416 pages
English language
Published March 1, 2003 by Harlequin.
When the redoubtable Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy is ordered to South America on business, he leaves his only daughter Sophia with his sister, Elizabeth Rivenhall, in Berkeley Square. Newly arrived from her tour of the Continent, Sophy invites herself into the circle of her relatives. When Lady Ombersley agrees to take in her young niece, no one expects Sophy, who sweeps in and immediately takes the ton by storm. Beautiful, gay, impulsive, shockingly direct, Sophy swept into elegant London society and scattered conventions and traditions before her like wisps in a windstorm. Resourceful, adventurous and utterly indefatigable, Sophy is hardly the mild-mannered girl that the Rivenhalls expect when they agree to take her in. Kind-hearted Aunt Lizzy is shocked, and her arrogant stern cousin Charles Rivenhall, the Ombersley heir, vows to rid his family of her meddlesome ways by marrying her off.
But vibrant and irrepressible Sophy was no stranger to …
When the redoubtable Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy is ordered to South America on business, he leaves his only daughter Sophia with his sister, Elizabeth Rivenhall, in Berkeley Square. Newly arrived from her tour of the Continent, Sophy invites herself into the circle of her relatives. When Lady Ombersley agrees to take in her young niece, no one expects Sophy, who sweeps in and immediately takes the ton by storm. Beautiful, gay, impulsive, shockingly direct, Sophy swept into elegant London society and scattered conventions and traditions before her like wisps in a windstorm. Resourceful, adventurous and utterly indefatigable, Sophy is hardly the mild-mannered girl that the Rivenhalls expect when they agree to take her in. Kind-hearted Aunt Lizzy is shocked, and her arrogant stern cousin Charles Rivenhall, the Ombersley heir, vows to rid his family of her meddlesome ways by marrying her off.
But vibrant and irrepressible Sophy was no stranger to managing delicate situations. After all, she'd been keeping opportunistic females away from her widowed father for years. But staying with her relatives could be her biggest challenge yet. But Sophy discovers that her aunt's family is in desperate need of her talent for setting everything right: her aunt's husband is of no use at all, her ruthlessly handsome cousin Charles has tyrannical tendencies that are being aggravated by his pedantic bluestocking fiancee Eugenia Wraxton; her lovely cousin Cecelia was smitten with an utterly unsuitable suitor, a beautiful but feather-brained poet; her cousin Herbert was in dire financial straits and has fallen foul of a money-lender; and the younger children are in desperate need of some fun and freedom, and Sophy's arrived just in time to save them all.
With her inimitable mixture of exuberance and grace Sophy became the mainstay of her hilariously bedeviled family, as a horsewoman, social leader and above all, as an ingenious match-maker. Using her signature unorthodox methods, Sophy set out to solve all of their problems. By the time she's done, Sophy has commandeered household and Charles's horses, but she finds herself increasingly drawn to her eldest cousin. Could it be that the Grand Sophy had finally met her match? Can she really be falling in love with him, and he with her? And what of his betrothal to grim Eugenia?
ehh, was not really feeling this one. Sophy is supposed to be "spirited" in an Emma-type way. But she's actually a huge boundary violator, who unlike Emma, never realizes it's wrong. The way she manipulates other people is kinda gross, and I think if Sophy had been a man, we'd think he was dangerously controlling.
Heyer at her best -- and her worst. The antisemitism of the moneylender was horrible.
This is not my favorite Georgette Heyer book (Cotillion still holds my heart, I'm afraid), but her books are remarkably readable and fun and this was definitely an enjoyable romp.
Regency romances (and this is, although that is probably not really my favorite part, a Regency romance) and I have a curious relationship. They are one of those genres that I tend to like the idea of more than the actual result. Some of it is my curious relationship with the whole romance genre (I like, and often even require romance in my books, but generally heavily mixed with something else), and some of it due to the fact that Jane Austen kind of holds the title for the genre, and very few things really manage to hold up in comparison for me.
Setting that minor digression aside, The Grand Sophy was charming, and a large portion of that …
This is not my favorite Georgette Heyer book (Cotillion still holds my heart, I'm afraid), but her books are remarkably readable and fun and this was definitely an enjoyable romp.
Regency romances (and this is, although that is probably not really my favorite part, a Regency romance) and I have a curious relationship. They are one of those genres that I tend to like the idea of more than the actual result. Some of it is my curious relationship with the whole romance genre (I like, and often even require romance in my books, but generally heavily mixed with something else), and some of it due to the fact that Jane Austen kind of holds the title for the genre, and very few things really manage to hold up in comparison for me.
Setting that minor digression aside, The Grand Sophy was charming, and a large portion of that was due to the main character. Sophy is one of those characters you want to see succeed at whatever she is currently turning her hand to. She's outrageous enough you completely understand London being turned upside-down simply by her existence, but despite a bit of a temper and maybe just a soupçon of bossiness, she genuinely has people's best interests at heart, even when she seems not to, and watching her arrange things to the satisfaction of herself and those she loves best is a remarkable venture.
I did see pretty early on where this was actually going in almost all respects, but the journey itself was worth every moment. People are in love who shouldn't be. People aren't in love who should be. Good people deserve a happy ending and bad people don't. It's relatively basic fare, but it's all handled with a style and panache that makes you genuinely like the characters and thus care about their ends.
I think this book may have sent me rushing back into a Georgette Heyer mood, and I don't regret that a bit. I've heard this book described as one of her best, and I can absolutely see that.
Hilarious and delightful.
Barring, of course, the whole SUDDENLY: ANTI-SEMITISM in that one chapter.
Though lol people complaining about Charles and Sophy being cousins. I'm confused about how anyone could get more than a few chapters into the book without perceiving the romance would be between cousins. And that's not even getting into the fact that the book description/jacket copy... explicitly... says... so...
