The Nonesuch

Author: Georgette Heyer
Published: 1963 (Dutton)
Category: Romance
Quote of Choice: "Why, she's got no more notion of propriety than the kitchen cat!"

After reading many regency romances, I find that having a chaperone/governess/companion is pointless because young women will put themselves in compromising situations no matter what. Our heroine is Miss Ancilla Trent, governess/companion to the accredited beauty, Tiffany Wield. To put it in the most polite of terms: Tiffany is high-spirited. Because Tiffany has been spoiled and told how beautiful she is for as long as she can remember, she thinks she can get away with anything, flouting all rules of propriety. She throws tantrums and wants everyone to bow to her wishes. Poor Miss Trent was hired to keep her in line because she's the only person Tiffany has ever listened to, however little that may be.

Enter the Nonesuch (defined as "a person or thing without equal"), Sir Waldo Hawkridge. He's the perfect man, greatly skilled in sports and driving. Besides being rich, he's also a philanthropist, spending half of his fortune funding various orphanages. Oh my, a paragon amongst toadstools. However, Heyer described him as being perfect and left it at that, making Waldo a little too perfect. I mean, the guy must do something bad; he is a man, after all. I'm sure he has some flaw, like picking his nose in church.

I wish the book had more of the relationship between Miss Trent and Waldo, but too much of the story focused on Tiffany, her horrible personality beneath her beauty, and the measures taken to keep her from disgracing herself and her relatives. I also think I'm getting a little tired of the regency romance device of "woman loves man, but won't admit to it because she's afraid of what others think." I was also saddened when the book ended abruptly, of course, with Tiffany at the center of attention. Most of the time, I wished that they'd just let Tiffany ruin herself, but everyone was too honorable.

They do say that Heyer was the creator of the regency romance genre, and other writers have worked from her example. She does have an Austen-esque flair, what with the misunderstanding-of-the-man's-character device (Miss Trent thought Waldo had a lot of bastard children and wanted her to take care of them by marrying him). The Nonesuch was a good book for making fun of the ridiculousness of society, but could've had a bit more romance.