The Reluctant Widow is a 1946 historical romance novel by Georgette Heyer. It was (very loosely) adapted into a film in 1950, making it the only one of her novels to have a film adaptation as of 2022.
Elinor Rochdale is the daughter of a ruined gentleman and has to work as a governess to support herself. On her way to her new employer's house, she accidentally gets into the wrong carriage and ends up at the house of Edward Carlyon. Edward forces Elinor to marry his dying cousin as part of a conspiracy to save his family name.
Contains examples of:
- Accidental Aiming Skills: Nicky, after missing Louis de Castres:I never touched him, but I did shatter his lantern, and that would have been pretty fair shooting, I can tell you, if I had been aiming at it.
- Ambiguously Gay: Francis.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Nicky Carlyon. Everyone likes him, but he certainly causes a lot of trouble!
- Asshole Victim: Nobody misses Eustace much (although his death isn't a mystery).
- Big Friendly Dog: Bouncer, except when he's guarding Elinor. Then he morphs into Angry Guard Dog.
- Bookcase Passage: Actually in a closet, but close enough.
- The Dandy: Francis. And how. He could also be seen to be something of an Agent Peacock, as it transpires he is actually a cold-blooded killer.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: How Carlyon deduces that Francis killed de Castres; he knew details about the murder that were not in any of the newspaper accounts.
- MacGuffin: The missing document.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: A hilarious one between Elinor and Carlyon at the start of the book. Carlyon thinks Elinor has answered his advertisement for a woman to marry his cousin, while she thinks he's discussing a governess position.
- Promotion to Parent: The main reason, according to Elinor, for Carlyon's overbearing nature, was that he had to take charge of his younger siblings (and Eustace) from a relatively early age.
- Regency England: The book is set in 1813.
- Secret Path: The hidden entrance to Highnoons.
- Secret Relationship: The cover story for why Eustace suddenly has a wife.
- Shout-Out: The main couple are called Elinor and Edward, you say?
