The Reluctant Widow

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More About This Book

Overview

"Lively, amusing ... done to a turn!"
- Kirkus Reviews

A fateful mistake...

When Elinor Rochdale boards the wrong coach, she ends up not at her prospective employer's home but at the estate of Eustace Cheviot, a dissipated and ruined young man on the verge of death.

A momentous decision...

His cousin, Mr Ned Carlyon, persuades Elinor to marry Eustace as a simple business arrangement. By morning, Elinor is a rich widow, but finds herself embroiled with an international spy ring, housebreakers, uninvited guests, and murder. And Mr Carlyon won't let her leave ...

WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT THE RELUCTANT WIDOW:

"Delightful and purely entertaining. The plot involves comedy, intrigue, espionage, cloaks and daggers, and things going bump in the night - served with a sauce of witty repartee that is the Heyer hallmark. Unforgettable."

"One of my favorites!"

"A delightfully funny and mysterious romp."

"Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen."
- Publisher's Weekly

Editorial Reviews

Becky's Book Reviews
Mystery. Suspense. Great wit. Great characters. Fast-paced... Definitely recommended.
— Rebecca Laney
Book Zombie
The Reluctant Widow reminds me much of a classic mystery tale, with the plot moving at an increasingly frantic pace, filled with quirky characters and comic mishaps.
— Joanne Mosher
More Reviews (10) Fewer Reviews
Book-a-Rama
I was hooked from the get-go with The Reluctant Widow... a little bit of mystery, a little bit of farce but a fully, fun, fast read. This is probably my favorite Heyer so far.
— Christina MacLean
Curled Up with a Good Book
It's a very enjoyable tale with Heyer's usual quality prose and historical research enhancing the feel of the story.
— Helen Hancox
Ex Libris
Heyer did a fantastic job building up the suspense with lots of twists and turns in the plot and even threw in a little comedy for relief.
— Sharon Goforth
Jennifer's Random Musings
I enjoyed reading as the story unfolded and we discovered something new with each page. With The Reluctant Widow, Ms. Heyer once again demonstrates her wit and attention to detail with this delightful book.
— Jennifer Yates
Linus' Blanket
Interesting characters and a well thought out plot made this into a fun read from start to finish.
— Nicole Bonia
My Friend Amy
This book was nothing short of pure delight...Heyer was a talented writer, indeed.
— Amy Bruno
S. Krishna's Books
I'd highly recommend The Reluctant Widow to any Austen fans, or anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
— Swampna Krishna
The Book Worm
If you are looking for good historical fiction with mystery and a dash of romance, pick up a copy of The Reluctant Widow .
— Naida Milenkovic
The Literate Housewife
If you haven't read Georgette Heyer or would not normally pick up a historical romance, I strongly encourage you to give The Reluctant Widow a try
— Jennifer Conner
Traci's Book Blog
I was charmed by her characters and entertained by her wit and engaging plot... The Reluctant Widow is a must-read.
— Traci Sharpton

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781402213519
  • Publisher: Sourcebooks, Incorporated
  • Publication date: 10/1/2008
  • Pages: 318
  • Sales rank: 140,320
  • Product dimensions: 5.20 (w) x 7.90 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

The late Georgette Heyer was a very private woman. Her novels have charmed and delighted millions of readers for decades, though she rarely reached out to the public to discuss her works or personal life. She was born in Wimbledon in August 1902. She wrote her first novel, The Black Moth, at the age of seventeen to amuse her convalescent brother; it was published in 1921 and became an instant success.

Heyer published 56 books over the next 53 years, until her death from lung cancer in 1974. Her work included Regency romances, mysteries and historical fiction. Known as the Queen of Regency romance, Heyer was legendary for her research, historical accuracy and her extraordinary plots and characterizations. Her last book, My Lord John, was published posthumously in 1975. She was married to George Ronald Rougier, a barrister, and they had one son, Richard.

Read an Excerpt

It was dusk when the London to Little Hampton stage-coach lurched into the village of Billingshurst, and a cold mist was beginning to creep knee-high over the dimly seen countryside. The coach drew up at an inn, and the steps were let down to enable a passenger to alight. A lady, soberly dressed in a drab-coloured pelisse and a round bonnet without a feather, descended on to the road. While she waited for a corded trunk and a valise to be extricated from the boot, the coachman, finding himself to be some minutes ahead of his time-sheet, hitched up his reins, clambered down from the box, and in defiance of the regulations governing the conduct of stage-coachmen, rolled into the tap-room in search of such stimulant as would enable him to accomplish the remainder of the journey without endangering an apparently enfeebled constitution.

The passenger, meanwhile, stood in the roadway with her trunk at her feet, and looked about her in a little uncertainty. She was expecting to be met, but as her experience had taught her that the gig was more commonly employed for the purpose of picking up the new governess than the carriage used by her employers, she hesitated to approach the only conveyance she could perceive, which was a light travelling coach, drawn up on the opposite side of the road. While she stood looking about her, however, a servant jumped down from the box, and came up to her, touching his hat, and enquiring whether she would be the young lady who had come down from London in answer to the advertisement. Upon her assenting, he made her a little bow, picked up the valise, and led the way across the road to the travelling coach. She stepped up into it, her spirits insensibly rising at this unlooked-for-attention to her comfort; and was further gratified by the servant's spreading a rug over her knees and expressing the hope that she would not feel chilled by the evening air. The steps were put up, the door shut, the trunk bestowed on the roof, and in a very few moments the coach moved forward, bowling along in a well-sprung manner that formed a pleasing contrast to the jolting the stage-coach passenger had been enduring for several hours.

She leaned back against the squabs with a sigh of relief. The stage had been crowded, and her journey an uncomfortable one. She wondered whether she would ever become accustomed to the disagreeable economies of poverty. Since she had had every opportunity of inuring herself to these over a period of six years, it seemed unlikely. Dispirited, but determined not to give way to melancholy reflections, she turned her thoughts away from the evils of her situation, and tried instead to speculate upon the probable character of her new post.

It had been with no high hopes that she had set out from London earlier in the day. Her employer, seen once only in a quelling interview at Fenton's Hotel, had disclosed no hint of the kindly impulse that must have caused her to send her own carriage to meet the governess. Miss Elinor Rochdale had been misled into thinking her massive bosom as hard as her rather prominent eyes, and, had any other choice offered, would have had no hesitation in declining a post in her household. But no other choice had offered. There were too often young gentlemen at a susceptible age in families requiring a governess, and Miss Rochdale was too young and too well-favoured to be eligible, in the eyes of most provident Mamas, for the position.

Happily, however — for Miss Rochdale's savings were negligible, and her pride still too great to allow of her remaining longer as the guest of her own old governess — Mrs Macclesfield's only male offspring was a sturdy lad of seven. He was, by his mother's account, high-spirited, and of so sensitive a temperament that the exercise of the greatest tact and persuasion was necessary to control his activities. Six years earlier, Miss Rochdale would have shrunk from the horrors so clearly in store for her, but those years had taught her that the ideal situation was rarely to be found, and that where there was no spoiled child to make the governess's life a burden, she would in all likelihood be expected to save her employer's purse by performing the menial tasks generally allotted to the second housemaid.

Miss Rochdale tucked the rug more closely round her legs. A thick sheepskin mat upon the floor of the coach protected her feet from the draught, and she snuggled them into it gratefully, almost able to fancy herself once more Miss Rochdale of Feldenhall, travelling in her father's carriage to an evening party. The style of servant who had been sent to fetch her, and the elegance of the equipage, had a little surprised her: she had not supposed Mrs Macclesfield to have been in such comfortable circumstances. Upon first perceiving the coach, she had thought she had seen a crest upon the door-panel, but in the failing light it was easy to be mistaken. She fell to pondering the probable degree of gentility of the establishment ahead of her, and the various characters of its inmates, and since she was of a humorous turn of mind, soon lost herself in the weaving of several very improbable histories.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 31 )

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 31 Customer Reviews

  • Posted August 22, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    9781593083366 9781402210778 9781402210082 9781402214769 9781593083588

    Another great romantic tale by Georgette Heyer

    Imagine a newly-engaged governess arriving in the dark of night to a strange place, expecting to be met by a carriage sent by her new employer---and winding up in error at a decaying manor house, being forced by circumstances beyond her control to marry a dying man. Before long, she finds herself the inheritor of this mansion and a very much reduced estate. Luckily, the cousin of the dead man is quite appealing and soon, love has reared its head. One of the best of Heyer's efforts, and a bit out of her usual mode---the protagonists less engrossed in the drape of a cravat, the gaining of entree into Almacks, and such, than in most of her charming novels.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted March 2, 2009

    Preposterous, worth a chuckle

    Unfortunately for this romance, the most memorable - and lovable - characters were secondary: the hapless brother; the fiercely protective dog; the doddery female companion. I expected lots of embroidery for this Regency piece, but it cluttered the plot and there were too few scenes where te protagonists were together, much less alone. Wonderful opening chapters, though.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 16, 2012

    Wonderful Read!

    One of my all time favorite of the Heyer novels! It sparkles, full of clever dialogue and fun characters. Wonderful that it's now available for Nook.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted March 3, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    Highly recommended!

    I love this book! Its great, although there are no elaborate balls, and London town life. It starts out by Miss Rochdale Getting on the wrong carriage to where she thinks she will be employed as a governess, but instead ends up at a mysterious old estate that's in a lot of disrepair. She meets Mr Carlon there who persuades her to marry his cousin, and that night she gets married and becomes a widow and inherits an estate! Then it goes into a mystery involving French spy's and mysterious secret passage ways! Very exciting trying to figure out the mystery. I love all the characters, and of course a little romance!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 25, 2011

    Very wordy book written years ago.

    Words and phrases are different then we use today and the story is quite lame. It would be OK if there was nothing else in the house to read and you are stuck in the house with nothing else to do.

    0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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