Pastel

Rating:
Summary: Pastel by Georgette Heyer
Review: A Novice Reviewer's Viewpoint

Pastel is set in the 1910's and is of its era, where people in books and on the stage seem brittle. Perhaps because it was the age when the middle and upper classes in Britain did not reveal their true feelings, but I couldn't get "into the skin" of the characters and lose myself.

Saying that, of course, shows how well G.H. manages to portray the world she is writing about so well.

Probably because I prefer G.H's later books set in the Regency period and written in a more lighthearted vein, I found Pastel disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Charming read
Review: Another of Georgette Heyers surpressed books, this is a charming tale, never saccharine or improbable. It tells the story of a young woman trying to reconcile her ideas of love and happiness with reality, and tells it well, our heroins insecurities making her the more endearing. Well worth the read, especially for hardened Heyer fans, her references to animals being particularly funny.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent novel
Review: I did not appreciate Georgette Heyer's 'modern' novels and mysteries when I first discovered her in my twenties, now in my forties, I have re-read them and realized how wonderful they are. Pastel is the story of an older sister who loves her younger sister dearly but feels totally eclipsed by her personality or 'pastel' in comparison. The way she deals with her feelings and realizes her life is the one she really wants is the crux of the story. The story is very much of it's time period - no liberated women in this book, so it may seem more dated to some, but it's a worthwhile read and beautifully written.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent novel
Review: I did not appreciate Georgette Heyer's 'modern' novels and mysteries when I first discovered her in my twenties, now in my forties, I have re-read them and realized how wonderful they are. Pastel is the story of an older sister who loves her younger sister dearly but feels totally eclipsed by her personality or 'pastel' in comparison. The way she deals with her feelings and realizes her life is the one she really wants is the crux of the story. The story is very much of it's time period - no liberated women in this book, so it may seem more dated to some, but it's a worthwhile read and beautifully written.