The Nonesuch

Gossip, scandal and an unforgettable Regency romance

By: Georgette Heyer

Narrated by: James Lailey

Brought to you by Penguin.

Sir Waldo Hawkridge - wealthy, handsome, eligible, illustrious and known as 'The Nonesuch' for his athletic prowess - believes he is past the age of falling in love. But when he comes North to inspect his unusual inheritance at Broom Hall in the West Riding, his arrival leads to the most entertaining of ramifications....

Georgette Heyer won the hearts of many worldwide enthusiasts with her peerless novels of historical romance - which continues to this day - and in The Nonesuch, all her storytelling skills are in evidence.

©1962 Georgette Heyer (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Great performance!!

This was a great performance of a great novel. I enjoyed listening to it very much. I’m glad I purchased it.

Worth listening to multiple times

This is one of my favorite Heyer books, and the reader does not disappoint. Subtle, but delightful!

Another GH winner

Georgia hair where so many wonderful regency books. She has a few duds, but this isn't one of them. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it and will be keeping it in my Audible library. it was well read and well written.

Excellent fun!

Loved GH’s main characters in this fun, lighthearted Regency Romance. I think if you like Pride and Prejudice, you will like this one, too.

an old favourite

this used to be one of my favourite Georgette Heyer books when I was younger but as I grew older it felt a little melodramatic.
however, I purchased this audio version based on a review that stated it had helped the reviewer see it in a different light. I didn't find that, and although the narration was good enough for me not to regret the purchase, to me, it didn't even highlight the humour sufficiently.
again, it's not a bad book but I would put it in the mediocre category with books like Cotillion, Convenient Marriage and Bath Tangle

Happily surprised w narrator

Worth purchasing this version, after listening to prior version w female narrator. I wasn’t sure if a male narrator could pull it off, but he was much easier to tolerate- and I caught several things I’d missed in the other Audible version of this book. A very enjoyable listen to Ms Heyer’s The Nonesuch.

Not my favorite

I’ve read the book but this time I went for Audible. Excellent reader, who made it much more fun and in the Heyer spirit. This is, alas, not her best plot. Her usual characters, the pretty children, the more mature couple at odds, are well drawn but the plot was weak. I still enjoyed it but it was the reader who carried me through.

Humorous Regency Romp Sparkling and Witty

The Nonesuch is a reread for me. It has long been a favorite with its comedy of errors, Regency era country setting, colorful characters, and even more colorful use of Regency Cant. I enjoyed revisiting this audio edition and James Lailey's narration work of characters and tone of the story.

The Nonesuch defies convention and provides a nearly perfect hero to entice and beguile the reader. Waldo is perfection, but he is engaging and wins hearts by his very nature. He is all that and at the top of his game, but he is kind and giving as well as shrewd and worldly-wise. He guides his two younger relations and even a few others while attempting his first real courtship. He's the cool guy and the alpha male without all the draw backs.

Meanwhile, the lady Waldo chooses to favor, Ancilla, is in great doubt of his perfections and manages to disbelieve or misrepresent him due to her own self-doubt. Ancilla is a superior lady, but she has fallen on hard times and must be employed as a spoilt young beauty's companion. It is the difference in their status and wealth that make her doubt the most and believe the worst. And, I get it, reputation is of great importance when you work for a living and are at the mercy of others.

Heyer fills the story with a series of sparkling wit, laugh out loud comedic moments, but spares the reader some of the dashing about that can appear. Her focus is on a mature couple finding love, but also a gaggle of young people coming of age who need to be steered right. On the side, there is the story of a second cousin of Waldo's who is on the brink of ruin and must decide on which side he'll land.

Side note, a second reading did not render little spoilt Tiffany any less noisome. She really did need a comeuppance and I had no sympathy for her poor little rich girl-only child- no one to guide her when she was young issues.

I love this story, but if it has a fault, it's the abrupt ending. It literally just stops. The reader is left in no doubt about the main plot threads, but there is no denouement to appreciate it.

But, as always, I come away with a smile and a happy sigh for another of the author's queenish works.

Clear diction

I have read this novel many times and this is my first listen on Audible. Wonderfully done. Crisp reading at a comfortable pace.

Dreadful narration

I loved the book but hate the narration. Firstly it should have been read by a woman.
Second the narrator runs the words together and it's difficult to follow whosec"talking". Third the characters who were so alive for me in the book were flat and dead in the audiobook.

Very disappointed.