Georgette Heyer

The problematic relationship between history and novel has preoccupied many scholars. Though the question of where facts stop and art starts is not the only question to be discussed, it is the basic question that the Romantic historic novel was based on. This relationship is explicit in the Romantic Literary production where the romantic theme and the tumltuous politicalhistorical events of a period are clear. The study of the development of the theory of novel writing and critical reading make the question of relationship between romantic novel and history eligible, since both history and novel consist of a discourse that gains its power from its language with its impact on the recipient and its role, regardless of its factual and historical references. This paper examines nineteenth and late twentiethcentury novel in terms of changing configuration of the 'historic novel' and its function and appeal. It focuses on the historical, theoretical, literary as well as cultural aspects that assist in assimilating the valid meaning of the relationship between history and novel. It examines two texts written by two well known writers from different eras and cultures: one belongs to the nineteenth century England, Sir Walter Scot, and the other to an Arab modern one, Ameen Maalouf. The choice of the two different writers is to universalize the problematic the relationship between history and novel. The focus is on the historic novel, its characteristics, meaning, and how far we can consider it a history.

This paper explores the origins and theoretical response to the historical novel. It touches on the nineteenth century split between academic history and historical fiction, which promoted an artificial opposition between history and fiction, and discusses the lack of scholarly definitions of the genre. Issues surrounding the classifications that are available are examined, before a new definition is proposed.

Like any other narrative fiction, Regency historical novels also depend on various building blocks that develop as well as unite the story. These building blocks are story, characterization, plot, background, themes, and language. The aim of this study is to examine the elements of the plot of Regency historical novels that help in building up the story and keep it in motion. Almost, all these novels present a similar structure in the construction of the plot by following traditional rules and techniques of Regency historical tropes. All the writers handle the plot differently but this is a fact that they have "an uncanny similarity…even in some cases the complete plots were the same" (Hughes 2). The ideas and motifs that develop the plot of these novels revolve around the conflicts and misunderstandings between hero and heroine, at first denying and then overcome by the power of love. Details of social activities such as balls and fashions of upper class are recurrent motif whereas escapes, elopements, disguises, rescues, and unknown identities have also been the mainstay of regency writings' plots. The scenes of abduction, love-making and sexual intercourse are the central elements in the development of the story. Series of parties, balls and teas are very essential to the plot of these Regency historical novels. As we have to attend almost six balls in Whitney, My Love and more than five at Regency Buck. Even the first meeting of Whitney and Westmoreland takes place in a ball. These things actually hold Shoaib 1

Georgette Heyer is one of the most influential authors of popular romance novels and it is a mark of her continuing popularity that after her death she became the subject of two biographies: Jane Aiken Hodge’s The Private World of Georgette Heyer (1984) and Jennifer Kloester’s Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller (2011). However, as reported in the former, Heyer once stated that “You will find me [...] in my work”: this essay finds Heyer in The Nonesuch (1962) and argues that there are parallels between Heyer’s life and work and that of her eponymous hero. It also suggests that there are a number of points of resemblance between her novels and the entertaining yet educational and “quite unexceptionable” gifts which the Nonesuch bestows upon young Charlotte Underhill to ease her convalescence."

This essay identifies a subgenre of popular historical romance fiction: the cross-dressing novel. This subgenre uses cross-gender disguise to insist that there is an entirely predictable and indisputable relationship between sex, gender, and sexuality. At the same time the disguise plots fail to close off the disruptive or progressive possibilities of cross-dressing. This essay has two sections. The first section offers a brief critique of the way popular fiction scholars and cultural theorists have interpreted cross-gender disguise to date. The second section is an analysis of Georgette Heyer's three cross-dressing novels, These Old Shades, The Masqueraders and the Corinthian.

This article outlines one model for introducing popular romance studies to undergraduate English programs: teaching romance texts and topics alongside canonical and contemporary literary texts. It discusses the authors’ approach to teaching Georgette Heyer’sSylvesterinaunitonhistoricalfictionofferedattheUniversityofTasmaniain2010 and analyses student responses to this initiative through examination of selected assessmenttasks.

"The first book-length study of romance novels to focus on issues of sexuality rather than gender, Historical Romance Fiction moves the ongoing debate about the value and appeal of heterosexual romance onto new ground, testing the claims of cutting-edge critical theorists on everything from popular classics by Georgette Heyer, to recent 'bodice rippers,' to historical fiction by John Fowles and A.S. Byatt. Beginning with her nomination of 'I love you' as the romance novel's defining speech act, Lisa Fletcher engages closely with speech-act theory and recent studies of performativity. The range of texts serves to illustrate Fletcher's definition of historical romance as a fictional mode dependent on the force and familiarity of the speech act, 'I love you', and permits Fletcher to provide a detailed account of the genre's history and development in both its popular and 'literary' manifestations. Written from a feminist and anti-homophobic perspective, Fletcher's subtle arguments about the romantic speech act serve to demonstrate the genre's dependence on repetition ('Romance can only quote') and the shaky ground on which the romance's heterosexual premise rests. Her exploration of the subgenre of cross-dressing novels is especially revealing in this regard. With its deft mix of theoretical arguments and suggestive close readings, Fletcher's book will appeal to specialists in genre, speech act and performativity theory, and gender studies.

'This welcome book makes an important contribution to the academic canon, offering new insights into women's writing, historical fiction and gender studies. Dr. Fletcher's research, grasp of her topic, and discussions of cross-dressing and gender representations are convincing, while her chapter on Georgette Heyer provides a valuable addition to the ever-increasing analysis of this popular author.' Jennifer Kloester

‘a work of significant theoretical weight which is balanced by the creative approach Fletcher takes to her primary material, and complemented by an engaging and lively prose style. ... an engaging and insightful study … which adds much to the field and raises fruitful questions for future scholarship in the area.’ Theresa Jamieson, Journal of Gender Studies

‘essential reading … for anyone interested in the popular romance.’ Pamela Regis, Journal of Popular Romance Studies

‘magisterial analysis of historical romance novels.’ An Goris, Journal of Popular Romance Studies

‘I was fascinated to have Lisa Fletcher convince me that I seem to have stumbled into rather a central node in the genre.’ Pam Rosenthal, "