Georgette Heyer's Regency World by Jennifer Kloester

"The definitive guide to the people, places, and society in Georgette Heyer's novels....

With Georgette Heyer's Regency World, Jennifer Kloester has now put together the ultimate, definitive guide to Georgette Heyer's world: her heroes, her villains and dashing heroes; the shops, clubs, and towns they frequented; the parties they celebrated; how they ate, drank, dressed, socialized, voted, shopped, and drove. An utterly delightful and fun read, beautifully illustrated, and compelling in its historical detail, this is a must read for any Georgette Heyer fan."
(from the publisher)

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Last year, I had the pleasure of participating in the Everything Austen challenge and enjoyed reading many Austenesque novels, particularly the Austen reference book by Deirdre Le Faye entited Jane Austen -- The World of her Novels. This opened up a whole new appreciation for Pride and Prejudice as well as other Jane Austen works.

This year, Georgette Heyer seems to be my new obsession (in a good way). I was thrilled when I saw all the beautiful Sourcebook editions of her Regency novels, as well as her lesser-known mysteries. While I've picked up a few here and there over the past year, I decided to start a dedicated collection all of the Heyer books that I can get my hands on -- even the ones that are not currently in print. While I was searching e-bay for some titles, I ran across Kloester's Georgette Heyer's Regency World which has not yet been released in the US (Sourcebooks is coming out with a US edition in August of this year, but I'm impatient and want it now; the price was a bargain, so I jumped on it.)

Here are some of the chapters/topics in this beautiful and entertaining Heyer Regency resource:

Up and Down the Social Ladder
At Home in Town and Country
A Man's World
The Gentle Sex
On the Town
The Pleasure Haunts of London
The Fashionable Resorts
Getting About
What to Wear
Shopping
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
The Sporting Life
Business and Military
Who's Who in the Regency

Plus, a glossary of cant and common Regency phrases, timelines, lists of her novels, and lots of other fun facts.

This is a resource book, not one I will necessarily read cover to cover, but in bits and pieces whenever I need a little Heyer "fix." Here is the charming cover for the US edition available from Sourcebooks (according to Amazon) in August 2010.