Editing Georgette Heyer (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:Edmund Blair Leighton - On the Threshold.jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[Edmund Blair Leighton]] painted ''On the Threshold (of a Proposal)'', now in [[Manchester Art Gallery]]. It depicts a courtship in [[Regency England]], similar to those described in Heyer's [[historical romance]]s.]]

Besides her success in the United Kingdom, Heyer's novels were very popular in the United States and Germany and achieved respectable sales in [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref name=hebert/> A first printing of one of her novels in the Commonwealth often consisted of 65,000–75,000 copies,<ref name=reinhardt>Reinhardt (1974), pp. 257–258.</ref> and her novels collectively sold over 100,000&nbsp;copies in hardback each year.<ref name=hebert>Hebert (1974), pp. 254–255.</ref> Her paperbacks usually sold over 500,000&nbsp;copies each.<ref name=byatt297/> At the time of her death 48 of her books were still in print, including her first novel, ''The Black Moth''.<ref name=hartdavis>Hart-Davis (1974), pp. 258–259.</ref>

Her books were very popular during the [[Great Depression]] and World War II. Her novels, which journalist Lesley McDowell described as containing "derring-do, dashing blades, and maids in peril", allowed readers to escape from the mundane and difficult elements of their lives.<ref name=mcdowell/> In a letter describing her novel ''Friday's Child'', Heyer commented, "I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense. ... But it's unquestionably good escapist literature and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter or recovering from flu."<ref name=mcdowell/>

Heyer essentially invented the historical romance<ref name=hisromance>A historical romance is a [[romance novel]] set in the past. This is not to be confused with historical fiction that was influenced by [[romanticism]].</ref> and created the subgenre of the [[Regency romance]].<ref name=regis125126/> When first released as mass market paperbacks in the United States in 1966, her novels were described as being "in the tradition of Jane Austen".<ref name=robinson322>Robinson (1978), p. 322.</ref> Heyer herself said her style was "... really a mixture of Johnson and Austen—what I rely on is a certain gift for the farcical."<ref>Kim Sherwood, "Pride and Prejudice: Metafiction and the Value of Historical Romance in Georgette Heyer," in <u>Georgette Heyer, History and Historical Fiction</u> p.84, Samantha J. Rayner and Kim Wilkins, eds. (UCL Press, 2021)</ref>  As other novelists began to imitate her style and continue to develop the Regency romance, their novels have been described as "following in the romantic tradition of Georgette Heyer".<ref name=robinson322/> According to Kay Mussell, "virtually every Regency writer covets [that] accolade".<ref>Mussell (1984), p. 412.</ref>

Due to Heyer's identification with the Regency romance genre, her humour often is overlooked, but many observers have commented upon it. Stephen Fry, for instance, has written that Heyer "...is one of the wittiest, most insightful and rewarding prose writers imaginable."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fry |first=Stephen |date=2021-10-01 |title=Stephen Fry on the enduring appeal of Georgette Heyer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/01/stephen-fry-on-the-enduring-appeal-of-georgette-heyer |access-date=2024-09-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Heyer enjoyed being humorous, remarking: "Talk about my humour if you want to talk about me at all!".<ref>Sherwood, p.84</ref> Kim Sherwood has pointed out that Heyer is "frequently linked to P. G. Wodehouse in reviews and in online discussions by her fans".<ref>See, for example, Alice Von Kannon, "Georgette Heyer and the Mystery of the Dictionary," https://alicenoncannon.com/georgette-heyer-project{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Karen Myers, "The Bottomless Well of British Humor," in <u>Hollow Lands: A Writer's Blog</u>, 8 July 2022, https://hollowlands.com/2022/07/the-bottomless-well-of-British-humor, and M.M. Bennetts,"The Inimitable Georgette Meyer," in <u>Literary Historical Fiction with an Emphasis on History</u> https://mmbennetts.wordpress.com.</ref> One reviewer said of [[Venetia (Heyer novel)|Venetia]] that Heyer was "...a past master of juggle buggle, which may be defined rather broadly as P. G. Wodehouse translated back into the 19th century English Regency period . . ."<ref>Henry Cavendish, "Wonderful Nonsense," in <u>Chicago Tribune</u>, 22 Feb. 1959</ref> The same critic referred to [[Sprig Muslin]] as "...one of the most delightful bits of flimflamery this side of P.G. Wodehouse in his early days,"<ref>Henry Cavendish, "It's Delightful, Dandy, and Downright Delicious," (reviewing [[April Lady]] in <u>Chicago Tribune</u>, 1 Sept. 1957.</ref> and of [[Friday's Child (novel)|Friday's Child]] he wrote that several of its characters "...are straight out of Wodehouse ...if you can imagine Wodehouse's young men translated to the Mayfair of 130 years ago . . ."<ref>Henry Cavendish, reviewing [[Friday's Child (novel)|Friday's Child]], in <u>Chicago Tribune</u>, 17 Feb.1946.</ref>

Heyer has been criticised for [[antisemitism]], in particular for a scene in ''[[The Grand Sophy]]'' (published in 1950).<ref name="Ness_2013">{{cite news |last1=Ness |first1=Mari |title=Regency Manipulations: The Grand Sophy |url=https://www.tor.com/2013/05/28/regency-manipulations-the-grand-sophy |access-date=19 June 2023 |work=Tor.com |date=28 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="Kesavan_2005">{{cite news |last1=Kesavan |first1=Mukul |title=LESS THAN GOLD - Re-reading The Grand Sophy |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/less-than-gold-re-reading-the-grand-sophy/cid/1022438 |access-date=19 June 2023 |work=The Telegraph India |date=6 March 2005}}</ref><ref name="Hernandez-Knight_2021">{{cite journal |last1=Hernandez-Knight |first1=Bianca |title=Race and Racism in Austen Spaces: Jane Austen and Regency Romance's Racist Legacy |journal=ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830 |date=Fall 2021 |volume=11 |issue=2 |doi=10.5038/2157-7129.11.2.1291 |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1291&context=abo |access-date=19 June 2023|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Courtney Milan]] has said that "Georgette Heyer was a racist, and so her depiction of the era was deeply imperfect".<ref name="Hernandez-Knight_2021"/> Examination of family papers by [[Jennifer Kloester]] confirms she held prejudiced personal opinions.<ref>{{Citation|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/of-froth-and-ferocity-20120106-1po2h.html|title=Of froth and ferocity|first=Brenda|last=Niall|date=7 January 2012|work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> Psychoanalyst author, and Heyer fan, Amy Street, has written about her struggle to come to terms with Heyer's antisemetism.<ref>Amy Street, "Georgette Heyer--Guilty Pleasures" in <u>Georgette Heyer, History, and Historical Fiction</u>, p. 240</ref> In 2023, Heyer's USA publisher, [[Sourcebooks (publisher)|Sourcebooks]], released an edited version of ''[[The Grand Sophy]]'' to change antisemitic language with the permission of the Georgette Heyer Estate.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Alter |first=Alexandra |date=2023-10-30 |title='You Can't Hide It': Georgette Heyer and the Perils of Posthumous Revision |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/books/georgette-heyer-romance-novel-antisemitism.html |access-date=2024-05-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The estate decided to remove an afterword by Shakespeare Professor Mary Bly, who is also the romance author, [[Eloisa James]], that provided context for the changed text, prompting Bly to withdraw her editing and commentary/context work from the project.<ref name=":0" />

Despite her popularity and success, Heyer was largely ignored by critics other than [[Dorothy L. Sayers]], who reviewed ''[[The Unfinished Clue]]'' and ''[[Death in the Stocks]]'' for ''[[The Sunday Times]]''.<ref>Sayers wrote of [[The Unfinished Clue]]: "...because it is written in a perfectly delightful light comedy vein, the book is a pure joy from start to finish." Review of [[The Unfinished Clue]] in The Sunday Times, 1 April 1934 (quoted in Jennifer Kloester, "The Unfinished Clue" https://jenniferkloester.com/the-unfinished-clue-pure-joy-from-start-to-finish)</ref> Although none of her novels was ever reviewed in a serious newspaper,<ref name=byatt297>Byatt (1975), p. 297.</ref> according to [[Duff Hart-Davis]], "the absence of long or serious reviews never worried her. What mattered was the fact that her stories sold in ever-increasing numbers".<ref name=hartdavis/> Heyer was also overlooked by the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. The 1974 edition of the encyclopædia, published shortly after her death, included entries on popular writers [[Agatha Christie]] and Sayers, but did not mention Heyer.<ref>Fahnestock-Thomas (2001), p. 261.</ref>