Simon the Coldheart

Simon the Coldheart by Georgette Heyer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
One of Heyer's best. Pleasantly different in style from her other books because of the historical difference. The style is hard to get into at first because of the use of Old English in dialogue, and general stiffness in narration, but that same stiffness becomes a subtle and powerful device to create historical ambiance by the end.

Great characters. The cold and calculating hero. The fiercely passionate female ruler. The hot-under-the-collar socialite half-brother. The poetic wimp who finally finds his battle strength. The stubborn boy who worships his master. The loud and gruff but secretly tender mentor. I really enjoyed watching these personalities heckle each other.

Some of the politics were lost on me, and those particularly long paragraphs about this duke moving north on this front and that general commanding a siege in order to win back that set of provinces was incredibly boring. The heat of moment, blow-by-blow action of the battles was occasionally exciting, mostly tolerable, and only intermittently wearing and tedious. Fortunately, I was able to enjoy the book as a whole despite skimming these parts. Unlike a Tom Clancy Novel, the technical details are not the majority, and are mostly unnecessary in order to follow the plot and understand the workings of the characters.

Heyer understands what makes a character likable. Even though Simon is a human calculator, you still grow attached to him as a reader. He is out to win, but sets himself apart from detestable antagonists with a firm set of admirable principles which he will not break in order to find himself a faster victory. It is by these impressive principles that those around him grow to trust and love him, despite his cool and indifferent demeanor. They know they can trust him to uphold what he sees as right, and his version of right is so very likable.

Margaret is impressive and endearing in her passionate and creative efforts to reach her goals. She, like Simon, cares little for making pleasantries or maintaining relationships unless they are a means to an end. Her end is to keep her lands free of English rule, and she sets her sights on this so strongly that you admire her for never wavering from her goal, never fearing the challenges that face her in her path. Until Heyer screws up her character with damsel-in-distress disorder, she is relentless and fearlessly confrontational as Simon, but much more passionate and dramatic, as well as more centered on her singular goal than on the general cool calm logic that Simon employs.

It was pleasant from a feminist point of view to see a strong woman so determined to do what she thought best. She employed all measures outside the social norm that were available to her determined and creative brain. She really thinks outside the box in order to reach her goals.

It was frustrating from a feminist perspective because even though both Simon and Margaret have overpowering feelings for each other, Margaret's passion led her to happily compromise all her most important goals and priorities, while it only led Simon to commit a single tactical error he later regretted. But in the end, this was a novel written in the 1920's about a couple in the 1420's. I suppose bringing a woman to heel was the happy ending everyone was looking for.

Personally, I like to imagine that after five years and three kids, when the enchantment ends, she regains her spirit and determination and uses her unusual and creative genius to make sure her newly created goals reach fruition, frustrating and eventually humbling her previously unhumbled husband.


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