‘Heyer’s novels are delicious: meticulously researched, deftly plotted and hugely romantic, but never sentimental’

1. Guardian

Georgette Heyer is one of the world’s best-known and best-selling writers of historical romance, and Venetia is the perfect introduction to her work. This edition celebrates Heyer’s witty and clever Regency society novel with a dazzling new introduction by advocate Stephen Fry and six gloriously imagined and insightful illustrations by Sally Dunne. Lettering artist Jessica Hische completes the edition with a beautiful gold-blocked binding design that exudes both the glamour and formality of the period.

While Miss Venetia Lanyon has been whiling away her uneventful but perfectly agreeable life in Yorkshire, her elusive neighbour Jasper Damerel has kept tongues wagging with rumours of his playboy lifestyle. When the dashing cad returns to his estate, Venetia’s head is turned from her two interminable suitors, but she’s more than a match for Damerel’s wily affections and sharp mind.