VENETIA

Miss Heyer is moving over into Thirkell's domain and her Regency comedies are taking on a more concentrated pattern. Here, it is Venetia Lanyon, whose devotion to her invalid brother, Aubrey, along with the selfishness of her older brother, Conway, and her father's lack of interest, about whom ideas of marriage revolve. There are two suitable choices but when she meets the dreadful ogre, an expert in the art of dalliance, and shadowed with a lurid reputation -- Lord Damerel- she proves that a green girl, living a restricted life in the country can make a romantic, intelligent decision about a husband. There are obstacles -- Damerel's horrid past, the secret about Venetia's own background, the installation of Conway's bride and her impossible mother, and the general family perturbation that hound Venetia before she can achieve the life she wants. Gay -- mannered and attractive.