Heyer Walk with Pictures, Part 1

Anne here, with a special treat from my friend and Honorary Word Wench, Sophie Weston aka Sophie Page, whose To Marry A Prince is a favorite of mine and Mary Jo's, and Nicola's. (See the interview here.)

A life-long London resident, multi-published author and former chair of the Romantic Novelists Association, Sophie also developed for her friends and colleagues a personally conducted "Georgette Heyer Walk."  I was fortunate enough to experience it myself some years ago, on a damp and chilly day, and most of the photos are mine.

Sophie and her friend, historical novelist Joanna Maitland, have just set up a site called Libertabooks.com for writers and reader to meet and share enthusiasms -- think an angst-free book club but with fringe benefits as readers start to voice what they want from it — and you're all invited to drop by. With 49 novels published by other people, Sophie is also embarking on self-publishing. 

Welcome back to the Word Wenches, Sophie. Let us commence your delightful Georgette Heyer walk.

Sophie: My Georgette Heyer walk is a work in progress, based around Piccadilly, still one of the busiest streets in London. In 1815 there were also horses leaving deposits which boys who kept the crossing had to be tipped to brush out of the way. So when Miss Wraxton did ‘not wish to drive through the streets’, The Grand Sophy had a good point when she replied ‘What, and walk along Piccadilly unattended? You cannot mean it!’

Men, however, strolled everywhere. Byron, would leave his marital home at 13 Piccadilly Terrace; pass the Pulteney Hotel (with flushing loos!) where the Czar and his sister stayed during the Hanoverian Centenary celebrations in 1814, followed by Venetia's glamorous mother; pass the Dandies' club (Watier's 1813-1819) at No 81 and reach his publisher John Murray at 50 Albemarle Street in less than 10 minutes. [photo on left: John Murray's] 

William Gifford wrote to George Ellis on Jan 7 1813, ‘When you come to town, you will find Murray settled in Albemarle St. His house is not an unpleasant lounge, and Canning & a few others have furnished a private room with Morning Papers. ’ Before scandal and exile, Byron had great hopes of a political career, though with the Whigs, rather than Canning's Tories and anyway, it got him out of the house.

The Grand Sophy, in a high old temper, turned her phaeton right into St James's - the Street of Miss Wraxton's Shame where many of the Gentlemen's Clubs were situated. Pride of place must go to White's Club at 37-38 St James's. [pic on right]

In theory the Club's membership was primarily Tory but it had a brief surge of patronage by the Prince Regent’s Whig supporters after Prinny fell out with Brooks’s for blackballing his mate, Jack Payne. In fact Beau Brummel became leader of the ‘Bay Window Set’. It was probably the disrespectful comments of these young fashionables that Miss Wraxton dreaded most of all! 

In Faro's Daughter Mr Ravenscar went to White’s when he was searching for Lord Ormskirk, Deborah Grantham’s older, and deeply dishonourable, suitor, but his favourite was Brooks's, a much plainer building on the other side of the road.

Founded in 1764, it was the leading club for Whigs sympathetic with the American revolution – the lead plant tubs in the club's front area are engraved with the date 1776 – as well as the very high stakes for which its members played. Charles James Fox played cards with his cronies here “from ten o'clock at night till near six o'clock the next afternoon, a waiter standing by to tell them whose deal it was, they being too sleepy to know." By the Regency it had increased its limit on members from 450 to 550 and charged an annual subscription of 10 guineas. And next door was Justerini's (founded 1749), a fashionable wine merchant which continues to this day. [pic on left: Justerini and Brooks, wine merchant, South east corner of Brooks's on the right of picture]

On the east side again are Locks, hatters since 1676. Byron was living above a hatter's in St James's when Caroline Lamb, dressed as a boy and attended by a crowd, turned up and threatened to kill herself with his sword if he wouldn't run away with her. (Possibly Locks, probably not.) Hobhouse, visiting, decided they couldn't be left alone together, so he stuffed the two them into a hackney carriage and ran like hell across St James's Park to intercept them in Whitehall before anything scandalous had time to take place. Heyer's dowagers universally disapprove of Caroline. One suspects Heyer did too.

Further south on the same side of St James's is Berry Bros (established 1698, still with a family member on the Board), originally a purveyor of general goods, including tea and coffee and exotic spices. A gold coffee mill is their trading sign.

They still have the massive scales that were used to weigh people as well as sacks of dry goods, possibly contributing to Byron's becoming the first celebrity dieter. Brummel was a loyal customer and Berry Bros returned the favour, buying some of his cellar out of his bankruptcy sale and holding it for him. He visited the shop (i.e. from exile) on 26th July 1822 when he was weighed as usual —10 stones 13 pounds (153 lbs or 63kgs). Brummel is a delightful figure of sophisticated restraint in Heyer's oeuvre, from Regency Buck onwards. I often think Mr Beaumaris in Arabella is Brummell in love.

Down a small passage behind Berry Bros is a courtyard of early eighteenth century houses. [Pic right: Pickering Place] It's said that duels were fought here – possibly including Brummel himself – and in Heyer it houses the sleazier sort of gaming club. Sherry loses a lot of money when he is lured hither by Sir Montagu Revesby in Friday's Child.

And at the end of this busy, bustling, commercial street is the Royal Palace [pic below: St James's Palace 1819]

 

 

 

Anne again: That brings us to the end of the first part of our Georgette Heyer walk, so you may retire for tea and cakes and to put your feet up for a little rest. The second part of the walk will take place on the 9th December.

In the meantime, why not drop over to drop over to Sophie and Joanna's new Liberta site—it's something a little bit fun and different. But while you're here, please feel free to ask Sophie any questions you may have about the Heyer walk, her own books, or Liberta. And tell us which of Heyer's books is a favorite of yours. Someone who leaves a comment will win a copy of Sophie's delightful To Marry A Prince.

Comments

[Kelly Hunter]

I really enjoyed Sophie's To Marry A Prince, and can (now) happily imagine a modern-day Heyer walk. I can't claim extensive acquaintance with Heyer's booklist, but The Grand Sophy was gloriously memorable.

[HJ]

Thank you for this very interesting Heyer walk. It's one of the good things about London that so mcc survives from earlier periods.

It's fitting that the Grand Sophy's drive down St James's Street features in this article, since it is one of my favourite Heyers. Frederica and Cotillion are the other contenders, although it is very difficult to choose!

[Carol]

What a great post! I can't wait for the second part. I love guided tours and I feel as if I've just been on one cxx

[Sophie Weston]

Thank you so much, Kelly. Have to admit that The Grand Sophy isn't one of my favourites but it contains gems and the ride down St James's is just brilliant. Am v. keen on Lord Bromsgrove(?) too - 'His mother began to tell her friends that Henry could be led but not driven. His Valet, aa plain spoken man, said his lordship was as stubborn as a pig.'

[Sophie Weston]

Ah now, with Cotillion you are definitely into my favourites, HJ. Kitty buys a guide book at Hatchards, still there and beautiful, in Piccadilly – on the a real Georgette Heyer walk we always go in! – which causes poor Freddy to protest. Think he may even say, 'Dash it!'

[Sophie Weston]

Thank you,, Carol, glad you enjoyed it. Looking at Anne's photographs made me really nostalgic. It was a super day with her.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for dropping by, Kelly. I think you need to read more Heyer -- Im sure you'd love her humour.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, HJ -- when I did the walk with Sophie, it amazed me how much was still there -- not just historically, but the fact that they were the same places that were mentioned in the books that I knew so well was pretty amazing to this antipodean. And Sophie is full of excellent and entertaining stories.

[Anne Gracie]

Carol, I felt the same, and it brought back the day I did it so vividly. Part 2 is also wonderful.

[Anne Gracie]

Lord Bromford, I think, Sophie — and I adore him because he's such a quintessential pompous bore. And that conversation he has with Sophy which is a kind of duelling trees -- "The cork tree grows in profusion in Southern Spain" or however Sophy counters his pronouncements.
And then there is that poet, and the wonderful Spanish lady —aka The Giraffe. So many wonderfully eccentric minor characters.

[Kelly Hunter]

I'm open to suggestions...

[Andrea Penrose]

SUCH a wonderful post, Sophie and Anne!! I love walking through London and seeing Heyer's novels, and the Regency, come to life< Now you have me longing for a trip across the Pond! Maybe Santa will bring a plane ticket! LOL
Thank you!

[Fiona Marsden]

Thank you for the lovely walk. I've read all Heyer's books multiple times. They are my Prozac. So I recognised the places and the occasions. I can't tell you my favourite because I love them all depending on the mood I'm in. I've read To Marry a Prince and it's lovely but my favourite Sophie Weston is still No Man's Possession which I read when it was brand new and still have a copy somewhere.

[Sue McCormick]

A wonderful post. I wish I had know about these places where we were briefly in London 18 years ago. We did get to Tattersalls (now an eating place). The guided tour went across Piccadilly and took us to St. James Palace; but we missed all the rest.

I have some "less favorite" Heyer titles, but no single favorite. I will mention Venetia as being one of my favorites as no responder has mentioned that story.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Oh, Sophie! To take this walk with you and Anne and the other Wenches--and of course, Bella Greenwood! (TO MARRY A PRINCE is one of my favorite go-to comfort reads.)

And after our walk, a cream tea. Thanks so much for visiting us today. I look forward to the second half of this walk.

[Sophie Weston]

You will be very welcome, Cara/Andrea. Just hope the weather will be better than the rainstorm through which Anne and I splashed.

[Sophie Weston]

So great aren't they?

And thank you very much for loving No Man's Possession. It was the first book I wrote after I got a new editor, Jacqui Bianchi. 'Everyone's afraid of her,' said my agent gloomily, and thrust me into the office and ran away.

But pretty soon I found that Jacqui was just wonderful - a huge Shakespeare fan, with a wicked sense of humour and a taste for the bloodier end of Jacobean tragedy. Working with her was just fantastic.

I still miss her, though I've had some great editors since. But she was the one who kicked me out of ladylike composure, I think.

[Sophie Weston]

Mary Jo, what can I say? Am humbled.

And do, please, lead a Wenches' Expotition to London. I will even take you to the very place in St James's Park where Bella's father burst out of the undergrowth. . . . (Used to live just one street away and walk in the park on summer evenings. That scene came straight out of my own past. Up to a point, anyway.)

[Sophie Weston]

Thought I'd replied to you, Sue, but it doesn't seem to have landed.

If you ever get back to London, send me a tweet or email at sophie AT Libertabooks.com and I'll walk you round the Heyer sites. Enthusiasts should stick together!

[Linda Duvall]

This was fascinating. Maybe you could do a similar walk around Bath.

[Joanna Maitland]

Just popping in to say that I, too, have been favoured with the Heyer walk and enjoyed it hugely. It was raining when I did it, too, though. Perhaps we're fated, Anne?

Great to see all these Heyer fans here. Heyer as Prozac? Well, it's certainly my comfort read when I'm down.

When Sophie and I were doing the first Love Letters to a Favourite Novel on our new website http://LibertaBooks.com, I couldn't resist doing Heyer. I won't say that The Grand Sophy is my absolute favourite but it's one of them. My love letter is on the website for anyone who'd like to read it. And yes, it does still make me laugh, no matter how often I read it.

[Sophie Weston]

I'd certainly go on a walk round Bath, but I don't know enough to do anything other than ask questions.
London, though, is probably in my genes. The grandfather I never knew used to take my mother walking round his favourite bits on a Sunday, when she was a little girl. It certainly fascinates me and I have lived here all my life.

[Sophie Weston]

Your love letter to The Grand Sophy made me laugh out loud, Joanna. I've always found her a bit too bossy, to be honest, but once an enthusiast starts to tell me why it's so good, I usually have to admit they're right.

[Anne Gracie]

I really enjoyed your love letter to The Grand Sophy, Joanna -- and if others want to read it, it's here (from the liberta site)
http://libertabooks.com/fav-novels/grand-sophy/

Sophie (or Joanna) can ordinary readers write a love letter to a favorite book? How do they go about it?

[Mary D]

That was wonderful! Thank you. My mother had all the Georgette Heyer books and they were the first grown up books my sisters and I were allowed to read. I've now read them all many times. I've only had one trip to London from Australia but the thrill of seeing familiar street names was extraordinary. I'll definitely be sharing this post. And taking it with me if I ever get back to London. Thank you again.

[Marion Lennox]

Sophie, how wonderful to relive The Walk. I was so lucky to share it with you last year - and even luckier that it didn't rain! I adore Georgette's works. Yep, Sophy's bossy, but how could you not love the ducklings?

We're so lucky that your work echoes Georgette's skill and humour, as is true of seemingly all the gorgeous novels you Wenches produce. I'm sure if Georgette was still here she'd be one of you - though I suspect she'd be as bossy as Sophy. She seemed a woman of Opinions!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Be still, my heart! That was a GREAT scene. One of so many. *G*

[Sophie Weston]

You've hit the nail squarely on the head. What we're really hoping is that readers who aren't in the writing business will come and recommend books that they love - firefighters, gardeners, baristas, school teachers, anyone who has a book they want to share.We're not looking for a literary critique. We want to know what grabs the reader, pure and simple.

I'm hoping for lots of recommendations i've never heard of.

There's a link on here for anyone who'd like to contribute. Just tell us the book you want to splurge about. http://libertabooks.com/contact/

[Sophie Weston]

You will be very welcome, Mary!

[Sophie Weston]

It was good, wasn't it, Marion? And we even got in Berry Bros to see the Big Scales! Let's do it again some time.

[Fi McArthur]

Waving and smiling at the gorgeous walk. Thanks so much for sharing and with pics. xx Fi

[Sophie Weston]

Glad you enjoyed it, Fi. It was great fun to put together.

[Patricia Franzino]

I enjoyed "Cotillion" and "A Civil Contract" among so many others. I had to go to second-hand book stores to find them. I know many have been reissued. I saw the covers in an email from the Heroes and Heartbreakers website.

I would love to take the Heyer Walk. I haven't been to London in a long time.

[jen]

I love this post - thank you so much Jenny and Anne. SO many fabulous Heyer-inspired memories and I still laugh every time I think of Freddy in Cotillion being dragged all over town by Kitty with her enthusiasm and her guidebook - so funny! That walk down St James's is so evocative with the clubs and Lock's and that gorgeous laneway leading down to Pickering Place. You have put up so many fabulous photos. I actually went into Berry Bros once to see if Georgette Heyer might have been weighed on the great scales but no luck. I suspect she might have thought it an impertinence to ask them to weigh her! I've ready To Marry a Prince twice and my daughter has also read it twice but in German! We both love it. Thanks again for a great post.

[Kate Pearce]

You put me to blush, I grew up in the suburbs of London and worked at Somersef House on the Strand and I never bothered to go and see half of these places when I lived there. Spoiled, I was. Now when I go back and visit I do all the touristy things. :)

[Anne Gracie]

Kate, isnt that so often the way -- you never investigate whats on your own doorstep, taking it for granted you can see it any time. And then you dont. (you meaning one) :)

[Sophie Weston]

Anne's right. I didn't link the places in Georgette Heyer's books until I had a visitor coming. Oh, I'd come across the odd one or two when I was doing something else and thing, that's interesting. But I didn't actually string them together.

Now I realise what I was missing and try to go one walks round London led by professional guides. There's a splendid chap who calls himself Old Map Man who gives you a photocopy of a page from an old map like Horwood's 1811 map, for instance, which you can buy from the London Topographical Society - and then points out the buildings that were standing then.

[Sophie Weston]

We ought to organise an enthusiast's get together some time.

There's an excellent book with 6 walks round Jane Austen's London, which covers much of the same ground, by my friend and fellow writer Louise Allen. I think it's called Jane Austin's London, but I'll check. I'm sure she's got a link to it on her website.

[Sophie Weston]

Thank you so much Jen, on both counts. Glad you enjoyed the post and TMAP-- and good to hear that the latter stands up in German. I had some lovely emails from German readers, all in impeccable English. Was much touched; and slightly ashamed of my linguistic deficiencies.

[Joanna Maitland]

Sophie mentioned, in reply to Patricia Franzino, that there was a book with walks around Jane Austen's London. There is, and it's super. There's also an excellent website by Louise Allen at http://janeaustenslondon.com which is full of the kind of fascinating facts that I used to enjoy in Heyer. Possibly Word Wenches' fans will enjoy them too?
The book is here http://janeaustenslondon.com/walking-jane-austens-london-the-book/ and definitely worth a look.

[Joanna Maitland]

Sophie mentioned, in reply to Patricia Franzino, that there was a book with walks around Jane Austen's London. There is, and it's super. There's also an excellent website by Louise Allen at http://janeaustenslondon.com which is full of the kind of fascinating facts that I used to enjoy in Heyer. Possibly Word Wenches' fans will enjoy them too?
The book is here http://janeaustenslondon.com/walking-jane-austens-london-the-book/ and definitely worth a look.

[Joanna Maitland]

Apologies. This seems to have appeared twice. Not sure why.

[Kathy K]

I liked seeing the places that Heyer wrote about so much. I suppose the main reason that the dowagers (and Heyer) disapproved of Caroline Lamb was that she did the unforgivable: made a public scene! The other indiscretions could easily be forgiven, as many of them were common in society.

[Michelle H]

Oh my gosh, what a neat-o post. (I know that just placed me and dated me!) Thank you so much Anne.

The Walk sounds like a lot of fun, but this article brought it beautifully to life. Great pictures. I haven't been to London, but every time we talk about it the list of things we want to see grows so much it becomes overwhelming. So, thank you for letting me see these places that show up so often in the literature I live with constantly. Really looking forward to part two.

I have so many favorite Georgette Heyers. And like Fiona Marsden said above it kind of depends on my mood....and I haven't even read them all. But currently I would say I love Frederica and Faro's Daughter the most. Cotillion and Black Sheep are strong contenders too. Cotillion was one of the first of Heyer's that I read and hadn't yet learned to recognize the hero from the beginning of the story. I don't know if that makes it better, but I'm enjoying rereading it now.....but just a bit differently.

Sophie Weston/Page is new to me and based on other comments I am putting some of your books on my wish list right now! The website Libertabooks.com sounds great too, I'll be visiting.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for that link, Joanna -- certainly word wench readers will enjoy it -- its very much our thing, I think.

[Anne Gracie]

Sophie, Old Map Man sounds wonderful. I love that Horwoods map of London -- so detailed and interesting.

[Teresa Broderick]

Thrilled to read this post about Georgette Heyer's London. She is one of my favourite authors and I have all her books including biographies. My very favourite is The Nonesuch even though it doesn't seem to be that popular. I've read it numerous times. After that it would be the The Tollgate. Thanks for the post and looking forward to the next part.

[Anne Gracie]

Kathy, yes, I think youre right -- correct behavior in public and discretion in all things would be their standard.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks Michelle, but really all the work here was done by Sophie. Its fab to see the places mentioned in the books, isnt it? And a friend sent me a photo of the scales Brummel was weighed on that Sophie mentioned in her post, so Ill include that on the 9th Dec post too. As for choosing Heyer faves, I never can choose just one either, which is why I said a favorite not your favorite.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Teresa, both of them are among my faves. I love the Nonesuch and Ancilla and The Beautiful Miss Wield, and Nell in The Tollgate is a darling. Heyer is wonderful in the way each of her characters is so individual.

[Sophie Weston]

Thanks for supplying my neglect, Joanna. I meant to do it this morning but life got away from me.

(Went to a fantastic play last night, Farinelli and the King, with heartbreaking singing by Iestyn Davis, ending with Handel's Lascia ch'ii pianga . Had me in tears. Nobody is as hood as Handel at heroic resignation.)

[Sophie Weston]

I think Heyer says somewhere that the problem with Caroline was that she was brought up in the Devonshire House set - which were a bit raffish, one way and another, with their tolerated lovers/mistresses and their cheerful acceptance of little illegitimates.

There was a debate over at the History Girls blog recently, I think, about Heyer's morality and, while I'm not sure she was a true representative of the 30s or the 50's or whatever, I'd damn certain that her sense of good behaviour was post Victorian.

[Sophie Weston]

Thank you Michelle, very much hope that your further investigations are rewarding. You'd be very welcome to join in the Libertabooks.com 's love letter to a much loved book, too. It's just the best way hear recommendations of new books: from people who love them.

Ooo Anne, a photo of The Scales. So exciting. Many, many years ago I was taken to a banquet (I cannot call it anything less) in the cellars of Berry Bros and part of the entertainment was to be weighed in the scales where Byron and Nelson had sat. I was so tight I took them up on it. And then was so ashamed of the resulting figure that I quite forgot to take a photograph.

[Sophie Weston]

Yes, I love brave Ancilla and Nell is very special. I suspect I'm not so taken with either of the heroes. In John's case, I fear, it may just be because he is too tall for me. I am so shallow!

Though it's a cracking plot and genuinely exciting in the way that not many of her books are, I think. Even in Talisman Ring the excitement is mitigated by the sheer fun - and wonderful Sir Hugh Thane, of course, one of my favourite 'secondary' characters. Now there's man I could fall for.

[Lesley Cookman]

Sophie knows how much I love Heyer, and how pleased I was to read this account of The Walk. I read Joanna's love letter to The Grand Sophy, ditched the book I was reading and read that instead. And because Heyer's addictive, I promptly went straight on to the The Unknown Ajax. I will now, of course, have to re-read To Marry A Prince, which I adored.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Lesley. Yes she is addictive. I read False Colours the other day because someone commented about it, and after reading Joannas love letter I went and grabbed The Grand Sophy. And I need to pick a Heyer for a friend, so. . . maybe I need to read Venetia and The Unknown Ajax and . . . a dozen more so I can decide what to give her. ;)

[Sophie Weston]

I share your feelings, Lesley. And Anne too.

Georgette Heyer is definitely my go to author of choice when I'm struggling eh book - whether it's someone else's or my own.

Just at the moment I'm wrestling with uploading my own first self-published e-book. But when it's done I'm heading for... maybe Sylvester. Just what I need to get me through it!

[ML]

What a lovely, evocative walk. Great combination of text and pictures. I love the detail Heyer out into her books (and the bio by Jane Aiken Hodge shares so much on that). My faves are Arabella and Black Sheep, and I have such a soft spot for Cotillion. Ah, Freddy!

[Molly Laird]

I just purchased to marry a prince by Sophie I can't wait to start it now.

[Laura Grover]

Black Sheep was wonderful. Frederica and the Unknown Ajax are great but my all-time favorite Heyer book is Faro's Daughter. When our hero tells the butler that he most certainly will not be released from his restraints so he can leave the basement he is being held in, I fell in love. I have read each of her books several times and continue to be a huge Regency fan today. I also thought it was remarkable that Georgette wrote some stories that did not have a "happy" ending. I have always thought that was gutsy. Were there others who did the same? I do not know of any.