Lydia or Love Town

by Clare Darcy

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451060598
• ISBN13: 9780451060594
• Release Date: September 1974
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 253 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The American Cousins Come to Visit

In her third Regency outing Clare Darcy got it mostly right. Lydia is a couple of years older than her predecessors, Cecily and Georgina, with a greater amount of commen sense. Not for her the romantic starts of misses out of the schoolroom. She knows exactly what she wants: a man with a good fortune. All else, she feels is negotiable. Lydia, with her brother and her grandmother have left a decaying plantation in the Louisiana bayou country to come to London obstentibly to claim an inheritance left to her grandmother. In reality she and her brother are on the look out for a way to improve their situation in life-- or at least prevent the need to return to Louisiana. Lydia and her brother are attractive and accomplished. Their social success is assured-- that is, if Lydia can keep her grandmother and brother from social ruin while skillfully casting her net for a wealthy husband. One of the high points of this book is the hero. Unlike Mr. Ranleigh in Cecily who was stated to be irresistible to women but whose presentation was harsh at best, the Viscount in Lydia is shown to have actual charm of manner and style. His unexpected ascension to the peerage allows him to view the town scene as an outsider while giving him the right to participate. All in all a very pleasurable read.P.S. I'm not sure why anyone would think there was supposed to be any doubt about who the hero was-- well maybe if the reader had never read a Regency or any other type of genre romance. It was quite clear from the moment he steps on the stage that here is hero material of the finest kind.

for Heyer fans

Darcy is one of the best Regency writers since Georgette Heyer, although Darcy's books have less complex plots and less idiomatic language than Heyer's work. This, I think, is one of the very best of Darcy's books. Lydia is a part English girl raised in America and come to England, and she is clever, confident, and witty. I loved how the other characters (especially the hero, who I will not name) in the book react to her independence and intelligence. I also loved how Lydia upset everyone's preconceived ideas about Americans as ignorant and ill-mannered, with her style and confidence. A very fun, light-hearted read!