False Colours

Last updated

False Colours
FalseColours.jpg
First edition
Author Georgette Heyer
Cover artist Arthur Barbosa [1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Regency, Romance
Publisher The Bodley Head
Publication date
1963
Media typePrint
Pages352 pp
OCLC 166872778
823/.912 22
LC Class PR6015.E795 F35 2008

False Colours is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer. Set in 1817, [2] it concerns a young man temporarily impersonating his missing twin brother.

Plot summary

Kit Fancot returns home to England from diplomatic service in Vienna to find that his twin brother Evelyn has disappeared. Although this would not normally be a problem, Evelyn will eventually meet the tyrannical grandmother of the woman he has proposed to. To keep the engagement, Kit must pretend to be his brother.

When Evelyn doesn't reappear, Kit has to stay in the rôle of Evelyn indefinitely and decides to retire to his family home in the countryside. Evelyn's chosen lady, Cressy, comes with her grandmother to the Fancot family home however. By careful deduction Cressy is able to work out that Evelyn is actually Kit in disguise, but as they have fallen in love with each other, she helps him with the deception.

Eventually Evelyn comes home with a tale of what happened to him. He discloses that he met the lady of his dreams and Kit thinks up of a fantastical idea to make sure that both brothers can get what they wish without any scandal.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgette Heyer</span> English writer (1902–1974)

Georgette Heyer was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ailing younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika Territory and Macedonia before returning to England in 1929. After her novel These Old Shades became popular despite its release during the General Strike, Heyer determined that publicity was not necessary for good sales. For the rest of her life she refused to grant interviews, telling a friend: "My private life concerns no one but myself and my family."

<i>These Old Shades</i> 1926 novel by Georgette Heyer

These Old Shades (1926) is a historical romance written by British novelist Georgette Heyer. The novel is set around 1755: Heyer refers to the Duke of Avon's participation in the 1745 uprising as ten years previous; in addition the Prince of Condé is said to be about 20 years old. However, she also refers to Madame de Pompadour as actively involved with Louis XV, whereas her relationship with the King ended at about 1750.

<i>Regency Buck</i> 1935 novel by Georgette Heyer

Regency Buck is a novel written by Georgette Heyer. It has three distinctions: it is the first of her novels to deal with the Regency period; it is one of only a few to combine both genres for which she was noted, the Regency romance and the mystery novel; and it is the only one of her Regency stories to feature Beau Brummell as an actual character, rather than as someone merely mentioned in passing. The story is set in 1811–1812.

<i>Fridays Child</i> (novel) 1944 novel by Georgette Heyer

Friday's Child is a novel written by Georgette Heyer in 1944. It is generally considered one of Miss Heyer's best Regency romances, and was reportedly the favourite of the author herself. Heyer retained only a single fan letter, which was from a Romanian political prisoner who kept herself and her fellow prisoners sane for twelve years by telling and retelling the plot of Friday's Child.

<i>Arabella</i> (novel) 1949 novel by Georgette Heyer

Arabella is a Regency romance novel written by Georgette Heyer. It records the plight of a relatively poor girl from the English gentry who captures the attention of a very wealthy man by claiming to be an heiress; although he disbelieves her, he is amused by her presumption and character. The story is set in the spring of 1817.

<i>The Grand Sophy</i> Book by Georgette Heyer

The Grand Sophy is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer. It was first published in 1950 by Heinemann in the UK and Putnam in the U.S. Sales were brisk. Heinemann reported that in Australia it sold forty thousand copies in its first five months. There was also a Book Club edition in 1951.

<i>The Foundling</i> (Heyer novel) 1948 romance novel by Georgette Heyer

The Foundling is a Regency romance novel written by Georgette Heyer and published by William Heinemann Ltd in 1948. It was also serialised in the Woman's Journal as "His Grace, the Duke of Sale", followed by a Book Club edition in 1949.

<i>Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle</i> 1957 romance novel by Georgette Heyer

Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer. First published by Heinemann, London and Putnam, New York in 1957, it is the story of intelligent and desperate Phoebe who ends up marrying the man she has run away from home to avoid, and whom she has caricatured as the villain in her novel. The book features gentle mockery of the Gothic novel genre and also features Heyer's characteristic strong heroine, with a desire for independence, who marries on her own terms. The story is set in 1817-1818.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey</span> English noblewoman

Sarah Sophia Child Villiers, Countess of Jersey, born Lady Sarah Fane, was an English noblewoman and banker, and through her marriage a member of the Villiers family.

<i>The Quiet Gentleman</i> 1951 novel by Georgette Heyer

The Quiet Gentleman is a Regency novel by Georgette Heyer, published at the start of 1951 by William Heinemann Ltd. Set in the spring of 1816, after the Battle of Waterloo, it is the story of the return home from the wars of the Seventh Earl of St Erth to claim his inheritance. The novel incorporates elements of the mystery story as well as the classic romance.

<i>April Lady</i> 1957 novel by Georgette Heyer

April Lady is a Regency romance by Georgette Heyer, published in 1957 by Heinemann in the UK and by Putnam in the US. Previously serialised in the Woman's Journal as “My Lady Cardross”, the new novel was Heyer’s forty-fourth book and her fifteenth Regency novel.

<i>The Unknown Ajax</i> 1959 novel by Georgette Heyer

The Unknown Ajax is a Regency romance by Georgette Heyer, published in 1959 by Heinemann in the UK and in 1960 by Putnam in the US. It was her forty-seventh novel and the eighteenth set in Regency times.

<i>The Corinthian</i> (novel) 1940 book by Georgette Heyer

The Corinthian is a regency novel by Georgette Heyer.

<i>Venetia</i> (Heyer novel) 1958 novel by Georgette Heyer

Venetia is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer set in England in 1818.

<i>Lady of Quality</i> 1972 novel by Georgette Heyer

Lady of Quality is the last Regency romance novel written by Georgette Heyer. It was first published in 1972 and was the last of her novels to be published during her lifetime.

<i>A Civil Contract</i> 1961 Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer

A Civil Contract is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer, first published in 1961. Set in 1814–1815, it is also a historical novel and follows the general pattern of storytelling of Heyer's other novels. The romantic plot centers on a viscount who reluctantly enters a marriage of convenience with a wealthy merchant's daughter.

<i>Charity Girl</i> 1970 novel by Georgette Heyer

Charity Girl is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer, first published in 1970.

<i>Frederica</i> (novel) 1965 novel by Georgette Heyer

Frederica is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer. The story is set in 1818. The plot is typical of several later Heyer romances in counterpointing the courtships of an older and a younger couple, with variation provided by the antics of Frederica's younger brothers and their boisterous mongrel.

<i>Simon the Coldheart</i> 1925 historical novel by Georgette Heyer

Simon the Coldheart is a historical fiction novel by Georgette Heyer published in 1925. Not a typical Georgie Heyer regency story, it is a tale of chivalry, intrigue and conquest. Set in the medieval period during the Hundred Years' War between England and France, it is her fifth novel, and the first of only three set in that period.

<i>My Lord John</i> 1975 historical novel by Georgette Heyer

My Lord John is an unfinished historical fiction novel by the British author Georgette Heyer, published posthumously in 1975 after her death the previous year. It traces the early lives of the "young lordings" – Harry, Thomas, John, and Humfrey – all sons of the future Lancastrian king Henry IV of England. They grow up amidst turbulent events including the 1394 pestilence, the exile of their father by Richard II, the death of their powerful grandfather John of Gaunt, and the seizure of the throne by their father. John of Lancaster serves as the novel's main character.

References