12th Mar
Sophia Rose is here with an audiobook review of Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer. Narrated by Christina Cole. Grab a cuppa and check out her thoughts on this light regency romance and mystery.
Cousin Kate
by Georgette Heyer
Series: Regency Romances #26
Narrator: Christina Cole
Length: 11 hours & 11 minutes
Genres: Historical Romance
Source: Won
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Rating: 
Heat Level: 
Narration: 5 cups Speed: 1.2x
Brought to you by Penguin.
Kate Malvern never expected to see this kind of splendour again.
After her father’s death, Kate was left an orphan, striving to make ends meet as a governess until her Aunt Minerva rescues her from poverty.
Kate hardly knows what to expect at the grand house of Staplewood. Her uncle lives in one wing, while her handsome, moody cousin, Torquil, occupies another; guests are few and far between, but even family dinners are rigidly formal. And, over it all, Minerva’s word is law.
But the sudden arrival of Cousin Philip throws Minerva’s control over the household into doubt, and Kate begins to suspect the shocking reason for Minerva’s generosity. She has no one to confide in but cousin Philip – but for reasons unknown, he seems to have taken an instant dislike to her….
Cousin Kate is a rich and classic Georgette Heyer novel, replete with the sparkling humour, memorable characters and intricate plots that have made her the queen of the Regency romance novel.
Sophia Rose’s Review
Regency Romances, Historical Fiction, and Mysteries dot the Georgette Heyer book-list. She wrote them all and in a style of sparkling banter, the era so splendidly described without neglect of the plot or characters so that her light, coquettish works rival Austen for most readers. However, among her splendid list of offerings, there is the occasional cross-genre piece that draws from her Regency Romance and her Mystery writings’ both.
Cousin Kate is one such, and I had mixed feelings about it. In truth, Cousin Kate was light on plot development, though it had strong bones, plot-wise. It tried for gothic suspense and romance, but was shallow in both pools.
However, before you get the impression, it was terrible, and I hated it, I will say that though it wasn’t strong gothic suspense and romance that it was moderately good. While not high in the comedy or sparkling wittiness of her best books, Cousin Kate was not devoid of all typical Heyer writing strengths. It was well settled in the post-Napoleonic Regency world so that everything from dialogue to descriptions of manners, settings and social mores were pitch perfect for the time. Activities that were authentic and forwarded the plot and the reader’s understanding of the characters and situations were present.
Cousin Kate’s main character was a young woman who’d lived an exciting life as a child of a soldier-adventurer on campaign during the Napoleonic Wars. At the beginning of the story, she’s an orphan, but she has spunk. Kate is determined not to be a burden, and this is even so once her old nurse gets in touch with Kate’s aunt, a woman who married for position and wealth, and surprises Kate by accepting her with open arms.
Everyone tells Kate that her aunt is not generous or simply being kind. She’s ambitious and controlling. Kate chooses to ignore all this because she is profoundly thankful her aunt accepted her as family. Kate encounters her aunt’s older, invalid husband Sir Timothy who is pleased to have young, vivacious Kate around the gloomy house, her tempestuous and immature cousin Torquil, the social climbing doctor staying after looking after Torquil through his earlier illnesses and, later, encounters Sir Timothy’s nephew, Phillip, who rumor has it tried to bump off Torquil the heir and is the unwelcome guest to her
aunt.
A few mysterious events and a growing unease in the household whirling about Kate finally come to a climax. I saw it coming as the author foreshadowed heavily so that only naïve Kate is oblivious as long as she is. But, Kate makes a great gothic heroine who is neither timid nor nonsensical. She and Phillip didn’t hit it off right away, but when they spend enough time getting to know each other, they see the truth about their real characters and form a friendship that becomes an increasing necessity for Kate.
Christina Cole was a superb narrator, capturing Kate’s youthful and energetic style to the lower class accents of an old man. This was my first time listening to her work, but I would like to hear more books by her.
While it isn’t the best example of Heyer, it’s still a pretty decent listen that I can recommend for light Regency romance and mystery.
About Georgette Heyer
Georgette Heyer was a prolific historical romance and detective fiction novelist. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 she married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. Rougier later became a barrister and he often provided basic plot outlines for her thrillers. Beginning in 1932, Heyer released one romance novel and one thriller each year. Heyer was an intensely private person who remained a best selling author all her life without the aid of publicity. She made no appearances, never gave an interview and only answered fan letters herself if they made an interesting historical point. She wrote one novel using the pseudonym Stella Martin. Her Georgian and Regencies romances were inspired by Jane Austen. While some critics thought her novels were too detailed, others considered the level of detail to be Heyer’s greatest asset. Heyer remains a popular and much-loved author, known for essentially establishing the historical romance genre and its subgenre Regency romance.
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About Sophia Rose
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat.
