Thank you Pat for the clickable to our new home. We will move in soon.Shall we say in a week? Several have already read the book so we should be able to start discussion then. For those still waiting to get the book, it is an easy read and you won't have any trouble catching up.

Has a small town been a part of your life? Can you relate to a small town?

How do you feel about Sister Regina wanting to comfort Anne and Lucy?

No one is talking. Are you all reading?

Hi Shirley and all you other readers! I called my library, but Then Came Heaven is still out. I read it last year I think, but don't remember enough details to comment. I'll keep trying.

However, I can comment on small towns. I grew up in a small (14,000 pop.) town in West Virginia. When I was a teenager, I could hardly wait to leave because I thought everyone knew the details of everyone else's business and constantly gossiped. After I married I lived in lots of cities and smaller towns. I found I enjoyed the smaller towns most of all. The gossip is still there, but I've learned to ignore it and enjoy the friendships and spirit of community a small town has. When my husband retired, we moved here to a County that has only 2 towns, about 15 small communities, and a total population for the entire county around 10,000. We love our small church, the local people (you have to be born here to really claim this place as home) and the small town clubs and civic activities we became involved in. It doesn't hurt that we're only an hour away from a small city, 3 hours from Atlanta, and 4 hours from the beach, though.

About Sister Regina wanting to comfort the girls, I can identify with that. I am a retired teacher and I have had those feelings lots of times when I've had students with emotional needs. Sometimes it's the loss of a parent through death, but often through divorce and/or abandonment to a grandmother. It doesn't matter how it happens. The children still hurt and need a caring adult in their lives. Sue

I checked a copy of this book from the library. It is the first book I have read by this author. I think it is so interesting that she is from Stillwater, MN--really kind of a neighbor of us here in WI.

I am about three fourths of the way through the book and am enjoying it. I can sympathize with Sister Regina also--as a retired elementary teacher, I, too, see children`s needs. May we already comment on the book or are we waiting for a future starting date? I don`t want to spoil the book for anyone by commenting too soon.

I am having some problems with my eyes and checked out a large type book. Does anyone know if a large type is abridged or is it the complete book?

I think it is quite natural to want to comfort Ann and Lucy. If you have ever had a tragedy like that happen to someone you know, you know the feeling. You hurt so badly for them that that is entirely natural.

How did you feel about the restraints Sister Regina (was that her name? I read the book this past spring and am hazy on names) felt from the convent? Do you feel they were characteristic or overplayed in the book?

What do you think about the development of the romance? Did it happen too suddenly....without any real reason?

Northern Joan

May Naab, we meet again....how nice. Tonight, I got an e-mail from Pat W. about this book. I have several of Spencer's books and so, went to my bookshelves and there it was!! I am afraid I forget the titles oft times.

I have lived in a small town my entire life. Actually, I live outside of town now in a rural area but only eight miles from the center of town, and there was a time when I knew nine out of every ten people. Now, if I know one out of 100, I'm doing good!! I know less now, I imagine, since I do live outside the city limits and go to a church in my community. But, as someone said, everybody knows everything about everybody, or did!!

As for Sister Regina, she liked these two little girls and had much compassion on them when their mother was killed,and being the kind soul she was, showed that compassion. I wonder sometimes if young girls that go into a convent are not perhaps pressured to go there by some religious person, such as an old maid aunt that never has had the love of a man, or a person who wants someone to serve in the capacity of a nun for some personal reason. I know not. I was brought up in the Methodist Church and married into the Baptist Church and so know naught about convents. I did enjoy this book.

Betty, you bring up another point I was going to make. Didn't you feel that Sister Regina was pressured into the convent by her grandmother(think it was) and her mother?

I think she had a very sensitive soul and wanted to serve in her capacity and did strive to do that, but found the confines of the convent too much. She had trouble dealing with the harshness of her superiors too.

Northern Joan

Yes, Joan, I feel Sister Regina was forced (for lack of a better word) into the convent, and though she has very good thoughts and a good heart, she seems to be missing the love and attention of the opposite sex, about which she knows nothing, but there is that thought of wanting to know. Who can blame her? I love God, and live my life to the best of my ability, but I cherished the love my DH gave to me.

Hello May Naab and Betty Allen. How very nice to see you here. Hello also to Sue and Joan. Yes, the discussion is underway so say what you would like to say.

Interesting that all of you are from fairly small towns. I can tell you that Browerville is a very smal town but by now has certainly grown. As I said, I am a big city gal all the way. But I can feel this small town. I asked my husband to draw a map of it while I read the story so I could see just where everything was. I have been in Browerville at least three times.

When Sister Regina was told to pack her things and be ready to leave at 5PM without saying goodbye to any of the children, I cried. I'm not an overly emotional person, but that just got to me. All that Sister went thru, I can believe. The Rules of the Order, the penances, the denials. They strive so hard to be perfect, but we know, only God is perfect.

Yes, the young girls were impressed with being a nun. As she said, she was only 11 years old. My good friend and neighbor had a sister who was a nun and when she came for a visit, she dressed one of my girls as a nun and sent her home so I could see how nice she looked. I took her picture in the habit. But I never encouraged any of my four daughters to enter the convent. I just couldn't. Was that a prelude to todays way of life? My girls always knew they could be anything they wanted to be when they grew up.

Is the behavior expected of the nuns and the harshness characteristic of all convents? I have heard stories that would make me think so, but would like to believe that it isn't.

I am trying to remember the father's name....was it Eddie? What do you think of his behavior? Did you think this romance developed strangely?

Northern Joan

Hello: I am new to the group and this is my first time at posting. I just wanted to say, "I usually read only non-fiction" but I was getting rather tired of hearing the problems of the world and then reading about more problems. I needed a break from History! So, I looked over the selections and as I work in a library I was able to quickly find THEN CAME HEAVEN. I started reading it one day and finished the next. I was so captivated by the plot of the story that I couldn't put it down. It was so refreshing to take a break from Biographies and history.

Though the book is classified as a Fiction there were those elements of Non-Fiction woven throughout the scenes. Ex:The strictness of the church, the mother superior's attitude and that of the different sisters as they carried out their daily rituals. Sister Regina was the one to see through that hyprocisy and I am sure that some of those beliefs demonstrated throughout the book are still being taught and practiced somewhere today. I became aware of a truth pointed out and much talked about throughout the pages, that the church itself had fallen into the same kind of behavior that they were shunning from those outside or the so called "sinners" as the church would refer to them as. I myself spent many years like Sister Regina trying to hold on to false doctrine, trying to make it work. It didn't work for me and fortunately Sister Regina had the good sense to give it up. Many,like the other sisters are too full of pride to admit they made a mistake or perhaps it was good for them for awhile but their emotions and spirituality have grown so that those restrictions are no longer needed. They can discipline themselves and no longer need a physical tutor to guide them- after all, that is God's business to guide after someone else has pointed the way. There was no genuine LOVE for themselves or for others on the outside and apparently this had been going on for sometime as Sister Regina was wanting to express normal human emotion to someone in pain but according to their rules and regulations it was against church doctrine to touch or be touched by the outsider.

LH

Though I know naught about the Catholic church, I feel all the strictness Sister Regina was put through was not good. God is love and if we cannot express His love to others, what is our purpose? She did so love the children and though she did notwant to let herself admit it, she had feelings for Eddie also. I think Eddie loved his wife Krystyna dearly and it was hard for him to make it with his little children. He certainly did not go about trying to seduce Sister Regina.

Hello, Linda Hambright, and welcome, Welcome!! We are so glad to see you here and I hope you will enjoy this wonderful group so much you will look ALL around our books and plunge in wherever you like~ Loved your post, makes me want to read the book!!

Shirley, you are doing a fabulous job here, I love it!!

Ginny

Welcome to the discussion Lynda. Happy to have you join us.

The description of the locale in this book is accurate. It is my husbands home town and many of the people thanked by the author as helping her are known by Robert. The grotto Sister Regina mentioned where she stopped to pray, was built by my father-in-law and I have postcards showing them. Unfortunately they are not there now.

What did you think of her family when she told them she was leaving the convent? Did they support her?

Joan wondered if the romance developed suddenly. I think it came about slowly in the beginning as Eddie was afraid of loving a nun. They were sacred women. But Sister Regina was so much like Krystena that it was fairly easy for this ever helping man to do for her what he would do for his wife and to feel the same way. There was a respectful time for mourning and with two young children to raise, time for life to move on.

What did you think of her family when she told them she was leaving the convent? Did they support her? I read this book last year but as I remember it, her family were not at ease around Sister Regina. They seemed to treat her as someone different from them, and indeed, she was different, but she had not been happy at the convent and this should have been their concern.

As I remember this book, Sister Regina's family were very hostile to her leaving the convent. They were ashamed of her as if it were a reflection on them. I'm not real clear on the details, I'm still hoping to get the book out of the library again when it is returned. I think I remember a picnic where Sister Regina is very uncomfortable as is her family. Is this accurate?

A couple of days ago you were discussing the strictness and rules of the Convent and/or order of Nuns. I read an interesting Maeve Binchy novel, Echoes a few weeks ago. One of the main characters was a lay teacher who was hampered and repressed by the Mother Superior of the school. The heroine was a gifted student from a poor family and a protege of the lay teacher. There were many confrontations between the teacher and the M.S. who didn't want to help the poor student and who tended to favor a lesser student from a higher class family. I have no first hand knowledge of Catholicism but find it interesting that 2 well-known authors who are probably Catholic themselves write novels with criticism of the strictness of Nuns. SUe

Yes, I think Sister Regina was pressured into entering the convent. You know,there are mothers, and grandmothers, too, I suppose, that want their daughters to do things in their lives that the mother (or gm) did not accomplish. I think this is a very wrong attitude, but I am afraid it is true, and perhaps was true in this book.

Sister Regina sounds like a very seriousminded your woman, is compassionate, but this life does not fulfill her desires.

Yes, there was a family picnic where they were all uncomfortable with her. Then Eddie showed up! But that was after she had left the convent. When she was home during the holidays and told her family she wanted to leave, it was at a family dinner. Everyone thought it was a man. Grandma thought it was the end of the world for Jean to want to leave the convent. As soon as the dishes were done, her brothers and sisters took their families and left. No card playing, no family fun.

A picnic sounds like a good time for a family to be together and since this is a holiday weekend, I hope there are picnics or special family/friends in your plans. Enjoy the lovely weather and see you here later.

One part of the story that really saddened me: Regina's chosen profession in that small community, The extreme manner of cruelty that the organization put upon her when releasing her from her vow of obligation was cruel, unethical, and really so unprofessional. To dismiss her without a farewell, to keep her hidden away like a criminal, to carry on singing and praying together, just as if she never existed, after she had been given the word she was "free" to go. Doesn't look like the Mother Superior had any love in her heart or could she have really treated sister Regina in such a cold manner. I know she gave her a few dollars but here is a woman who has given her whole life for Christ and this is how Christ turns her away! Didn't sound like a god I wanted to know or worship. These rulings seem to defy their very existence for their posistions there. I mean what were they there to do? Sings songs, and hide themselves in their own little group confessing to each other their sins, or go out and minister to the poor, the sick and the hungry . They became little robots and I don't really think they knew after awhile what their purpose in that community was. From within their group they were displaying the "sins"that they were accusing the community around them of living in.

Their wasn't a one there that wouldn't have like to resign but they just didn't have the courage to stand up and be counted to do what was right. Sister Regina, not knowing what she was really going to do, where she would end up at, chose willingly to turn her back on this life.

Perhaps, when Sister Regina was younger she needed that type of ditatorship but when she came of age God put within Regina's heart a desire to show more love and compassion to those outside the Convent. He put that desire within her so that she could have the courage to seek a better place in the world for herself and to be able to share her talents and gifts with those around her, with no more fear.

Sad to say some of this reminded me of Jonestown with Jim Jones and how many people died from following a doctrine of hate.....not love. Unfortunately, there are many in denominations that can be caught off guard by the wrong message.

Even though the book is fiction there are many good lessons for life in.

Lynda Hambright

Yes, I think there are lessons to be learned from this and other "fictional" characters. Regarding a real life "nun" who left was Maria von Trapp of Sound of Music fame - Her experience with the Mother Superior and her order were more positive. We need balance. (To give a little of that- entering a religious order today is quite different.) nan b.

NAN B!! Welcome, welcome!! We are delighted to see you here, hope you look around the Books and stay a long time!

This is a great group!

Ginny

Lynda, you said "...here is a woman who has given her whole life for Christ and this is how Christ turns her away!" This was not Christ who turned her away, but Mother Superior. There is a great difference. Christ does not turn people away. People choose to turn away themselves.

Welcome to nanb. So good to see you here.

Yes, it might seem to be a harsh way of life, but remember this was written for a time period of many years ago when there was authority and it was followed. As nan said, we need balance and today the convents are much different.

Were you surprised at her familys' attitude when she said she was leaving the convent?

Did you feel the romance developed too soon?

I worked with someone who came out of convent (is that how it should be stated?) to teach in the public schools. She seemed to be more angry with her parents than the church (although she did fall away from her church). In my area, there are no longer any nuns teaching in the parochial schools. There must be a shortage of nuns as all "lay" teachers are employed. Are there teaching nuns around other areas?

Shirley, I did think the romance progressed rather quickly, but maybe it was time for Spencer to end the book. hahaha

Florida

One thing I really look for in an author's work is their style. The reading here was so enjoyable. I had no trouble reading as it was very clear and easy to read. I look forward to reading some of her other works.

Lynda Hambright

The romance did blossom quickly, but I think the main reason for that was the children needed someone other than the father to take care of them.

Good morning, everyone! My library finally had Then Came Heaven returned, so I reread it yesterday when I spent a long time in the car traveling to and from a doctor's appointment.

I've gone back to the first post and reread everything this morning and will try to respond to other questions and comments.

First, I cried pretty much the first 100 or so pages. I could identify with the plight of Eddie, Anne, and Lucy when Krystyna was killed. When I was 6 my mother left our family. I never saw her again and the first year was particularly lonely and horrible. I could really feel Anne and Lucy's pain, just as I felt it 56 years ago. They were fortunate to have Sister Regina's love and compassion at school. My teachers were also loving and compassionate. I think that's the primary reason I became a teacher.

Nothern Joan, I did feel the Rules of the order were unnecessarily strict--some were not humane or compassionate. I do think times have changed and we must remember that in the 50s society was a great deal more conservative than it is today. I only knew one Catholic family in my hometown. One of the adult sisters was the Mother Superior at the Catholic High School in the largest town in the county. Another was a lay teacher at my public school. Both of them seemed kind and loving to me. But who is to know what the discipline for nuns was in the convent then? I think Spencer must have had some insight into the behavior and attitudes of the religious communities of the time. I think she probably researched her topic fairly well.

Did the romance begin too soon? I think we can say it was foreshadowed from the earliest pages, near the funeral. However, I think Spencer went to great pains to identify Sister Regina's other reasons for asking for dispensation to leave the convent.

It's hard to remember everything about the period in my life from 11 years to 18 or 19, but I do know that I had lots of sexual feelings and wonder about male/female relationships. This part of Regina's growth was repressed. She was pressured by her Grandmother, a sexually repressed woman, to fulfill her dream of a religious vocation. Sister Regina had no experience or opportunity to experience a first kiss, dream about boys, or even think about the alternatives of love and marriage. She was focused on a religious life from age 11.

Shirley, you cried when Regina was dismissed at 5:00 with no opportunity to say good-by. I was angry! I thought how could they do this to her. Then I thought about all the defections and priest/nun marriages in the sixties, and I thought the Church must have always been wary of discontent among their orders.

When Sister Regina went home at Christmas to tell her family, only her Dad was loving and accepting. The scene in the barn where Regina and her father were milking was particularly touching. Her mother was so afraid of what the neighbors and relatives would think. I experienced that, too, as my grandmother who raised us always wanted to be respected in our community, and always was preaching about doing things that others might be negative about. However, her mother came around at the end of the book at the wedding. And Jean's sister Liz was totally supportive after thinking it through.

I thought the wedding night was tastefully done. I've read all of Spencer's novels and think her style of writing is easy to read and has that happily ever after quality that I like in a romance novel.

Well, did I say enough? I really was wound up! Sue

For those of you reading more of Spencer's novels. Not all of them are real good, but I liked her Homecoming (I think that was the title...there are several novels with similar titles). It also takes place in a very real Minnesota place. The White Bear Yacht Club was a very real social thing for wealthy Twin Citians. Of course, I grew up not far from there in St. Paul so I really enjoyed the book.

And Then Came Heaven....she claims is her last novel....she is retiring in Stillwater on the St. Croix River in Minnesoa.

Northern Joan

Oh Sue, so glad you got the book again and could reread it. You gave such a wonderful response to the story. The story must really have hurt you all over again and I am so sorry about that.

Friday evening, I had a picnic supper in a park with a retired nun I met a few years ago. We talked about the book and she said she was 22 when she entered the convent. She had wanted to go to college first and always knew she would become a nun. A teaching nun who could relate to the children. I didn't go into too much detail about the story, but she had a few things to say about superiors and that they were only following orders from the higher ups.

Remember this "what will the neighbors think?" I still hear it once in awhile and think, oh drop it! It is none of their business! Guess I am more advanced for my time period. What is that cartoon? Born 20 years too soon. Or is it 20 years too late? Whatever.

Some of you have not read any of her other books and some of you have read them. Interesting the viewpoints you have regarding them. I have had three on tape that I listened to and found many parts that I did not care for. I felt they were sexualy explicite and was surprised at that. Any comments?

Jerelyn, it was nice to get your email and I will respond to it tomorrow. Want to watch the Emmy Awards tonight. It would be nice if you would post here in the discussion so the others can meet you too.

Hey Shirley, thanks for the kind thoughts. I'm OK with this now. My mother died when I was 26, and I am sorry I never got to talk to her and come to terms with our situation. However, a few years ago I learned that she had remarried and had a son. My sisters and I phoned him and have a cordial telephone/e-mail relationship with him. He never knew our mother had 3 daughters. Maybe I should write a book (LOL)! And I don't care a lot about what the neighbors think anymore, but its not quite gone because sometimes I have embarrassment and/or guilt feelings over things I can't control--some things my kids did while growing up and other similar things that don't really concern anyone except the person involved. Oh Well, live and learn!

I've read almost all of Spencer's novels and have enjoyed each one. My favorites are Morning Glory, The Gamble, Hummingbird, and my very favorite, The Endearment. The book I like least, although its OK is the one Northern Joan likes, The Homecoming. I think it's because the heroine is wealthy. I like the ones where the heroine is struggling to make it or is a teacher or a pioneer. Those interest me the most.

Now to explicit sex. I hate to see gratuitous sex on TV or in the Movies. I haven't been offended, however, with the sex scenes in Spencer's books. They are usually portrayed as a natural result of love--sometimes before marriage, but I think pretty tastefully done. Perhaps listening to it on tape would change my mind. When you read, you can imagine whatever you wish. It doesn't have to be spelled out, and I always think sweet thoughts. If it's too rough, I skip that part or put the book down and read something else. What do you girls think about this? Sue

Well, Sue, that just might encourage me to read a book or two of hers. It is easier to skip a page or two than to fast forward a tape.

In this book, Irene, Krystenas' sister, did not attend the wedding. In another book by this author, the girlfriend did attend the wedding of the main character. It seems to me that Irene could easily have attended this wedding. She was on her way to a new life knowing Eddie wasn't in love with her. Am I letting my imagination run away on this thought? My way of falling asleep at night is to think about the book I'm reading.

I think LaVyrle Spencer is one of the most talented writers of romance that I have read. She puts so much feeling into her novels,that it makes me feel I`m there myself. Just as a bystander watching peoples reactions. I want to speak for them as if I could get them to listen. The emotion over whelms me sometimes. I have read all of her novels (22)and have not been offended by any of them incuding the sex part which is a natural part of love. To me you need a little intimacy in order for it to be a true romance novel.

Florida:

Despite all the ups and downs of the characters portrayed in this novel it was extremely hard not to look at the last chapter to see how it ended. Sometimes, it seemed as though things were going to be a bit hard for Regina & I was afraid the story might take a different turn. But, in the end, Regina got to "stand by her man," and to finally experience what she had for so many years been denied, loving and being loved by another person.

Wonderful book-sorry to see it end.

Welcome Jerelyn. Where have I seen you before? It sounds like I'm the prude regarding sex in the authors books. Never would have thought that of myself. From all the comments about her easy reading, and this book certainly was, I will defintely READ another book and then make my own decision. I have her SEPARATE BEDS so will read that after the two others on my list that are from the library. Should take a speed reading class. Linda (hambril) didn't it end nicely? Did you have a good feeling about the new family?

Shirley: I think you might want to start with something other than Separate Beds. I like it, but its premise is a marriage out of a one night stand. You might find it hard to get past the first part. It has a very romantic and fulfilling ending. It has a modern setting. Sue

I'm back(like Mr.Whipple on the TV commercial). Floyd left a mess but nothing that can't be fixed. I appreciate all concerns.

I do think, Shirley, that some authors carry sex scenes way too far out, too descriptive. They do things I never knew about and my husband and I had a very good sex life. Ours was good and clean....I'm not so sure about these that are described in some books.

'Course, in the book we are discussing, and I did read it some time ago, I don't remember any "hot" sex events....maybe I'm getting old and forgetful!!

Are there any more comments to be made on this book? Is it time to move on to another? Georgette Heyer has been suggested as an author of romance for us to read. I like having different authors but I have not read any books by this one. Anyone care to name a title or two?

I don't remember any titles, but I'll look some up tomorrow. I own a lot of them. When I was teaching, I read Georgette Heyer's regency novels--no sex, by the way--as ways to relieve stress. She wrote some of the longest sentences I have ever read. I'll get back to you tomorrow. Sue.

It does seem we have come to the end of the discussion on this book. I enjoyed the book, but it seems that everything has been said.

"Vow" by LaVeryl Spencer is a very good book. I finished it about a month ago.

I started reading these books in the 60s. I have collected paper back versions. I counted 54 on my shelves in the barn today. Here are six sample titles: The Foundling, Envious Casca, Simon the Cold Heart, These Old Shades, Regency Buck, Black Sheep.

Most of Heyer's novels have innocent heroines who are in trouble because of a wicked guardian, death of a parent, etc. Several disguised themselves as boys and become friends with kind-hearted aristocrats who have had reputations as "rakes". The heroines are intelligent, sometimes "blue-stockings", often work as governesses and companions to miserable older relatives. The romances develop slowly and are very chaste. They don't even kiss until the last chapter. I think Heyer was trying to write in the style of Jane Austen.

When we went to England about 10 years ago, one of my must sees was Bath, because many scenes in Heyer's books take place there. I enjoyed the costume museum, the pump room, Roman baths, and the Crescent. I was familiar with all because of her novels.

I don't know if Heyer's novels are still available in public libraries as she was writing them in the 50s and 60s. Sue

Wow, Sue. 54 of them? And you kept them? Wow.

I stopped at the local lib yesterday to see what they had and thought I could find one of her recent ones. But the shelves were full of her books too. Maybe we could do a search to find the latest ones she wrote and make a choice from those. Will see what I can find out over the weekend. I don't suppose you put the books in (senior moment - timewise?) order?

Yes, her writing is similar to Jane Austen and I can't remember reading her either. I can remember Black Beauty and The Five Little Peppers tho.

Any other suggestions from anyone?

I did it again.Lost a post cuz I hit the wrong key! Darn. To repeat myself - Wow. 54 of her books?

I went to the local lib yesterday and found them full of Heyers' books. Thought I could find a few of her later books but just too many. Maybe if I did a search, I could find some of her later writings. I don't suppose you put them in (senior moment - timewise order)?

Yes, she does/did write like Jane Austen but I don't remember reading her either.

Any other comments on a book of Georgette Heyer that we should read?

How about that? Where was that post when I looked for it? Anyway, Sue, you said I should not read Spencers Separate Beds first. I have listened to several books on tape AND I now have Years and Home Song. Which one should I read first? After two others on top of the pile?

SHirley, I don't remember reading Home Song, and I can't find my copy of Years. However, I think Years is the story of Teddy and Linea in Minnesota or North Dakota in pioneer times. If this is the right book, it's a good one.

I don't know. Am I getting old? I put a post in here last week and its not here. Looks like I didn't hit the right button.Here we go again.

I did a search for Georgette Heyer and found a list of her books in chronological order. The last four are 1966 The Black Sheep; 1968 Cousin Kate; 1970 Charity Girl; 1972 Lady of Quality.

Shall we make a choice from one of these four books? Any and all comments are welcome and I thank you.

Wasn't the book about pioneer times....is that the Swedish immigrant...The Endearment? I enjoyed that book. Perhaps I enjoy the ones that are about Minnesota the most.

When I was in England our tour guide recommended Heyer so I bought a book by her to read on the plane home. I just couldn't get into it...can't even remember which one it was. I will have to see if I can dig it up somewhere. Hope her others are better.

Northern Joan

Shirley, I have all 4 of those titles. Any would be fine with me. It would probably be best to choose one that other readers can find. My first choice would be Lady of Quality, followed by The Black Sheep as number 2. Cousin Kate is a mystery as well as a romance if that appeals to the other readers.

Joan, you probably are having a hard time getting into Heyer's books. She is very wordy with extremely long sentences. These books are not fast reads if you prefer spare language. Heyer spares nothing. I've always enjoyed them myself because I think the manners and culture she writes about are pretty accurate for the Regency times. She reminds me of Jane Austen in characterization, setting, and plot. Sue

After I wrote the post above, I searched Yahoo for information about Georgetter Heyer. There were 3 web sites that were interesting. I'll try to write them down so there is a link to them:

Georgette

Heyer

Heyerlist

I really don't know how to do this, but I think it works like this.

Joan, hope you can find the Heyer book you have and let us know which one it is.

Sue, I think we should wait a bit to see if a few more will join us in a new author.And to see what Joan comes up with.

Shirley, this plan sounds good to me. Sue

I read about this book on the Heyer website. Was snooping around for something interesting and found this one. It looks suspenseful and appears to have a good plot.

I can go with what everyone wants. Any of the books from that website look good to me.

Scarlet Pimpernel caught my eye but I am sure there are many good books to choose from.

It will be fun to see what everyone finally votes for. Looking forward to reading a new romance.

Bye for now

Lynda Hambright

Lynda, good to see you posting here again. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a good book but is not written by Georgette Heyer who is to be our next romance author. I would say go ahead and read it now. I have added it to the list of suggestions.

In post #46 I listed the four last books that she wrote in the hopes that they would be available to everyone and would like to see a choice made from this list. We are waiting to see what book Joan already has and to see if she wants to try reading it again or go with another title if she even wants to read this author. Sue has found Georgette to be a calming influence when she needed an escape.

Anyone else with a suggestion?

I have finally found the Heyer book I have. It is Cousin Kate.

I don't care whether you read that or something else. I haven't checked my local library to see if they have titles by Heyer or not.

Northern Joan

Hello all:

I found COUSIN KATE and CHARITY GIRL by Heyer at the library. Cousin Kate really looks interesting. I think I will start reading it and then if the group picks another I will see if I can find it here in our library. Copy I have has really been around. Most popular books are kind of weather beaten. Shows a good author I suppose.

There are so many good books to read. They all sound interesting. Good day in Key West to read as it is raining here today. Love to read when it rains.

Let me know which book you decide on.

Lynda