Georgette Heyer’s Regency World

By Jennifer Kloester

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I would not call myself a Heyer fan as such, but a book on Regency life made an enjoyable prospect for a review. On receiving the book and noting that Georgette Heyer’s Regency World is by an Australian academic and based on a Ph.D. thesis I wondered whether I had jumped to the wrong conclusion; as an academic myself I know full well that theses tend to be dry and earnest (after all, I have written one).

But I need not have worried. Jennifer Kloester’s book is, quite simply, great fun, full of interesting details, and written with both style and aplomb. If you ever wanted to know what a Regency gentleman wore beneath his breeches, or what fashionable society did at morning calls (which usually took place in the afternoon) this is definitely for you.