The Regency romances are set in England during the time that King George III's son reigned as Prince Regent (1811-1820). The title character is the eldest in a family of five children. Both parents are dead, and Frederica brings her three youngest siblings to London to secure a husband for her sister, who is young, shy, beautiful, not very bright but a talented dressmaker. Frederica seeks out their distant cousin Vernon Dauntry, the Marquis of Alverstoke to help introduce them into society.Frederica is close to 25 years old and considers herself to be past marriageable age. She has a younger brother who sees himself as the head of the family but is really much less responsible than Frederica (and off at school). It is important to Frederika that Charis marries well, and her intention is to ask Alverstoke to introduce her sister to high society. The extended conversation between Frederica and Lord Alverstoke when they first meet to discuss that possibility is very entertaining.
Alverstoke is a genial man when he wants to be and quite impressed with Frederica and her younger sister, Charis, but he is well-known for being self-centered and not interested in doing favors for others. He has already refused to help his sister's daughter who will be coming out at the same time. So people are very surprised when he begins spending a good bit of time with various members of the Merrivale family.
This book is full of likable characters. Frederica is of course a wonderful heroine, but she is so focused on doing anything she can to improve the situation of her family that she seemed to miss a lot of what was going on around her. So, she is a realistic character, not idealized. Felix Merrivale, at 12, is very interested in new technology and mechanical inventions. Jessamy, 16, is very serious about his studies but loves horses. They also have a wonderful dog. There are also some unsympathetic characters, such as Alverstoke's sister who doesn't approve of his behavior but is willing to use him and his money for her own purposes. But even those characters are fun.
This was not the type of romance I was expecting, but then I have little experience with romance novels so have nothing to compare against. For me, this book was about Alverstoke's growth as a person. He is in his late thirties and not at all looking for any serious relationship or anything to tie him down. He starts out as a selfish, thoughtless cad, very sought after because of his wealth, and ends up helping out the family in many ways. I was disappointed that Charis's talent at dressmaking was not more a part of the story. It does turn out that, shy as she is, she has a mind of her own.
In summary, Frederica was an engaging book, and I learned a lot about Regency England. I plan to read more of Heyer's Regency romances over time, starting with recommendations at Yvette's In My Own Words. I already have a copy of The Grand Sophy (which includes a glossary of Regency slang).
See reviews at Pining for the West and Tor.com.
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Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2009 (orig. publ. 1965)
Length: 437 pages
Format: Trade paperback
Setting: London
Genre: Regency Romance
Source: Purchased at the Planned Parenthood book sale, 2019.
