Review: Venetia

Venetia by Georgette Heyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How did I ever give this a rating of three stars when it is one of my favourite books of all time?

Miss Venetia Lanyon is the middle of three siblings. Her older brother Conway is abroad with the army and her younger brother is a scholar, about to attend Cambridge. Her late father was a recluse and as a result she has never been further from her Yorkshire home than the nearest towns/city. Her father didn't encourage visitors so other than two near neighbours she has not been out in society. Her father forbade his sister from presenting Venetia at court so now at twenty-five, despite being a raving beauty she is also considered 'on the shelf'.

Walking her dog one day in her absentee neighbour's grounds whilst picking blackberries, Venetia is accosted by said neighbour who thinks she is a villager and kisses her soundly (which is far more problematic to me now than it was when I first read this book more than forty years ago!). Far from being bowled over by his charms, Venetia is rather amused and perplexed as to why a man would want to manhandle a complete stranger (we choose the bear LOL) and puts a damper on Lord Damerel's attempts at seduction.

Jasper Damerel was always known as the Wicked Baron by the Lanyon children growing up, he eloped with a married woman whilst a young man, precipitated his father's stroke, held licentious parties, gambled excessively, and paraded a string of paramours around society. Now thirty-eight, he has escaped to Yorkshire to avoid his three aunts who have come up with a scheme to rehabilitate him in society by promoting his engagement to a young woman of noble birth, even if she is neither wealthy, young, or a beauty.

When Venetia's younger brother Aubrey falls off his horse and injures himself near Damerel's manor house, Damerel brings the injured boy back home and offers to care for him until Aubrey is well enough to be taken home. Damerel and Venetia fall in love over the weeks that Aubrey is incapacitated and once he returns home, while Aubrey and Damerel also cultivate a friendship based on a love of the classics, but can a dissolute rake and an innocent young woman really find a happy ever after, or will real life intervene?

Its fascinating rereading these novels after years. I was sure that Conway returns home and that nurse drives Mrs Scorrier away, and indeed that Edward Yardley proposes to Clara but none of those things happen in this Kindle version!

What I love about this book is that first and foremost Venetia and Damerel are friends, every time someone says something absurd she looks at him because she knows he will also find it amusing, she stores up funny sayings to share with him. Being around Venetia and Aubrey brings out the kind, scholarly man that is hidden behind the cynicism and debauchery.

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