister, although it's noted in the story that he has some experience rounding up major criminals, having helped the police at least once.
263	* CrazyPrepared: When the BigBad tries to get away via a motorboat, Frank just happens to have a motorboat of his own ready. {{Justified\|Trope}} in that he'd done some research during the previous day, and figured that would happen.
264	* PoliceAreUseless: {{Averted}}. the police are just at sea because there are no clues to go on, and Amberley has quite a few of them... [[LockedOutOfTheLoop not that he tells the police most of them]].
265	* SlapSlapKiss: It doesn't help that Frank is something of a {{troll}} throughout the whole book, and not just to the girl.
266	* SmugSnake: Frank Amberley is this, making him something of a DesignatedHero.
267	* TitleDrop: In the second chapter, no less!
268	[[/folder]]

Context Creator / GeorgetteHeyer