Georgette Rougier and her husband, George lived a quiet suburban life in an expensive and rather secluded apartment in Piccadilly. Indeed, many of Georgette‘s friends had no idea that Mrs Rougier was, in fact, the famous Georgette Heyer, author of bestselling romance novels.
Georgette Heyer was an English novelist and short-story writer. Although most famous for her Regency romance historical novels, she also wrote eleven detective stories.
Heyer was born in Wimbledon, London on 16 August 1902. She was the eldest child of Sylvia Watkins and George Heyer. Sylvia was the daughter of a tugboat owner and her father, George, had been raised as a gentleman. Two brothers followed Georgette. Her first novel, The Black Moth, that she wrote at the age of seventeen to amuse her convalescent brother, was published in 1921 and became an instant success.
Heyer essentially established the historical romance genre and its subgenre Regency romance. Her work was inspired by Jane Austen. To ensure accuracy, Heyer collected reference works and kept detailed notes on all aspects of Regency life.
In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika Territory and Macedonia before returning to England in 1929. In England, her husband started different businesses, but she was always the primary breadwinner. They had a son, Richard, and she cared for her brothers and mother.
Beginning in 1932 Heyer released one romance novel and one thriller each year. Her husband often provided basic outlines for the plots of her thrillers, leaving Heyer to develop character relationships and dialogue so as to bring the story to life.
Georgette Heyer was an intensely private person. A best-seller 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.
Heyer continued writing until her death in July 1974 at the age of 71. At that time 48 of her novels were still in print; her last book, My Lord John, was published posthumously.
Join me on a journey to Regency England and the places Georgette describes so eloquently. My video talk will take you to the places where she sets her novels. The inimitable Georgette Heyer – A tour of her Regency England