Book Review - Georgette Heyer's A Civil Contract
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: 1961
Format: Paperback, 422 Pages
Rating: ★★★
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Adam Deveril was never meant to be Viscount Lynton. That was for his father and his older brother. But his brother has been gone these many years and now his father has had a riding accident and is likewise gone before his time. Adam was happy with his regiment and now he's had to sell up and come home. Little did he know that his father had so encumbered the estate with mortgages and debts. The only way he can see a way through it is to sell his family's beloved home, Fontley. Everyone, even he, abhors this idea, but what else is he to do? His younger sister Lydia vows to marry an elderly wealthy man, preferably with not long to live, but seeing as she's not yet out this seems an impractical plan. But Adam's solicitor thinks Lydia's idea is splendid, for Adam. Adam can not stomach the idea, mainly because he is madly in love with Julia Oversley. He knows he has to cry off their engagement, but marrying another in her place he will never accept. Julia doesn't handle the news well, claiming that she could survive on love alone. Adam and Julia's father both know this is piffle. In fact, once Julia has been dealt with, it's her father that helps Adam with his finances by introducing him to Mr. Chawleigh. Mr. Chawleigh's daughter Jenny was at school with Julia and so the two men have gotten to know each other. In fact Mr. Chawleigh has helped Lord Oversley a time or two with monetary issues. Mr. Chawleigh is a Cit with aspirations. He has none for himself, they are all for his daughter, which is why she attended school with the daughters of lords. Therefore he has been on the lookout for the right husband for his daughter and he thinks that Adam will do. Adam, realizing the perilous situation he is in agrees to meet Jenny and realizes that Jenny will do very nicely. He knows now he will never love again after Julia, but Jenny is a sensible girl. She will make a very capable wife and her father will make all his money problems disappear. Sure, there are some growing pains as the two families become one, but that was to be expected. The real question is, can Adam learn to love again, in a different, more mature way?
I've never really given much thought to the comparisons between Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen. I just assumed that it was because Heyer wrote books set during the Regency and would name check Austen that a connection was made and never questioned. The Sourcebooks reissues seem to all feature a pull quote from Publishers Weekly that declaims that "[r]eading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen." But I have to say, I finally get it. For once I agree with you Publishers Weekly! Everything finally clicked and I see the connection. Heyer, like Austen, revels in the quirky side characters. I would in fact go so far as to say that these are what make the works of both authors memorable. The older I get the less I am drawn to Austen's heroes and heroines and the more I am drawn to the comic stylings of Sir John Middleton or Mr. Collins or Miss Bates. These very human and very humorous characters make the books shine. The same can be said for Heyer. In all the books of hers I've read I've found one or both of the leads rather annoying and tedious, yet the second all the side characters start popping out of the woodwork, and especially once large family gatherings start happening, I'm a happy camper. And if it wasn't for Mr. Chawleigh, even if he is a tad more Dickensian then Austenesque, this book would have been a no go for me. He is viewed by Adam as vulgar and ostentatious with odious taste in decor, but Adam is an ass and a hypocrite, so his opinion doesn't mater. What matters is that Mr. Chawleigh does everything with love in his heart. Sure, his gestures are usually too big and too grand, but he really, deep down, is asking nothing for himself, and just wants those he loves to be happy. Thankfully Adam was at least somewhat redeemed by the fact he was unwilling to cuckquean Jenny with Julia. And the less said about Julia the better. She and Adam are the weakest characters in A Civil Contract and when for the denouement the narrative is shouldered by Adam the book went down a full star. Is it too late for Mr. Chawleigh to get a spinoff series? Anything but more Wellington and Waterloo!
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