Frederica by Georgette Heyer 1965
"Frederica" is the story of Frederica Merriville, the eldest sister in a family who has lost both of their parents, and Vernon, the Marquis of Alverstoke, a selfish, hedonistic man who does everything he can to vex his family. Twenty-four year old Frederica has used a great deal of her savings to come to London in order to present her lovely yet vapid sister, Charis, to society, in the hopes of her making a good marriage. In order to do this, she enlists the help of Alverstoke, who is a distant relative. He agrees to do it in order to vex his sisters who have been begging him to put on a ball for their daughters, thinking that his connection with the Merivilles will be severed after the ball. But it is not so easy! Felix Merriville, the youngest and a merry and inquisitive child, begins to see Alverstoke as a sort of father-figure, and much to Alverstoke's suprise, has Alverstoke agree to escort him to all sorts of places around London. Alverstoke also finds himself involved in the life of sixteen-year-old Jessamy, who he also saves from trouble. Always having seen himself as not caring about other people, Alverstoke is shocked as he begins to realize how much he cares for the younger Merrivilles, but even more, for their eldest sister, Frederica...
This is a charming book! Alverstoke is a brilliant and amusing character, and it is very amusing to see the change in him from the beginning to when he falls in love with Frederica. Felix is a charming child, and his near-tragedy at the end had me riveted and worried (I had to read ahead!). But most of all, the reader has to love Frederica, the selfless girl who thinks more of family than herself, and who doesn't realize she's in love until the very last moment...
A wonderful story!
RATING:
1/2FAMILY-FRIENDLY RATING:
No comments:
Post a Comment