tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post6015096104929359576..comments2024-03-26T01:10:13.720+00:00Comments on Teach Me Tonight: Heyer 2009: Jennifer Kloester: 'The Life of Georgette Heyer'E. M. Selingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426524354823232002noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-30618850449973352192009-11-09T23:19:22.115+00:002009-11-09T23:19:22.115+00:00Yes, I had the same impression, Laura -- that more...Yes, I had the same impression, Laura -- that more private and detailed information would simply never be available. I think Jennifer Kloester's combination of scholarly determination and Aussie charm and friendliness has worked wonders.<br /><br />The judgement of history is often rather different from contemporary judgement, and I suspect that the reputations of several of the popular novelists of the 20th century will ultimately endure better than those of some of the 'literary' ones that may have been regarded as far more significant at the time. I don't have anyone particular in mind, I hasten to add.AgTigressnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-2717389696118459222009-11-09T23:04:35.924+00:002009-11-09T23:04:35.924+00:00"I suppose I had not expected another biograp..."<i>I suppose I had not expected another biographer, in the fullness of time, to be able to go so much deeper.</i>"<br /><br />I only read the Aiken Hodge biography recently, while I was writing my paper, but what I read about Heyer's desire for privacy made me doubt it would be possible to find out much more about her, particularly as her son had since died. So it was a lovely surprise to find out that Jennifer Kloester's had access to so much new material.<br /><br />And I too got the impression that pretty much everyone who was there will be wanting to get their hands on a copy of the new biography as soon as it's published.<br /><br />I really do hope that Heyer's "place as a major novelist of the 20the century" does "become more secure." Certainly she's not fading away into obscurity yet, and it'll soon be 90 years since her first novel was published. Clive Bloom, in his <i>Bestsellers: Popular Fiction Since 1900</i> (Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), states that "Heyer’s work is to the popular historical romance as du Maurier’s is to the popular gothic romance" (152).Laura Vivancohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00906661869372622821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-50840176676843989782009-11-09T21:58:22.906+00:002009-11-09T21:58:22.906+00:00I thought Jennifer Kloester's paper was a terr...I thought Jennifer Kloester's paper was a terrific opener for the day: her style as a speaker was relaxed and engaging, and her material was wonderful. We were given a privileged preview of what will undoubtedly become the standard biography of Heyer, whose place as a major novelist of the 20the century will only become more secure as time goes on.<br /><br />Having read the Jane Aiken Hodge biography years ago, I was well aware of its limitations and knew that they were not the author's fault, but I suppose I had not expected another biographer, in the fullness of time, to be able to go so much deeper. I am looking forward to Jennifer's book eagerly -- and I think we can be sure that everyone who was present will be buying it when it appears.<br /><br />:-)AgTigressnoreply@blogger.com