I really didn't mean to swallow this book whole in one day, but once I got going I couldn't stop. And when Heyer pulls all the main characters together at the end for one of those absurd farcical scenes she does so well, it was comedy heaven. He looked amused. “My dear Eugenia, I hope you never will, for I shall certainly refuse such a request! You could never hold my horses.” This is a really tough question. I oppose taking offensive language or stereotypes out of books, because I think it whitewashes the author’s bias. Basically, while I don’t agree with Heyer’s sentiment, it should be preserved, if only as a reminder to the prevalent antisemitism post WWII. However, this doesn’t always make for an enjoyable book.

Do remember that this is a romance! Who will end up with whom is the primary question. More than one alliance must be arranged.

Sophy has spark. She is brash. She is resourceful, frank and outspoken. Watch and see what this woman does. She involves herself in the lives of each and every one of the Rivenhalls. While the social chatter of the novel’s beginning annoyed me, by the end I was caught up in the hilarity of its whirlwind conclusion. Regency romance novels often feature heroines who are capable and often have to take their destiny into their own hands. But Sophia Stanton-Lacy beats them all. Growing up in Spain and Portugal during wartime, Sophy's education largely dispensed with the useless and unnecessary restrictions placed on women. When she reaches an age to get married, her father leaves her with her aunt in England. The characters were mirrored in a way that I enjoyed as well. There’s an amazing similarity between Eugenia and Sophy. Both are interfering busybodies, and both overstep their social boundaries on a continual basis. But the reader is invited to cheer for Sophy and loathe Eugenia because Sophy wants people to have what they want, and to be happy. Eugenia, meanwhile, would prefer everyone were miserable and perhaps even without meaning to do so, makes everyone around her unhappy.

I also loved the unintentional comedy from characters Sophy’s cousin Cecilia, and her aunt, Lady Ombersley. The idea that “no one can deny that nothing could be more ill-timed than Charlbury’s mumps” made me giggle for hours.With a slight effort Sir Horace conjured up the vision of his dead wife. "Yes, so she was," he agreed. "One forgets, you know. Sophy's not much like her: favours me!" Sophy is the only daughter of a diplomat, and has been following him around war-busy Europe. Now that her father has been assigned to South America, Sophy is to live with her aunt, Lady Ombersley, who will help Sophy find a husband. But Sophy’s father’s description of her is not at all the reality, and while most of Lady Ombersley’s family thinks Sophie is wonderful, her son, Charles Rivenhall, who has taken over management of the family’s finances and is as a result somewhat cranky in his responsibility, thinks Sophy is more trouble than she’s worth – and his fiancee dislikes Sophy, too. Heyer has created her most delightful character in Sophia, who is just the right mixture of elegance and spunky. She fits in right into English society as she did in the Spanish one, and refuses to be cowed down by conventions that don't suit her. There is little passion between her and her romantic interest, but that is more than made up by a steady friendship and intense trust. Not a typical romantic novel fodder, but you can see the two living happily together.

Good Parents: How Sophy sees her father, who has taught her intrigue, self-reliance (even how to shoot) and gives her a lot of freedom. Other members of high society look at the same facts and conclude he is a Neglectful Parent. The book is ambiguous about his motives. I want to make it clear, although I would hope this would be clear already, that just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean I think less of anyone who thinks this book is awesome and isn’t as bothered by the scenes as I am. This book didn’t work for me. But I don’t think less of people who hold it as one of their favorites. It’s not like I’m huffing on my tuffet over here thinking that anyone who likes this book likes anti-Semitism or anything like that. You’re welcome to argue with me if you’d like and tell me why you adore this book. Dapper Don Sophy has all the skills and she pays all the bills. She's got the street smarts she learned on the Continent. She's got all the connects to the old school players. She's got the fashion sense to turn all heads. She's got the gun that will silence your attempt at some funny business. Minor league players don't stand a chance. Best stay in line. Twenty!" exclaimed Lady Ombersley. She applied her mind to arithmetic, and said: "Yes, she must be, for my own Cecilia is just turned nineteen, and I remember that your Sophia was born almost a year before. Dear me, yes! Poor Marianne! What a lovely creature she was, to be sure!" A wonderful caste of characters that I have fallen in love with. A minor quibble is that one of the younger children Theodore disappears from the book - or else is merged with another son Hubert. But Heyer had a lot of strands going in this book so that is understandable.Of course, that also means that she's pretty much a terror for all the stuffed shirts around her, and between getting in the way and deciding to "help" her relations find marriage, while all the while being the unwitting subject of the same dastardly plot. The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer was simply a delight to read. In fact, I haven't really done anything else all day. While my experience with Heyer has been "limited" to Arabella , The Grand Sophy was so much better and such a delightful read, I half suspect none of her other books compare. Dear me, what shall I read now? xD Sophy is a source of much consternation, with her determination to be literally and narratively in the driver’s seat. In one scene, Charles is discussing Sophy with his truly revolting fiancee, Eugenia Wraxton, after Sophy demonstrated to Charles’ horror that she is quite skilled at managing a team of horses. Miss Wraxton is most displeased for a multitude of reasons, from her desire for everyone to be miserable to her dislike of Sophy for taking Charles’ attention from where it ought to be (on Eugenia, of course): Sophy... [was] undismayed by a situation which would have daunted a less ruthless female than herself. Those who knew her best would have taken instant alarm, knowing that, her determination once taken, no consideration of propriety would deter her from embarking on schemes which might well prove to be as outrageous as they were original. Sophy’s a bit like the movie version of Mary Poppins, with the vaguely sinister but well meaning and caring determination to making everyone all better, plus resolving every romantic pairing possible, including her father, who would be better off un-paired.

I can recall pouncing on the one and only showing I recall on TV of The Reluctant Widow movie (one of my favourite books) and being so horrified by the travesty apparent in the first scene alone that I switched it off. The story lines are straight-forward in TV terms, there’s always some humour and of course romance – how I’d love to see a faithful adaptation of Cotillion for instance, and a seriously faithful one of A Civil Contract, which always brings a quiet tear to my eye at the end. Really enjoyed this again the second time around, but somehow found myself somewhat less enchanted with Sophy and the whole story than when I read it first. I think this book has too much going on and there are too many situations that make us lose sight of the main plot and couple. Still a wonderful little book that I highly recommend but I don't think I'd still call it my favourite Georgetter Heyer.Once again I loved how many family members Sophy helps in this book and I loved the many times she put Charles and Miss Wraxton in their places about things. In 2019 I commented on Sophy's young age; in this read, I realized how relatively young Charles is too. It gives me more hope for their relationship. Also reading this one a tad less literally calmed many of my concerns about his temper. Of course, if you look up the book on TVTropes, Sophy’s listed as a “Chessmaster,” which she is, indubitably. She’s like a Manic Tall-Ass Chessmaster Dream Girl. She knows best, so stay out of her way.