A Questionable Heir?
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Purchased
TYPE OF NOVEL: Regency Romance
THE PREMISE: Three of Lord Darracott’s four sons have passed away, the most recent being his heir. And now this cantankerous and short-fused patriarch is forced to do what he never expected he would need to do – acknowledge his estranged second son’s offspring. The family gathers around to meet this unexpected and assumingely disgraceful and disagreeable new heir – but Major Hugo Darracott ends up being quite the surprise…
MY THOUGHTS: With a new heir brought into the family fold, his supposed uncouth and barbarous upbringing, and several family members wanting to contest his inheritance – this premise immediately reminded me of the first season of Downton Abbey. And just like Lady Mary, Anthea is instructed to marry her cousin. Although, Lord Darracott is in no way as likable as the The Dowager Countess of Grantham!
Like many of Georgette Heyer’s families – the Darracott’s are a bit dysfunctional. There is sharp and spirited Anthea, her rapscallion younger brother, Richmond – who is mad to pursue a military career, their snobby cousin, Vincent, his fashionable fop of a brother, Claud, and the new heir – great with size, but supposedly small on understanding. I really enjoyed seeing all these cousins together and witnessing their interactions with each other. Their bickering, their scheming, their looking out for each other – it felt natural and was very well done. I especially loved Hugo – he is so fun and likable. I enjoyed his mixture of cunning and craftiness with his laidback and easy demeanor. In addition, I also loved Anthea, and I wish we saw more of her. This book felt very male dominant.
While I loved the premise and many of the principal characters, I did not end up loving The Unknown Ajax as a whole. It felt very slowly paced and monotonous. Even though the action does finally pick up in the end, the story overall felt like it was a little less sparkling than others I’ve read by Georgette Heyer. Less romance, less humor, less action – I was sadly not very engaged by the free-trade storyline. Although, I did love the brilliant and madcap Heyer-style ending! I just wasn’t able to appreciate it as much, since I was not as into earlier parts of the book. However, this might all be on me. My most recent Heyer read was Frederica, which I thought was outstanding, so maybe the bar was set unfairly high. Or maybe this is one I just need to reread again in the future and see if my feelings change.
The Unknown Ajax may not be the top of my list for ‘Most Favorite Georgette Heyer Novel,’ but I think there are those who would list it there. Especially if they are the type of reader that loves a story with family drama, cousins getting into scrapes, and an unassuming but sharp-witted hero!
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For the past ten years I’ve made it a tradition to post a review near/on Georgette Heyer’s birthday (August 16th) in celebration of our birthdays!
I’ve read several Heyer novels not during August too, you can find all my reviews below:
Arabella I Black Sheep I Cotillion I Devil’s Cub I Faro’s Daughter I Frederica
Friday’s Child I Lady of Quality I Sprig Muslin I Sylvester: Or The Wicked Uncle
The Black Moth I The Convenient Marriage I The Grand Sophy I The Masqueraders
Aw, I’m so sorry that you didn’t love this one. The romance is very much secondary in this, I think it’s more of an adventure story but I just love the way Hugo pulls the wool over the eyes of his snobby family and how they each come to the realisation at varying times that they’ve completely misjudged him.
Frederica is a hard act to follow though 🙂
Forgot to say, Happy Birthday! Hope you have a lovely day.
An Infamous Army — which is set at the battle of Waterloo. It includes the Duchess of Richmond’s famous ball as well as the aftermath of the battle. While there is, as always, a certain amount of Heyer’s frothiness — it is still a very good piece of work in terms of history. I should mention that the heroine, Lady Barbara Childe, is also a piece of work. 😉
I’m sorry you didn’t love this one Meredith. Maybe another reading would improve it in your eyes? I absolutely love it and have read it so many times since I first borrowed it from the library in the early seventies. I have it in my collection as all her books are reread many times. Hopefully we’ll pick you one you love more next year.
I have read a few of her books, but this is not one of them. Thank you for sharing here.
Ah, too bad it didn’t work as well as others for you. I love this one, but I was fine with the romance not as prominent and just one of the elements. Happy Birthday, Georgette Heyer.
¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Meredith! It’s so fun and charming to share “day” with Georgette Heyer!
Thanks for the review. You’ve really read a lot of Georgette’s books!
Well, my goodness; it’s your birthday. Happy Birthday, my dear. I wish you all manner of happiness on your special day. Blessings. Oh, and special thanks to your mother. Without her… well, you know.
The Unknown Ajax is one of my favorite of Georgette Heyer’s books. Of course Frederica is outstanding, so it may have been a factor. I really like the humor in the Unknown Ajax, and enjoy the story. I am sorry you didn’t find it as fun as I do
You have already read my favorite, Arabella. A shame you did not live this one, but better luck with the next book.
I’m sorry you didn’t like The Unknown Ajax. If you like faster paced action, I recommend The Talisman Ring although this, too, has smuggling as a prominent component. The Corinthian has a younger type heroine who dresses as a boy, a road trip and a crime mystery element. The Toll-gate is unique in being set at a toll-gate house, it also has a strong crime component and a strong, trustworthy ex-military hero. The Reluctant Widow has a bit of a gothic element, espionage, an engaging adolescent boy and a dog. The Quiet Gentleman is about another unwanted heir coming home, an understated heroine and a murder mystery. The Foundling is a coming of age story of a young duke cosseted from birth, trying to escape from ducal trappings. A Civil Contract is not everyone’s cup of tea but some consider it a more serious and mature look at love burning on a slow fuse rather than mind-blowing passion. There is also The Nonesuch which has a very Austenesque feel for the setting of a few country families disrupted by the arrival of a London Corinthian, but some consider it also slow-paced(this has no crime/adventure but country society events, love and gossip). I love all of these for different reasons, I hope you find one among them that you can really enjoy!
Yes, I think Agnes hit it on the nose with her short summaries and recommendations (well put, Agnes). I would add one of my personal favorites, Regency Buck. It has echoes of Pride & Prejudice and quite a good adeventure plot as well as focus on the unfolding romance.
(I have made artwork of Georgette Heyer – https://www.thimganhaydenstudio.com/blog/my-georgette-heyer-project. No need to include if inappropriate.)
Good grief, zipping through my email today and seeing a new post I remembered I’d seen your annual GH review subject…just a couple days ago…right? Wrong. A week ago. Drat it all, I missed your birthday, Girl! Happy belated birthday, Meredith.
I was surprised, but not surprised that Ajax didn’t exactly check all the boxes for you. It wouldn’t be my choice for a reread either, but when asked I did vote for The Unknown Ajax thinking you would get an overwhelming response in favor of that one. I could never really put into words what I didn’t like about it but your review has helped with that. I did like the part Ceri mentioned regarding the hero pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes.
For next time, of the ones you haven’t read yet; Corinthian is one I reread or listen to every year, and I love The Civil Contract (a oft times sad and frustrating marriage of convenience, but great HEA,) and The Nonesuch. You might decide on your own next year without the pressure of voting, and read your choice when you feel like it. I think a lot of enjoying a book has to do with the timing of your reading. Bring out the review on her/your birthday as usual, without the pressure.
And again, Happy Birthday-week!!