Venetia by Georgette Heyer

Nearly a decade ago, Carrie reviewed this classic title narrated by Phyllida Nash.

Original review posted September 26, 2014

Narrated by Phyllida Nash

While musing about the plot of Venetia, I thought about how similar the story is to the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. The similarities are striking enough to wonder if Heyer had the beloved fairy tale in mind when writing. In this case Beauty is in the guise of Venetia, the lovely almost-spinster, who meets the Beast, easily distinguishable as the dissolute rake, Lord Damerel.

When they first meet, Damerel quickly shows his rakish qualities. In one of the best scenes in the book, he tries to seduce Venetia, mistaking her for a village maiden instead of a lady. Venetia uses her clever wit and sharp tongue to engage Damerel in a bout of

verbal sparring. In the end, he is intrigued and she is more shaken that she admits. After this, Venetia wisely avoids Damerel. But fate intervenes when her brother Aubrey is injured near Damerel’s estate and is taken to his house to recover. Thrown together, both parties realize they have found something special – a friend. Damerel sets out to woo Venetia until he realizes he truly does love her, and refuses to risk her social ruin by wedding her.

Frustrated with Damerel’s newly recovered ethics and driven to distraction by the sudden appearance of her absent brother’s wife and tyrannical mother-in-law, Venetia quickly accepts an invitation to stay with her aunt and uncle in London. The rest of the book weaves a tale of family secrets uncovered, meddling relatives, and finally, a way around the obstacles.

Venetia, like Beauty before her, is a strong character. She is a female with agency and is ultimately in control of herself and her life. She is perhaps Heyer’s strongest female lead. She is clever, witty, straightforward and open-hearted. In contrast, Damerel, while also clever, has seen too much of the hurt in the world and is one of Heyer’s darkest heroes. He is truly a dissolute libertine, living for his own pleasures and caring nothing of society or its rules. This is who Venetia falls in love with and accepts, as Beauty accepted the Beast even as he remained a Beast. Like the Beast, redemption can only begin for Damerel once he accepts that someone as fine as Venetia can love him.

This wonderful story, including all the rich dialogue and beautiful prose, is made all the better by the narrative skills of Phyllida Nash. Every character sounds convincing and individual. She handles male voices equally well as she handles the female voices. Her tone and inflections perfectly fit the mood of the book. While listening to anything read by Phyllida Nash, the listener forgets there is a narrator and is completely drawn into the world of the novel. I am extremely happy to see this book rereleased in the U.S. with the original narrator, instead of being rerecorded with someone new.

Venetia has well earned the reputation as one of Georgette Heyer’s best Regency Romances. The book is full of the sexual tension, clever repartee, and wonderful storytelling. Highly recommended.

Carrie

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