Charity Girl

By: Georgette Heyer

Narrated by: Hugh Skinner

Brought to you by Penguin.

Charity Steane has nothing in the world but hope.

Escaping a miserable life under her tyrannical aunt, she decides to take her chances with her estranged grandfather in London. Now it's just a matter of finding him.... And as a 'charity girl' with no dowry and no options, hope can only get her so far.

But with the help of the dashing and kind-hearted Desford and his dearest friend Hetta, it seems like Charity's fortunes might be about to change.

That is, until the surprise appearance of a long-lost relative throws things into chaos and suddenly the three friends find themselves surrounded by blackmail and scandal.

Will their efforts to do right by each other plunge them all into ruin?

©1970 Georgette Heyer (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Absolutely delicious tales of Regency heroes [...] Utter, immersive escapism." (Sophie Kinsella)

"I could mainline Heyer's Regency romances until the end of time and still not get bored [...] Georgette Heyer is perfect lockdown escapism." (India Knight)

"One of my perennial comfort authors. Heyer's books are as incisively witty and quietly subversive as any of Jane Austen's." (Joanne Harris)

Poor performance

Unfortunately I couldn’t finish the story- the screeching voice of the heroine was too much for my “poor nerves”!

Excellent narration

Charity Girl is an amusing romp made only more fun by its narrator. Heyer is known for making some delightful, larger-than-life characters. Hugh Skinner lets those characters shine in all their ridiculous and over-the-top glory. Other reviews have criticized Charity’s high-pitched voice; however, as the story progresses, the voice feels quite fitting for such an innocent, naive young woman.

Penguin & Audible, you’re fired!

I love GH, but this narration is such a huge disappointment that it ruined the story. Penguin Books and Audible, you failed! Do us all a favor and hire someone with the talent to enhance the wittiness of GH, someone like Phyllida Nash!! There is no way to fall in love with the heroine when you can’t even take her seriously because of her ridiculous voice! This narrator has a beautiful voice for the Viscount, but the rest of the character voices are beyond terrible!

Don’t be fooled

If you haven’t read Charity Girl, don’t be forestalled by the ridiculous voice given to the eponymous heroine. It all comes right in the end in true GH fashion. An enjoyable farce that engages a nice balance of heartfelt and comical characters.

Good story, bad narration

Not my favorite Georgette Heyer but still a fun story. The narration was almost painful except for the main character.

Narrator should read in a normal voice.

Speaking in a high voice does not make him sound like a girl. It just sounds weird.

Pretty good story

Common Georgette fare. This story has more than its share of crusty, irascible, unreasonable characters—I found it tiresome but suppose it was on purpose.
What I had a hard time with was the narrator, who did a great job on everything except one thing: the voice he used for Cherry, one of the main characters. I know it can be hard to create a range of voices to represent each character, and I know it can be especially difficult to represent a member of the opposite sex. But every time he voiced Cherry I just cringed—instead of an innocent schoolgirl, she sounded like Rue Paul. Just not the thing. Other than that this was a pretty good story.

Not the best narration

Excellent characterization, very good story, although a bit lacking in the romance. Not a keeper due to poor narration.

Terrible narration!!!

I love Georgette Heyer but it was almost unbearable because of the reader. So nasally and grating when doing the female voices.