I was in the thick of a non-fiction book about the philosophy of stoicism and cognitive behavioral therapy. At first I found it interesting but the author isn't really a very good writer and kept throwing out these anti-Christian zingers that actually didn't quite make sense, so I grew to dislike him. Maybe I"ll finish the book still, but things felt kind of heavy and tense with R's health issues and just everything, so I turned to my old friend Georgette Heyer and tried one of the few remaining novels I hadn't read yet, Sprig Muslin.
Well, I loved it. it was just the escape I needed. I think it is a bit similar to The Foundling, but different enough that I still appreciated everything. The storyline is that Sir Gareth Ludlow needs to marry to provide an heir for his family, but he's never gotten over the death of his lovely fiancee seven years before. So he decides to marry Lady Hester, a plain, plumb, diffident woman of 29 who he's always enjoyed a companionable friendship with. She's gentle, intelligent, and easy to talk to. Surprisingly she turns him down! But just before he makes his offer he finds a young beautiful runaway seventeen girl at an inn he stops off at on his way to Lady Hester. He soon realizes that the young girl is in way over her head, but doesn't realize the dangers she's put herself into. She's run away from her grandfather who refuses to let her marry the soldier she's in love with. Her name is Amanda and she's hysterically funny. Heyer can write characters so well. Amanda is a unstoppable, headstrong, smart, innocent, an enormous liar and absolutely determined to get her way. Ludlow gets into one pickle after another trying to be chivalrous and save Amanda from her folly.
I laughed through this whole book. The writing is crisp and clever, the characters are typical Heyer, the plot moves along at a great pace and everything ends happily ever after.
Two thumbs up! For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
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