Full Description

Foundling

One of readers', librarians' and booksellers' most frequently requested Heyers, The Foundling features Gilly, the seventh Duke of Sale.

A diffident young man of 24 years, easily pushed around by his overprotective uncle and the retinue of devoted family retainers who won't let him lift a finger for himself, the Duke sometimes wishes he could be a commoner. One day he decides to set out to discover whether he is "a man, or only a Duke."

Beginning with an incognito journey into the countryside to confront a blackmailer, he encounters a runaway school boy, a beautiful but airheaded orphan, one of literature's most appealing and well-spoken comic villains, and a series of alarming and even life threatening events from which he can extricate himself only with the help of his shy and lovely fiancé…

PRAISE FOR GEORGETTE HEYER:

"Our Georgette Heyer display of the Sourcebooks reprints has been a huge success, not only to those early fans like myself, but to many new readers who appreciate her style and wit."
Nancy Olson, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC

"Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen."
Publishers Weekly

"Wonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic. Georgette Heyer achieves what the rest of us only aspire to."
Katie Fforde

"Absolute monarch of the Regency romance."
Kirkus Reviews

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Excerpt

Excerpt

Reviews

Reviews

Night Owl Romance Danya
A Night Owl Romance TOP PICK
Adolphus Gillespie Vernon Ware, Duke of Sale, is less than a year from his majority, but the uncle and family retainers that have raised him still him a child. After being led into a betrothal with Lady Harriet, Gillie is glad for an excuse to strike out on his own when a cousin is threatened with trifling with a young girl’s heart. Circumstances conspire against Gillie at every turn, landing him with a young boy on the run from his father and tutor, a beautiful but empty-headed foundling, and an adventure that will make him a man, if he survives.

Georgette Heyer is the undisputable queen of the Regency romance, with her deft use of dialogue and creative characters, intertwined with a wonderful use of Regency cant and whimiscal romance, all combined into one of Heyer’s best books. The Foundling is more humorous than romantic but still is a sweet and tender read, when not out and out hilarious. With every character richly developed and numerous storylines all weaving throughout the book, Georgette Heyer is just as enjoyable for the tenth time as the first, proving a delight to all readers. These new releases with beautiful cover artwork are a welcome addition to any regency romance lover’s bookshelf.

Bookfoolery and Babble Anna Horner
Almost every time I read a book by Georgette Heyer, I find myself saying, "Ooooh, this is my new favorite!" and it’s happened, again.

The Foundling tells the story of the cosseted Duke of Sale, who is tired of having loads of people attend to his needs and decides to sneak off to help his cousin out of a fix, in part so he can see what it’s like to be "Mr. Dash, of Nowhere in Particular". First, though, he asks his childhood friend Harriet for her hand in marriage because it’s expected of him. He doesn’t think it will be the most exciting marriage, but he likes her and has been told marriage isn’t supposed to be thrilling . . . and that he can always find himself a mistress.

The Duke calls himself "Mr. Rufford" (one of his titles is Baron Ware of Rufford) when he goes off to extract cousin Matthew from a breach of promise claim and then ends up with Matthew’s former crush — a stunningly beautiful airhead named Belinda (a "foundling", or orphan) — and a teenage boy, who plans to sneak off to London for similar reasons to the Duke’s, tagging along. The Duke gets into all sorts of tangles and has to eventually ask Harriet to help him deal with Belinda. In the process, the Duke realizes his own inner strength and resources are not lacking and discovers there’s more to Harriet than meets the eye.

5/5 - A wonderful book. It’s funny, adventurous and, toward the end, romantic in a tender and touching way that falls short of being gushy.

GoshTV,net Gabrielle Pantera
Re-release of Georgette Heyer novel perfect to curl up with over the holidays **** 4 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera

Georgette Heyer The Foundling, light-hearted adventure
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 11/20/2009 – For more then a quarter century, Georgette Heyer’s historical novels have delighted millions of readers. Heyer published 56 books over 53 years. Sourcebooks is re-releasing The Foundling and many other Heyer books..

In The Foundling, Gilly, the Duke of Sale, is a young man of 24 who’s been protected since birth by well-meaning family members. His overprotective uncle, his guardian, will relinquish all to Gilly on his twenty-fifth birthday. A staff of devoted family retainers won’t let Gilly do anything for himself. They coddle him as though he’s a child. Gilly decides to go on an adventure, to discover if he’s “a man, or only a Duke.” Gilly sets out, incognito, to get back some embarrassing letters his younger cousin wrote.

In this light-hearted adventure, Gilly realizes his strengths and abilities. Gilly is a thinking hero, not the typical swashbuckling hero. The story is subtle, yet Gilly has moments of action.

Georgette Heyer, born August 16th, 1902, was a private woman. There are few quotes from her. One of the few is about another of her novels, Friday’s Child. “I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense,” said Heyer. “But, it’s unquestionably good escapist literature. I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter or recovering from flu.”

Named after her father, George Heyer, Georgette Heyer was the eldest. Her brothers George Boris, known as Boris, and Frank were four and nine years younger than she. At age 17, Heyer wrote a serial to amuse her brother Boris, who suffered from a form of hemophilia. That book, The Black Moth, is about the adventures of a young man who took responsibility for his brother’s card-cheating. Her father asked her to prepare the serial for publication, and it was released in 1921.

Heyer’s Regencies were inspired by Jane Austen. Thanks to Heyer we have the historical romance genre and its subgenre, Regency romance. That her writing is great escapist entertainment has made it endure. Heyer’s writing covers more then Regency novels, although that’s what she’s best know for.

Heyer, a smoker, died of lung cancer in 1974. Her last book, My Lord John, was published posthumously in 1975.

The Foundling examines the bonds between men, how they can be family and friends. There’s not much romance in the novel, but there’s affection between Gilly and shy fiancé, Harriet. Gilly is a believable and likable hero. Anyone who appreciates romance and mystery will enjoy The Foundling. It’s perfect for curling up with and reading over Thanksgiving.

Starting Fresh Gaby Lupus
Sourcebooks has reprinted many of the classic Georgette Heyer novels, introducing them to a whole new generation. My mother has read her novels for years and introduced me to them years ago. I was very excited to receive a review copy of The Foundling, one of my mother’s favorites and a novel new to me. My mother was quite excited as well since her copy of the book was published in 1977, has much smaller font, and is dog-eared from being read so often.

The blurb:
The Duke of Sale is out to prove himself. The shy, young Duke of Sale has never known his parents. Instead, his Grace Adolphus Gillespie Vernon Ware, Gilly for short, has endured twenty-four years of rigorous mollycoddling from his uncle and his valet. But his natural diffidence conceals a rebellious spirit.

A mysterious beauty provides the perfect opportunity. When Gilly learns of Belinda, the beautiful foundling who appears to be blackmailing his cousin, he absconds with glee. But he has no sooner entered into this new and dangerous world than he is plunged into a frenzy of intrigue, kidnapping and adventure, and surprises at every turn.

Review:
For avid Georgette Heyer fans, The Foundling will be an interesting and satisfying departure from the romance novels. The Foundling focuses on the Duke of Sale and his adventures as he goes "undercover" as a regular man. Gilly is a sympathetic and interesting leading character trying to overcome years of being overprotected. Gilly encounters all sorts of personalities while trying to end his cousin’s entanglement, fortunately, Gilly reacts to the unexpected with kindness, a gentle manner and considerable common sense. The Foundling is w

Romance Reader at Heart Kay James
Fans of Georgette Heyer will appreciate seeing all the things they love best about the author—her writing style, spirited dialogue, and attention to detail—on display in THE FOUNDLING. It is a tale of rebellion, and even though the one rebelling does so in far gentler tones than I would want him to do, it is still a story of one man’s journey toward self-fulfillment and independence.

The Duke of Sale has been spoon-fed his entire life. At the book’s opening, he cannot even saddle his own horse. He seems ridiculously inept at almost everything. Just when I thought him hopeless, he finds his spine and things begin to heat up. I must admit, I spent most of the book wishing Gilly would find more backbone, and in a much more expedient manner, than he did. His story muddles along in slow speed but, because I suspected things would eventually turn out well for him, I didn’t give up and toss the book down.

This is not one of my favorite of Ms. Heyer’s books, but it is still filled with classic imagery, interesting characters and enough of her signature fabulous writing for me to be glad I read it.

Customer Reviews:

Specs / Support

Trade Paper Specfications

• Length: 8.00 in
• Width: 5.25 in
• Height: 0.00 in
• Weight: 17.00 oz
• Page Count: 448 pages