The Masqueraders

What's the fastest way for a brother and sister on the run to shake off pursuit? Why, switch places, of course! Prudence and Robin Tremaine are masters of disguise, and they both need all their wits about them to pull off their most recent masquerade: Prudence as a dashing young man, and Robin as the lovely young sister.

Of course, nothing is ever as easy as it seems, but that's more than half the fun! This was my first experience with Georgette Heyer's work, and it was absolutely delightful. Fascinating characters, intricate plots within plots within plots, and a goodly dash of romance. I have to admit, however, that I wanted to soundly shake the “old gentleman” on more than one occasion. He was far too pleased with himself for it to be healthy.

This was my first Georgette Heyer novel and I enjoyed it. I would be willing to try another of her novels.

Pros: lots of action and adventure; characters you root for; interesting time and place for the setting.

Cons: needed more exposition at the beginning to get straight who was who and what was going on; some repetitive passages; some cheesy romantic passages

The only other thing I will mention about this book that I found mildly strange was the treatment of gender and sexuality. It's tricky because it takes place in the 1700s and was written in the 1920s. It plays it safe as possible but would make for some good discussion.

Seriously, how did I forget to review this?? So far it's my favorite Heyer, with a brother and sister taking on impossible and often hilarious conquests in this sprightly tale. I loved how Prue played her part, and was pretty certain throughout that “The Mountain” had guessed the truth fairly early on. And how the brother grows up to be manly...
Definitely recommended!