QNPoohBear's Reviews > Charity Girl

3.5 stars

Ashley Carrington, Viscount Desford has no intentions of marrying anyone just to please his father, let alone his childhood best friend Miss Henrietta Silverdale. That doesn't mean he wants his Hetta to marry just any prosy old bore that comes along, like Cary Nethercott. Why Hetta would be bored in an instant! Then while attending a party at the Bugle household, Des is bowled over by the beauty of Lucasta Bugle. Pity she has an overbearing matchmaking Mama! Des is smart enough not to get caught in THAT trap. However, Lucasta seems to have a cousin, Charity, known as Cherry, a charity girl made to be a household drudge, despite being of an age to come out. Des is quite taken with the pitiful girl and when he discovers her running away from home the next morning because her aunt has made life intolerable thanks to a brief, stolen conversation with Des, he can't help but intervene and rescue the girl. Des proposes to hare off in search of Cherry's old grandfather, leaving Cherry with Hetta. Henrietta Silverdale is still unmarried and caring for her perpetually "ill" mother, yet she doesn't want to marry Des any more than he wants to marry her! Yet when he comes to her with a wild tale of chivalry, she can't help jump in to rescue him.

This is another fun and wild adventure tale from Georgette Heyer. It isn't one of her best but it has it's moments of brilliance. The plot starts off rather slow with a prolonged argument/conversation between father and son that is full of period slang. If I were a first time reader I would have had a hard time getting through that exchange. Heyer really shows off her research here, employing the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue in just about every passage of dialogue. That makes the story tough to get through. The plot doesn't pick up until Des rescues Cherry. When Des is on the road searching for Cherry's grandfather or joking with Henrietta, the story is a lot of fun. Heyer borrowed plot elements from previous novels and added her own unique touch of tweaking the characters enough to make the story unique.

Sadly, I found Cherry such a dull and annoying character that I did not enjoy any scene with her. She is so boring and so over the top grateful that I wanted to muzzle her at times. I much prefer the lively Henrietta. Hetta is a great character. Another of Heyer's older ladies, Henrietta has management of her brother's estate until her brother comes of age so she's intelligent and capable. I also love her sense of humor. Because she grew up with the Carrington boys, Henrietta does not have any missish airs. She thinks of Des and his brothers as extra brothers and eagerly participated in all their wild schemes and picked up on their conversations and style of speech. She also knows Des well enough to trust him and believe what he says is true. I really like that kind of relationship. She gets a tiny bit silly at the very end but not too bad. Des and his family have such a great relationship. Des knows his parents love each other and love their children and that makes him a romantic. He refuses to marry for less what his parents have and he knows that when his father rants and raves, it's the gout talking and not Papa's heart. The two men are rather sweet together in their own way. It's refreshing to see a normal, loving family. Too many of the Heyeroes are jaded and cynical because they didn't grow up in a loving household.

As always, the secondary characters shine just as brightly as the main trio. Lady Bugle, Cherry's aunt, is even worse than Mrs. Bennet. She also has several daughters with one ravishing beauty but her attentions to Desford are way too obvious and over the top. Then she takes his rejection of her daughter out on poor Cherry. Her treatment of Cherry is just horrid. Her daughters seem to take after their mother. Corinna, whom Cherry thought was her friend, is a sneak and a tattletale. Her actions towards her cousin are reprehensible. In contrast, the Carringtons are a great family. I could easily see Lord Wroxford ranting at his son and then repenting, while Lady Wroxford soothes his wounded pride and smooths things over with the boys. Simon is a typical young man about town. He's carefree and seems like a "scapegrace" to his father, but when push comes to shove, Simon is as full of family feeling as the boring brother we never meet. Lady Silverdale's constant need for attention, her airs and her "illnesses" drive me crazy. I feel sorry for Henrietta having a mother like that! That lady is just awful! It's a wonder Henrietta hasn't married just to escape her mother. Her chief suitor, Cary Nethercott, does seem like a dull sort without much of a sense of humor. He is kind and honorable though. She could do worse.

Of course the real stand outs are Cherry's relatives. Lord Nettlecombe is not worth pursuing! He is so crotchety and so cheap that I believe he would treat sweet Cherry worse than her aunt does. His son is the most colorful character in this novel and one of Heyer's more unusual, but fun, figures. His speech and manner of dress make him laughable. He's shrewd but still a bit slow on the uptake.

If you love Georgette Heyer, this one is well worth a read, but don't make it your first Regency read.