We are Family

Oh dear.  June really hasn't gone as well as it should've in reading terms, has it?  Nevermind, will have to do much, much better in July..!

I've just finished 'The Unknown Ajax', my first Georgette Heyer.  I was really apprehensive when I started reading.  I may have mentioned (!) that I don't really get on with Jane Austen books and because Heyer is famous for her Regency romances, I was worried that they may be similar.  I needn't have worried - I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

'The Unknown Ajax'
by Georgette Heyer
(Arrow Books, 2005)

The Ajax of the title is Major Hugo Darracott, who, despite being a stranger to his family, finds himself heir to its ancestral lands, house and title.  The child of Lord Darracott's second son following an unapproved union with a Yorkshire weaver, the Major is only summoned to the family seat when his Lordship finds he can't disinherit the mysterious young man.  Lord Darracott has ruled Darracott Place and his children and grandchildren with a rod of iron for longer than anyone can remember, so what will happen when the straight-talking "weaver's brat" finally makes his appearance?

The thing that surprised me most about this book was how funny it was.  There is a dinner party scene which literally made me laugh out loud.  The other thing I really liked about it was that although there is a romantic subplot, it wasn't what the story was all about, so I didn't get bored (I know, I'm sadly unromantic.).  In a way, it felt like the romance had been shoehorned in and, to be honest, I don't think the story would've lost anything if it hadn't been in there at all.  But maybe that's just me.  This is very much Hugo's story and the story of how he breathes new life into a family stagnated by an aging patriarch.  It is about family, prejudice and how it can sometimes take an outsider to see the obvious.  And this story is far more interesting to me than whether the girl makes an advantageous match.

I did have a bit of a false start with 'The Unknown Ajax' though.  I found the language really hard to get to grips with at first, as well as the familial relationships.  In the end, I drew a family tree, which helped immensely and stopped me getting confused again.  Publishers really should include more family trees in novels.  I love 'Wuthering Heights', but I really needed the family tree in my edition!

Overall, I found this a genial, mischievous and fun book that has made me want to read more by Georgette Heyer.  But maybe after I've caught up a bit more with what's on the list, eh?