Cotillion: a review

by Georgette Heyer

This was my second time reading this one. I remember not liking it very much the first time I read it. I think I had just read Devil’s Cub or one of that type of her books and therefore was very caught up in the ‘hero’ type of…hero. This time around I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think I also associated Freddy Standen with Freddy Threepwood of P.G. Wodehouse fame. But Freddy Standen is nowhere near as idiotic. Spoilery comments follow, so if you want to read this one, I’d stop here.

In fact, Freddy Standen may be one of my favorite Georgette Heyer heroes at this point, and Kitty one of my favorite heroines. I liked how light-hearted much of their relationship was. I also liked how they seemed to listen to each other and, even if they didn’t ultimately agree, take the other’s point of view into consideration.

The part I liked the most was the end, so obviously I can’t say much about it. But I thought that overall it was one of Georgette Heyer’s most nuanced books. I do love her, but she can get very two-dimensional character-wise. In this, all of the main characters and several of the more minor characters felt very well drawn to me.

I realized I haven’t said anything about plot. I don’t think it’s particularly necessary to. It’s Heyer, so it’s Regency and fairly lighthearted and no serious harm comes to anyone involved.

(I can’t decide which cover I like better. I think I’m going with the second one, even though neither of the main characters looks anything like Kitty or Freddy.)

Book source: University of Oregon library

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