The Grand Sophy

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Edit 4/8/15; I've heard from Jen Koestler & another member of the Georgette Heyer fans group has heard from scriptwriter Olivia Hetreed. The bodice ripping Jane Bond idea was discarded years ago. Hetreed writes that she is a lifelong fan of GH & will hopefully produce something true to the spirit of this book. Once again I loved how many family members Sophy helps in this book and I loved the many times she put Charles and Miss Wraxton in their places about things. Clearly Sophy can't let this sad state of affairs continue & mayhem follows, till everyone gets their happy ending! The Grand Sophy, my first Georgette Heyer, is a very entertaining book about a complete hoyden who turns people's lives upside down. The vivacious, unconventional and head-strong Sophy is a delightful heroine. She comes to stay at her aunt when her diplomatic father has to sail away to Brazil, of all places. She soons detects many problems that the family is struggling with, and decides to intervene. For their own good, of course. I hope this answers your questions. The internet is a great place for gossip and speculation - the Ton would have loved it!

I can recall pouncing on the one and only showing I recall on TV of The Reluctant Widow movie (one of my favourite books) and being so horrified by the travesty apparent in the first scene alone that I switched it off. The story lines are straight-forward in TV terms, there’s always some humour and of course romance – how I’d love to see a faithful adaptation of Cotillion for instance, and a seriously faithful one of A Civil Contract, which always brings a quiet tear to my eye at the end. Olivia Hetreed is a wonderful writer.I want to work with her a little more as we proceed, to bring more of the “Jane Bond” elements in throughout the script. Right now these delicious elements are concentrated near the beginning and end of the story, but as you will see, they can easily and delightfully be worked in throughout the movie, and should be, I think.The author wrote this in 1950. It belongs to what is known as the Traditional Regency Romance genre, the genre for which the author is famous. Such books are, of course romances, but they are without explicit sex. Even discussion of sex is verboten! They are set in the early 1800s but written by authors of later generations. They are characteristically filled with fast-paced dialogue. Historical details are accurately drawn, including details describing clothes, rooms and their furnishings, modes of transport, mannerisms and social etiquette. What characters say and how they behave must capture all aspects of early 1800s English society faultlessly. In books of the Regency Historical Romance, a second subgenre of Regency Romance novels, characters behave according to modern standards although the time setting and the other characteristics remain the same. This constitutes a substantial difference. As mentioned, Georgette Heyer belongs to the first subgenre. I really hate giving this 2 stars, because going down the list of my GR friends who have read it, I see that almost all of them (with the exception of Carol) gave it 4 or 5 stars. I know we all have different tastes for books, but when I veer off so decidedly from everybody else in a book that is an almost universal fan favorite among Georgette Heyer readers, I does make me question my own reading tastes. Oh well, it's not the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last.

I have not read too many Georgette Heyer books, but so far this is my favourite, despite that attrocious, racist minor subplot which I just decided to completely ignore because the rest of the book is just soo good. It’s a lovely idea, Teresa, but I’m not sure if it would work. Things are beginning to happen though with a new serial podcast of The Grand Sophy coming soon http://www.thegrandsophy.co.uk/

Blow, David (2009). Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend. Bloomsbury Academic. p.xiii. ISBN 978-1-84511-989-8. Dapper Don Sophy has all the skills and she pays all the bills. She's got the street smarts she learned on the Continent. She's got all the connects to the old school players. She's got the fashion sense to turn all heads. She's got the gun that will silence your attempt at some funny business. Minor league players don't stand a chance. Best stay in line.

Sophy has spark. She is brash. She is resourceful, frank and outspoken. Watch and see what this woman does. She involves herself in the lives of each and every one of the Rivenhalls. While the social chatter of the novel’s beginning annoyed me, by the end I was caught up in the hilarity of its whirlwind conclusion.Editor of Austenprose.com, Jane Austen Made Me Do It, and director of Austenprose PR, Laurel Ann is a champion of historical books, period drama, and Jane Austen. After a particularly disappointing read from another author what is really great with the better GH novels is how you are launched into the story straight away. Even minor characters are clearly delineated & you don't have trouble following the story!

Kingpin Sophy brooks no disagreement. Oh she'll let you rant and rave all you want. Let the little pawns moan and groan, but in the end they'll fall right in line. Sophy knows what's best for you, just follow her lead, minion. You'll see. This novel was entirely character driven with the charismatic, irrepressible, and fearless Sophia "Grand Sophy" Stanton-Lacy at the epicenter. Sir Horace was widowed when Sophy was around five. Contrary to convention, Sir Horace kept his daughter with him in all of his diplomatic assignments during the Napoleonic Wars. Before duty sent him to Brazil, he lauded his only child as he persuaded his sister Elizabeth - Lady Ombersley - to host Sophia, now twenty, during his South American tour - I absolutely adored this book from start to finish and devoured it in a matter of hours with no regard for sleep or food or pretty much anything else. My third read since being on Goodreads (although I have read at least sixty times before that.) What can I say - I'm obsessed. It’s a book of its time. Heyer is also a snob – by our standards. But she created the Regency genre, and anyone who is interested in knowing where it all began, it’s all in Heyer.The whole family reminds me of the Von Trapps in a Sound of Music, with Charles Rivenhall having Captain Von Trapp's autocracy & his father Lord Ombersley his distance. & there is a gaggle of adorable young children & teens. I expect she will be, when she has lived in the same house with Miss Wraxton for a month or two,” said Sophy encouragingly. PBS' "Sanditon" has just concluded its second season, and I'm now receptive to reading Georgette Heyer, who has been compared with Jane Austen. While both incorporated the society of Regency England into their works, Austen had critically skewered social conventions while Heyer's novel descended into farce, seemingly only for entertainment. I also had the preconception that Heyer had written historical romances but I didn't find that to be a fully accurate categorization of The Grand Sophy.