Friday's Child

I was looking for a lighthearted romance but this is not it. it is just SILLY. I was totally turned off by the people who are supposed to be best of the best, ie the TON, richest folks in town who continue to use words like ain't, and don't, and other slang. the explanation that it was all the rage is just sad. and detracts from the story for me. the hero and heroine are both the stupidest people around. rich yes, but stupid with it. AND it keeps getting worse and worse as they kept doing stupid things. I kept flipping though pages and read a little and yep still being stupid. so could not finish it. ug. worst book ever.

I usually love historical romances but this one is not going to make my list of good books. This book moves slowly and is filled with slang that makes the dialogue very difficult to understand. I like sharp, witty repartee rather than long, involved passages that just drag on and on.

If you understand the slang and don't mind dialogue that just drags out seemingly forever, then you may enjoy this book.

I prefer a book that moves and this one, for lack of a better term, languishes.

I usually read the first chapter of a book before I buy it. In this case, I was preparing to board a plane and had no time. My daughter was born on Friday and I admit the title intrigued me. Unfortunately, I never did finish the first chapter. A very hard read but not in the good way. You spend too much time trying to figure out what they're saying to be able to loose yourself in the story.

I choose this rating because the book wouldn't end! I normally read a book right through even if it's awful but this book was silly, Yes silly. I don't know what other word to use for all of the characters.

I do not recommend you buy this book if you like your main hero and heroine to act like adults.

After years of growing up together as children, a young Regency buck, Anthony Verelst, Viscount Sheringham proposes marriage to the beautiful and Incomparable, Miss Isabella Milborne. But since she doubts his characters and motives (and because she has a scores of many other suitors), she gives him a firm rejection. Thrown into a temper and desperate to marry (to release the funds from his inheritance, Viscount Sheringham finds himself determined to marry the very next eligible girl he encounters…

Well, the next girl he encounters happens to be his other childhood playmate, Hero Wantage, a genteel orphan dependent on the kindness of her relations. Hero has always admired Anthony, or “Sherry” as he is known to his friends, and would always do anything he asks of her. In this instance, what he is asking of her suits her perfectly well. Even though she knows Sherry isn’t in love with her, marrying him saves her from being forced to become a governess or marry the curate! To Sherry and Hero, their runaway marriage is a brilliant solution to all their dilemmas… But will it not create some more, you ask? A hasty marriage with a heedless young bachelor promises to be anything but boring!

Oh what a fun frolic this story is – a selfish, spendthrift hero marrying to achieve his own means, and a green girl, aiming to please but who is as naïve and innocent as a kitten! As you might expect, this story is a hilarious series of hijinks, scrapes, and flaring tempers! Sherry fully expects that his taking a wife should not materially change his lifestyle. Boy, does he have a lot to learn! Between the excessive spending, gambling losses, and a wife who constantly needs to be told what a lady of quality would or would not do, Sherry discovers that marriage intrudes upon one’s way of life in the most forceful of fashions!

While I sympathize a little for Sherry and his dilemmas, I must admit he wasn’t my favorite of heroes. His selfishness and slowness to understand his own heart didn’t encourage me much to fall in love with him. However, I adored Hero. She is artless and unaffected in the most charming of ways. She has a big heart and is ready to sacrifice her own happiness before Sherry’s. I also loved that she was unconventional and a bit daring – with wanting to learn how to drive and boldly asking so many questions she shouldn’t! You cannot help but become endeared to such a character!

Joining our sweet Hero and the beleaguered Sherry in this adventure are Sherry’s three closest friends – Moe, Larry, and Curly (just kidding, but these three and their antics put one in mind of the Three Stooges!) After Hero, these three cut-ups were my favorite part of the story! I loved how each friend had his own personality and proclivities – Gil is the smart one, “very knowing,” also calm and tender-hearted. Ferdy isn’t always as quick to be helpful, but he always does duty for those he is “fond of.” And George (possibly my favorite!) is hotheaded, romantic, and always trying to call people out! The exchanges between these three are comedic gold, and it warms your heart to see these three bachelors do all in their power to help poor Hero and her dunderhead of a husband!

Filled with entertaining entanglements and endearing characters, this Regency romance by Georgette Heyer is quite a diverting lark! I thoroughly adored this madcap adventure with Hero, Sherry, and company! Another fabulous Heyer read to add to your list (if you haven’t already!)

Austenesque Reviews

I absolutely adore Georgette Heyer. I first discovered her in the early 70s when I picked up Venetia at my high school book fair. Since then, I’ve read everything she wrote at least once. What I love about Georgette Heyer is the exacting attention to historical detail and her beautiful writing. She was a master at writing dialogue and creating indelible characters. Unlike so many romances, Heyer’s men are not all tall, gorgeous, and ripped, nor are the women invariably gorgeous and built. Her plots are wonderfully planned out with laugh out loud humor as well as lump in your throat sadness.

This book is a hoot. I love Freddy and his friends. His light-fingered groom is a riot. I can’t count the number of times I’ve read this book, yet I still get a kick out of it.

If you are a fan of romance, especially historical romance, this is the book for you. If you like golden age mysteries à la Agatha Christie, you’ll find a number of books by Heyer set in the 20th century, all of them keepers as well.

It always amazes me, after dabbling in a dozen or so of the current Regency writers, just how well-crafted Georgette Heyer’s books are in developing storylines, characters, and pacing. You can “see” the characters’ actions and “hear” specific voices. Few can match her use of flowing cant vocabulary. Few can make people simple, n simpletons, funny, villainous, or endearing. Few can match her heroes n heroines
. Friday’s Child is forever loving n giving. I remember reading it when it was published n thought what a silly book! This may well be the fourth reading n how I enjoyed reading n re-reading previous pages n paragraphs what a delight to see how the story arc glowed brighter 6 months after the runaway marriage. Near-scandalous scrapes after scrapes n you wonder when will Lord Sherry finally break; when will the beauteous Bella pick her correct suitor; when will George finally get to shoot someone; when will Freddy’s ‘lurking in the dark n behind someone’ apparition return; n what???!!!! A seduction scene? Another runaway marriage??!! A small out-of-the-way inn, landlords, ostlers, postboys, chambermaids standing in a row, a bleeding arm, a short sword, a silent n disheveled Miss, a broken-hearted Kitten named Hero; a villainous dastard; and four to save the day. Only Georgette Heyer could have scattered people, places, n events n then pulled them back into a delightful farce of a romp

3.5 stars

On the positive side, this story kept my attention right up until the end (which was again abrupt) but I did not like the main characters in this book. Spendthrift Anthony Verelst, Viscount Sheringham, aka Sherry, is a gambler, has a mistress, and wants to gain control of his wealth but must be 25 or marry. On the rebound from a rejection from a long-time neighbor and the toast of London society, Isabella, he promises to, and does, marry the first girl he sees, Hero Wantage. She is an orphan who has been reared by an aunt with 3 plain daughters, and whose fate seems to be that of becoming a governess.

In planning this marriage Sherry states that, as it is only so he can gain his fortune, Hero (whom he calls Kitten) can spend what she wants for her wardrobe and in furnishing and decorating their newly purchased house. He and his 3 best friends, Gil, Ferdy and George, treat Kitten as if she is a pet, not minding their language nor their discussions of their lifestyles while she is present. Thus Kitten commits many a faux pas and becomes, at one point, entangled in gambling while Sherry is out of town. I HATE that he seems to think nothing of boxing her ears! And she is a wimp who doesn't seem to have an ounce of sense. He is 23, she is 17 but she grovels every time he reprimands her. He gives her a list of acceptable people with whom she is allowed to associate but in that the list is incomplete she again falls prey to shysters. His 3 friends seem to offer her more guidance than he does.

George's pursuit of Isabella is a secondary story and intertwines with Sherry's and Hero's/Kitten's. And there are several other suitors for Isabella hand, as she is beautiful and has a fortune of her own. One of her beau turns out to be the bad egg in this story. I was really horrified when Kitten became involved in gambling on her own and used the excuse that Sherry stated the only way out was to keep gambling until you won back your losses and then she goes to a money lender to get money to pay back the losses. Hated that part.

These actors were not my cup of tea and I do know that in stating that I am sticking my neck out. But I like men of strong upright character and women with moral fiber who have a mind of their own. (Think Elizabeth and Darcy of P&P.)

The best part was when she was guided to act as if she didn't care about Sherry to make him jealous and to help him realize he did love her and that he had to change his life style to that of a married man. Heyer's books end too suddenly for my tastes but they have unique plots which keep a reader interested and turning the pages.

Heyer's clear strength is comedy, and here she definitely plays to that, and it's a grand thing.
But if she has a clear weakness, it's a tendency to shy away from ANY serious emotional beat, and that's on display here too.
Sherry's friends make for a great supporting cast, and I really loved how they stepped in to help Hero, but there needed to be a point in the book where Hero and Sherry faced each other alone, took responsibility for themselves, and came to an actual understanding. Ironically, Heyer arranges just such a meeting for them -- a private dinner -- only to immediately subvert it with a crazy accidental kidnapping and a lot of carriage chases that lead nearly every character in the book to an inn room for a crowded comic grand finale. This is actually how a lot of Heyer's books end, and sometimes it actually works. I mean, so long as the characters have already toiled through all their emotional milestones, why not have the book end in the funniest, most chaotic way possible? But it doesn't work here, because Hero and Sherry have never shown any real growth in the book, and the ending robs them of their last chance to do so. I wish they had just had that dinner and talked it out.

In my opinion, this book owes more to Oscar Wilde than Jane Austen. It reminds me of "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "An Ideal Husband". Anthony, Viscount Shearingham, known to his friends as Sherry, is refused by the Incomparable, Miss Milford, then reminded by his mother and uncle that he doesn't come into his inheiritance until he turns 25 or marries. Financially embarassed due to his wild lifestyle, in a fit of pique he vows to marry the first woman he meets. That woman is Hero Wantage, at seventeen seven years Sherry"s junior, whom he has known since she was eight. She is is about to be shipped off to be a governess by the unloving aunt who raised her. Sherry sees their marriage as a win-win situation; Hero can avoid becoming a governess and see life beyond the countryside where she has been raised, and Sherry can get hold of his inheiritance while continuing to live his life as he has been. Hero is agreeable since she has had a crush on Sherry for as long as she can remember. What Sherry fails to realize is that Hero is totally unschooled in the ways of Society and innocently keeps commiting social faux paux's. He has to continually has to come to her rescue, with the aid of Gil and Ferdy, his best friend and cousin respectively. I love Gil and Ferdy, two men not blessed with an abundance of brain power, but who make up for it with their big hearts. And Gil turns out to be something of a dark horse, coming up with a solution when things go awry that makes for happy endings all around. Lord Wrotham and Miss Milford, who in a more conventional romance would be the principles, are here relagated to supporting characters. The story is a delightful bit of fluff that will have you smiling from beginning to end.

There's a pattern that Heyer employs in nearly all her Regency romances for the male and female leads: One is dominant (clever and/or successful, regardless of age) and the other is in need of assistance (and may also be clever and/or impoverished, regardless of age). This time, though, we have the blind leading the blind, two quite charming young people who both are so inept, so thoughtless, so innocent, they ought not to be allowed out alone. Anthony Verelst, Viscount Sheringham (known to his friends as "Sherry"), is twenty-four and trying, not very successfully, to subsist on the allowance provided by the trustees of his estate, which his late father has prevented him from inheriting until he marries. He promptly proposes to Miss Isabella Milborne, whom he has known since early childhood, and who has since become The Incomparable in London society, a/k/a The Beauty. And she rejects his offer -- and rather nastily, too. In a subsequent interview with his very self-centered and annoying Mama (and his uncle, one of the trustees, whom he suspects of dipping into the estate he's supposed to manage), he loses his temper and storms out, swearing he'll marry the first woman he meets.

And that happens to be Miss Hero Wantage, not quite seventeen, an orphan (though of good family) who has been Cinderella in the home of her Cousin Jane, and who has worshipped Sherry since they were children, when she used to tag along and fetch and carry for him. Sherry sweeps Hero off to London, obtains a special license, and the marriage is performed with no loss of time. He sees it as a matter of convenience so he can come into his inheritance and assumes his new status won't really affect his various gambling and sporting interests. The new "Lady Sherry" sees it as a dream come true and sets out to fit herself into the social swirl. The trouble is, the only training her custodial cousin ever provided her was intended to fit her to be a governess; she hasn't the slightest notion of how to be a lady. But she expects she can learn all she needs to know by watching her young husband, whom she believes is the font of all wisdom. Soon Sherry and his three closest friends have virtually turned the girl into a mascot, renamed her "Kitten." filled her vocabulary with sporting slang, taught her to drive a curricle, and begun escorting her to very questionable entertainments. And Kitten, in wanting to please her husband and his friends, and through total ignorance of how the proper world works, naturally gets into scrape after wince-producing scrape -- though Sherry adds to their problems by his extravagant spending (which his wife innocently emulates)

Meanwhile, there's a parallel plot involving George Lord Wrotham, Isabella's most ardent suitor. He's a dashing and handsomely Byronic figure with extremely limited financial expectations who drives his friends crazy with his constant readiness to challenge people to duels. At least he's sincere, but still, Isabella figures she can do much better. And there's yet another plot involving the sinister Sir Montagu Revesby, who makes a living steering suckers into gambling clubs, and who has his eye on Isabella's fortune -- and who has a grudge against Hero.

Though the early part of the book is somewhat scatter-shot in its pacing and organization, it all comes together soon enough. Sherry and Hero, though appallingly immature (Kitten at least has some excuse), are both highly sympathetic characters, even with their screw-ups and lack of responsibility. The Viscount is not a bad guy and everyone agrees that Kitten always means well. The main spear-carriers, Gil Ringwood and Sherry's cousin, Ferdy Fakenham, are delightfully drawn as classic young men of leisure, but they, too, haven't a mean thought between them and they both go far out on a limb in trying to help Lord and Lady Sherry. And the duel between Sherry and George is an out-and-out hoot. This is definitely one of Heyer's better efforts.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I gave this a high rating because very few books make me laugh. The funniest parts are Sherry's guy friends helping Sherry be responsible for Hero's care. When Sherry first travels with Hero, the guys are helping him figure out where she should sleep, how to hire an abigail for her, etc. There's one scene where Hero's former guardian Mrs. Bagshot visits Hero. Sherry walks in with a comment to Hero, but as soon as he sees Mrs. Bagshot, he says "My God" and immediately leaves the room. It had me laughing.

One of my frequent complaints with romance novels is how the author creates conflict to separate the couple. Not so in this book. I was impressed. I could easily understand how Sherry was angry at leaving his hunting fun to fix things with Hero once again. His anger and proposed solution made sense from his point of view.

Toward the end, some events felt contrived and a bit silly, but I accepted them since the rest was so good. One of Heyer's strengths is creating so many different types of characters. I was intrigued and entertained with weird Ferdy. His mind was slow and his thinking odd. During one event, he was reminded of the Greek goddess Nemesis he heard about in school. Then when he wrote a note to Sherry his mind wandered in his note, which was so confusing it was funny. He meant to write a metaphor but made it sound like a Greek fellow was after them. A lot of different things happen in the book. It was a fun read all the way through.

The narrator Eve Matheson was wonderful - as usual.

STORY BRIEF:
Sherry is 24 and will inherit his wealth at age 25 or when he marries. His uncles manage his money and are too restrictive. He suspects one of the uncles is skimming money from estate. He has no desire to marry, but he wants possession of his money. So he asks the local beauty Bella to marry him. She refuses. He decides to head to town and marry the first girl he sees. As he is driving, he sees Hero sitting by the road. Her parents died early and she is being raised by Mrs. Bagshot. She is treated poorly, and Mrs. Bagshot plans to send her away to work as a governess. She is 17. She is crying. Over the years Sherry has been a bit of a bully to her, but he always liked her. When he tells her his plan to marry the first girl he sees, she laughingly says "that would be me." As he thinks about it, he decides she would be a good choice since she would let him continue his current lifestyle of gaming and chasing women. There's no way for her to pack her bags without alerting her guardian, so Sherry takes her as she is, and off they go to London. When he gets there, his friends help him decide where to put her up for the night and where to get clothes, etc.

Hero is like a kitten and that's what Sherry and his friends call her. She is so innocent and trusting of others that she is constantly getting into scrapes. Sherry and his friends repeatedly come to her aid. Although they marry, they don't kiss or sleep together. Sherry treats her like a younger sister. She does everything she can to make Sherry happy. He doesn't know that she loves him.

DATA:
Unabridged audiobook length: 13 hours 46 minutes. Narrator: Eve Matheson. Swearing language: none. Sexual content: none. Setting: 1816 England. Book Published: 1944. Genre: regency romance.

I love good books with amusing, well-written dialog, and this was a real treat. To begin, there are four chapters of witty dialog as Lord Sherringham proposes to the local Incomparable, with whom he grew up, in an attempt to get control of his trust money. The Beauty spurns him melodramatically, prompting him to declare that he will marry the first girl he sees- and does he just that. Coming across the young Hero Wantage sitting on a fence by the road, contemplating her plan to run away rather than become a governess as her aunt wishes her to do, he tells all to the young woman. She has loved "Sherry" ever since she was a very young girl (who followed him around, to his annoyance) and thinks being married to him will be a great lark.

A marriage of convenience, he says, as he sports Miss Wantage off to London to solve his money woes. There is a hasty, but legal, wedding, and Hero quickly charms Sherry's buddies, young men as immature as he, and becomes like a sister to them all...including Sherry. New to society and London, young Hero quickly gets into one scrape after another.

As with Ms. Heyer's books, terrific secondary characters abound and in Friday's Child we have a great cast to fill out the story. There's a pickpocket servant, distraught mothers, fashionable but not-too-bright young men, a love-sick swain, and a sort-of villian, among others. What is different about most of Heyer's books is that nearly everyone is young and immature. This makes the story very lighthearted; it reminded me of PG Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster and his friends as they would have been when much younger. So, do not expect mature characters or anything serious.

I liked several things about Friday's Child. The dialog, as noted, is terrific and the young men had me laughing at their foolishness. I also liked how the plot did not bog down or drag, but moved along quickly. The misunderstandings and problems were not so contrived to make me groan, and even though you saw them coming, they were done with such humor I enjoyed watching the situations play out.

Friday's Child is a light romp with delightful characters and a fun plot. While not one of Heyer's very best, it made me laugh, kept me up late at night to see what new scrape Hero got into, and me sad to see it end.

After years of hearing the praises of author Georgette Heyer, I could no longer resist the temptation and dove in head first on the recommendation of Heyer enthusiast Vic (Ms. Place) of Jane Austen's World, selecting the author's favorite book Friday's Child. Since Heyer published 56 books over 53 years, she had a few to choose from and I was confident that this neophyte would have one of the better novels to begin my indoctrination. I now see what all the fuss is about. Georgette Heyer is a treasure.

Spendthrift Anthony Verelst, Viscount Sheringham doesn't give a fig about his finances until his creditors do. Selfish, impetuous and deeply in debt, he is unable to access his inheritance until he reaches 25 or marries and sets out to acquire a wife proposing to his neighbor and lifelong friend Isabella Milborne, an `Incomparable', whose beauty and elegance are renown. She doesn't think much of the idea or of Lord Sheringham's dissipated lifestyle and rebuffs the offer. Indignant, he swears to marry the next girl he sees who happens to be seventeen year old Hero Wantage, the neighborhood orphan Cinderella living with cousins who want to farm her out to be a governess. By no means a scholar, Hero is miffed by the work plan just wanting to have a bit of fun and enjoy the charms of society in London. Seizing the opportunity, Hero accepts Sherry's proposal and they run away to London to be married. It is here we are introduced to the real heart of the story, Sherry's three male friends: his two cousins steady Gilbert (Gil) Ringwood and the foppish Hon. Ferdinand (Ferdy) Fakenham, and his hot headed friend George, Lord Wrotham who form sort of a bumbling bachelors club of Regency society dandies. Their influence drives the story as they help Hero (nicknamed Kitten) unschooled in the nuances of social etiquette and a bit lacking in common sense out of all sorts of scrapes that threaten her reputation and infuriate her husband who in turn is as equally clueless about his own responsibilities as a newly married man.

Heyer gives us a delightful view of Regency era London with its social outlets for the rich: fashion, dancing, parties, gambling, romantic intrigues, and the gambit of other frivolous extravagances that entertain the high society 'ton' world. Her characters are each distinctive in personality and well drawn out. The three bachelor friends were especially enjoyable as their priceless dialogue humorously captures that uniquely British drawing room chatter of "I dare says" and "dash it alls" that at times from other authors seems trite, but in this case just lifted the colloquial credibility and ambience. Even though this novel was written over sixty years ago, it is surprisingly superior in style and creativity to many being produced today. Friday's Child reads like an expertly paced stage play, and I felt the influence of Heyer's contemporaries in playwrights Noel Coward and George Bernard Shaw in the satirical social commentary and humorous biting dialogues. There were a few holes in the plot such as Sherry's concerns over his uncle's abuse of the trusteeship of his estate not materializing or Hero's continual naïveté among others, but they were very minor and did not spoil my enjoyment. The gradual maturity and transition by both protagonists gave for a rewarding end. It is easy to see why so many Jane Austen fans adore Georgette Heyer as they share in the sisterhood of the `Gentle Reprove Society' of comedic social satire. Friday's Child matched it's namesake from the old nursery rhyme as loving and giving, and critics marginalizing Heyer's works as mere romances take heed. Like Austen's novels, this is so much more than Chicklit.

Laurel Ann, Austenprose

"Friday's Child" is a Regency romance novel. The first part focused on the comedy of the situation, but, near the end, the author added the falling in love. The main characters were likable and good-hearted. The comedy came from the "do as I say, not as I do" situations. Sherry spends time doing things that wouldn't be proper for his wife to mimic, but she doesn't know better and follows his example. The process reforms Sherry into a more respectable and responsible fellow. I really enjoyed the humor.

Sherry doesn't think that he loves Hero, but he's fond of her. Hero thinks that he still loves Miss Milbourne (who turned down his marriage proposal). Miss Milbourne loves a friend of Sherry's that is highly romantic but unsuitable, yet she finds her wealthy and respectable suiters dull. It's a romantic tangle that needs a friend's help to get sorted out! Or does it?!

There was no sex. There was some bad language (mainly the swearing use of "God"). Overall, I'd recommend this humorous romantic comedy.

Friday's Child is the perfect introduction to anyone who wants to give Heyer a try. Can a book just be too cute for words? Friday's Child is definitely a "cute" read with lovely characters and a story that had me laughing from beginning to end. There are no undercover spies or evil villains popping up to do the hero and heroine in. This is simply a story about a man who marries a childhood friend for convenience. The fun in reading is seeing him come to his senses as he falls in love with his precious wife.

Lord Anthony Sheringham has decided it is time for him to marry and he believes he has found the right woman. Her name is Bella Milbourne and she has been nicknamed the Incomparable by the Ton. Sheringham, or Sherry, as his close friends call him, has known Bella since they were children. He loves her, or so he tricks himself into believing. If Bella marries him, he will come into his inheritance and out from under the thumb of his uncle who he can't stand. Bella holds Sherry in great affection but turns him down because she longs for another. Sherry's pride is hurt and promises to marry the first woman he sees, which happens to be a very young, penniless orphan, Hero Wantage.

Hero is very starry eyed around Sherry, ever since they were children, and she thinks he is so very perfect. Sherry puffs up whenever he is around Hero because she praises his various virtues.

When Hero tells Sherry she is about to be cast out from her aunt's house and must either become a governess or marry the horrid local curate, Sherry decides to save Hero and marry her himself! Sherry has always gotten along very well with Hero and will take care of her as long as she doesn't cling to him to him too much and allows him the same freedom he had when he was a bachelor. Sherry gives Hero a new nickname, of Kitten since she reminds him of one.

Soon Sherry marries Hero. Sherry doesn't keep Hero hidden away, and even introduces her to his various other bachelor friends. Sherry's friends are a very friendly sort and they welcome Hero into their group with open arms. Things couldn't be better, until, Sherry bring Hero to London where she feels so out of place. And, because of that she makes some mistakes in society's eyes and tends to embarrass Sherry. (It doesn't help that she points out a past mistress of Sherry's to everyone) Plus, when Sherry's friend George, Lord Wrotham seems a bit too close for comfort with Hero, Sherry becomes jealous. He is not sure what to do with his Kitten who keeps finding herself in certain scrapes. Hero just wants to help George, who is in love with Bella, but Bella plays with his emotions. Soon there are rumors running all over the place about George and Hero, and Sherry is ready to duel his friend over Hero's affections.

Friday's Child is a wonderful tale of regency England by master storyteller, Georgette Heyer. I could not stop laughing at the antics of Sherry and Hero as they try to come to terms as a new married couple. I found myself laughing too many times to count and I wanted to smack Sherry over the head because it took him forever to finally realize he loves Hero as a woman and not just his friend. Friday's Child is a lovely book with some slapstick comedy that would be wonderful to see on the big screen. If you are a fan of regencies with great comedy and endearing characters, Friday's Child is the book for you!

Katiebabs

I have enjoyed many if Georgette Heyer's novels. But occasionally her heroines are too silly to be likeable. In this case, though she is very young, the heroine is so ridiculous she makes the romance more difficult to believe. The gentleman is forced to grow up and take responsibility for them both. When he finally realizes he loves his young wife it does redeem the story.

Georgette Heyer is, of course, the queen of the historical romance. In her career she wrote over fifty novels, many of them set in the Regency period. "Friday's Child" is another of her Regencies although it's not one of my favourites. However it still bears the hallmarks of her excellent writing skill with some particularly amusing dialogue amongst some of the young bucks in the story.

Hero Wantage has always loved Sherry, Lord Sheringham, her neighbour. When Sherry's marriage offer is rejected by the beautiful Isabella he vows to marry the next woman he sees - which happens to be Hero. At first it's just a marriage of convenience, Sherry and his friends imagine their life won't change at all, Hero will just tag along as when they were young, but despite this rather dramatic naïveté, as events unfold and Hero falls into scrape after scrape, Sherry has to look at things a little differently.

Hero has always loved Sherry but as she falls into more and more trouble Sherry's exasperation turns into anger - until he begins to understand the worth of his wife. There's a kind of growing up into responsibility theme in this book, and the growing up happens particularly to Hero who wasn't brought up to be a Viscountess. The real stars of the book, for me, aren't the hero and heroine but Sherry's friends Ferdy, George and Gil. These three are fantastically amusing, good-hearted toward Hero and some of their dialogue is just brilliant.

The youth of the hero and heroine in this book doesn't always appeal to everyone but those who enjoyed A Convenient Marriage and Cotillion will probably like this story. It's not one of Heyer's best but it's still well worth a read.

[...]

As already noted by the book summary, Sherry, our young hero, is determined to take control of his fortune from a relative. To do so, he must marry, and after being rejected by the heiress/childhood friend he admires, he ends up marrying his other childhood friend, the penniless and orphaned Hero (aka Kitten), instead.

This story is perhaps notable because Sherry and Kitten are both rather young and idiotic and are directly or indirectly guided by Sherry's circle of friends who almost play an equally large role in the story as the hero and heroine. We follow along as the couple slowly matures, both as people, and as a couple in love. So while Sherry starts as a self-centered, reckless young man, he comes to realize that he cares for his naive wife and ends up having to become a more responsible person for her.

GH handles it just right so that you feel pretty much as if you were one of Sherry's friends. We are sympathetic and find their struggles more amusing than annoying despite them making so many foolish decisions.

One of my favorite GH stories. Enjoy

I usually love Georgette Heyer’s books, this was the first that I could not bring myself to care about finishing. Both the hero and the heroine are incredibly immature and have not the least bit of common sense between the two of them. The secondary characters were far more interesting.

This was the first book by Georgette Heyer that I ever read--over 40 years ago, and it hooked me on her writing. The story of Lord Sherringham ("Sherry"), spurned by his love, his rebound marriage to Hero, the penniless orphan,and the inevitable culture clash that ensues, as he introduces his naive bride to the world of London society. Sherry is experienced, and attempts to continue his carefree bachelor lifestyle after marriage. To the innocent Hero, having had no opportunity to learn the social mores of the class she has been dropped into, everything he does is appropriate, including drinking, gambling, and bad language, and she attempts to imitate him, with comic--but (to him)--ruinous results. This is a delightful book, a terrific story, written by a master of the Regency Romance genre.

I am 're-reading my Kindle Heyer books and appreciate them even more than the first time. Hilarious characters, satirized but endearing. Affectionate humor abounds. Her wit and language are delicious. They are comfortable and romantic but sophisticated. Yes, escapist, but necessary in these times of terrorism, consequences of climate change, and political callousness. I would be bald from tearing my hair out without reminders that humour is the salvation of humans.
For the most delicious find the hilarious references to NEMESIS, that "Greek" or "was it Roman thing"!!

Is it because of the extremely funny dialog? Or the well-rounded characters, both primary and secondary? Perhaps it's the sweetness behind the story, in which a heedless young rake has to grow up in a hurry, after marrying a bright but innocent teenager who can't manage high society without a little guidance. Maybe those throwaway lines, which don't necessarily further the plot, but provide endless entertainment, are what stick with you. Whatever the charms, and they are many, this book will find a place on your Keeper shelf.

I read my first "regency romance" from Ms. Heyer at the age of 13, and a few decades later still go back to my favourites. This story is definately one of them.
For anyone who isn't already a fan of Georgette Heyer's largest group of books, this wonderful lady, writing in early and mid 20th-century England, produced a glorious collection of romances set in Regency England,(while all the time despising these best-selling books that took her away from the straight historical books she really wanted to write, but wrote more slowly.) (Oh yes, she also wrote some pretty good murder mysteries too, but this isn't one of them.)
Her many fans are really pleased she did have these economic needs, because we find her romantic novels enjoyable again and again, and don't care about a few (paltry) flaws.
Georgette Heyer's romances stand out from all others, to me anyway, because of the great sense of humour and wit that makes all of the books great fun, the easy to read style that never becomes banal, and plots which, although always happy-ending and sometimes rather similar, are never, ever, boring. If you like romances that are well-written, without taking themselves too seriously, and you're happy to know the right guy will always get the (sometimes wrong, but always feisty, and never insipid) heroine, try her books. You'll likely get hooked, and then be delighted to find there's plenty more (though not always in print).
I probably call this book 'gentle' because the hero isn't apparently hateful, or offensive or caustic, just very likeable and somewhat thoughtless. There is one truly bad guy, whose inner wickedness is revealed gradually, and that anyone familiar with Heyer's books will pleasantly anticipate eventually getting his due, and there's an unpleasant (and very silly) mother-in-law, but this book has much less black/white stereotyping than some of Ms.Heyer's other books.
What keeps me enjoying "Friday's Child" again and again is the broad range of characters included in the tale. With the hero's three friends, all very clearly different, playing their own parts in the twists and turns of the plot and general misunderstandings, plus various relatives contributing their own little cameos, there's plenty of variety in the story. After reading this book I always feel that I've met (or meet again) a nice assortment of different characters, none of them perfect, but most very likeable, with a few wonderfully unlikeable for contrast.
Like all of Georgette Heyer's Regency stories you get a great (and well-researched) trip back into Society life during the Regency period, but this typically-Heyer gem gives you more. There's the wonderful range of characters you are shown, plus more enjoyment of the of the secondary personalities . In this picture of Regency England you learn more than the all-important niceties of "good ton" and "NOT good ton", you are introduced to some varied aspects of society. The nobility you meet include the honest and the phony, the noble-but-nasty and the basically-decent, the thoughtful and impulsive, sensible and silly, and you also glimpse characters from the rest of society, living in a version of England that's very different from that of the main protagonists.
All in all, this is another glorious read from the much loved Georgette Heyer. If you've read her other books, be prepared for some delightful hours, and if this is a more mellow read than some, with a bit less life-and-death drama, the pleasure is no less, with lots of fun and variety, and if you roughly guess the ending (pure Heyer) there's a load of very believable ups-and-downs before you get there. If you are new to this author, (and you don't despise happy endings), you're in for much fun.

This audio version is very competently narrated by Eve Matheson. I especially like her male voices for Sherry and his various male friends and cousin. I did not like the voice for Hero because it came off whiny and simpering. This story is well written and has some humorous parts. I admire the way Georgette Heyer wrote compelling romances without all the physical love scenes. Great story, but there are a lot of characters and sometimes it was hard to remember who was who.

I usually enjoy Heyer' s fun characters & crazy mix-ups, but for some reason these people did not seem as interesting to me, & the same type of problems occurred repeatedly for far too long. I felt like the story was just continuing on for far too long with no real purpose.

The silliest and most lovable characters of all Ms. Heyer's novels. Endearingly naive and innocent with he funniest climax of all the great endings for which her books are known. With a soupçon of Nemesis, this book is in a class by itself.

With lots of characters and action. Sherry gets turned down by the most beautiful girl, only to state the next one he comes upon he was going to marry. That happened to be Hero. Not even 17, he decides they would fit perfectly. However, Hero doesn't have the social graces of the time, and gets into a bunch of scrapes.

Famously lots of fun. You will enjoy this book and wish it didn't end so soon!

I enjoy almost all of Georgette Heyer's books. I read them when I was a teenager and am enjoying reading them again. Friday's Child is adorable, funny and enchanting, and of course some romance. Her books are like entering a movie theater and enjoying a good movie.

This is just an excellent little romp. I absolutely adore Kitten and all of her scrapes, and this is just another reason why I love Georgette Heyer so much. I couldn't put it down and I recommend it to any Regency fan who is unfamiliar wirh Heyer, and Heyer fans alike. Great weekend reading in this wintry weather with a nice cup of cocoa!

Although considered a romance, this Heyer is comic writing at its best. The supporting characters - Gil, George, and Ferdy - friends of the protagonists, steal the stage (page?), as Regency-era Bernie Woosters. Readers who enjoy witty dialogue and situational comedies will enjoy this gem of a book.