S&S Book Club: Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness
Jen, Carol & Tina chat about Jen’s pick: Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness
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Why Jen Picked It
Rhys Bowen is a magician. Her (currently) 15-book series follows the adventures of a penniless royal 34th in line for the throne of England in the 1930s, and the books are just as fun as their premise.
I admit, it all sounds pretty hokey, particularly when a body turns up in a bathtub. And in another author’s hands, the books probably would be pretty silly. Or, worse, packed with tedious lectures on the class differences in the past. But Bowen’s writing is smart and funny, with three-dimensional characters from all walks of life that make her world one that I want to return to again and again.
The series is unabashedly cozy, and what I’d love to see more books in this genre aspire to: clever writing, complex characters and a sense of fun from start to finish.
I’ll add that I’ve only ever listened to these books. Most were narrated by the fabulous Katherine Kellgren, and her interpretation of the characters has shaped them for me. I’m curious if my interest in the series would be different if I had discovered them in print first. I’ll never know, but I hope Carol and Tina love the first book in the series as much as I did.
What Tina Thought
I loved Georgie the minute I met her on the page. To avoid being married off, she takes her destiny into her own hands and goes off to London to find her own way. That won me over immediately. This is a woman after my own heart. She’s a doer. A woman who does what needs to be done and takes care of herself despite her completely impractical upbringing.
In some ways, though, her upbringing serves her well. For example, she knows that houses need to be opened and aired when noble families come to their London homes. She decides to tackle this work and gets paid well for it, the only hitch is she needs to be secretive about it. After all, she is royalty (impoverished or not) and can’t be seen cleaning houses and this scenario is ripe for all kinds of misadventures. To further complicate things, she is recruited by the Queen to do a little spying. And what could be more fun than that?
I saw Rhys Bowen at a conference recently where she shared some stories explaining how some of Georgie’s embarrassing scenes were drawn from her own real-life escapades - like when Georgie squeezes her whole body into one leg of a pants suit. I love these intimate details that writers sometimes reveal and it connected me to the narrative even more.
Overall, this is a delightful beginning to a series. I love the misadventures and the romance as well as all the quirky characters. Her Royal Spyness is clever, funny and cozy through and through. I look forward to many more.
What Carol Thought
I’ve been reading the Royal Spyness series since the first book. I love them! Georgie is a spunky, independent young woman with a flair for adventure and for getting herself out of all manner of difficulty. Her best friend Belinda is bold and sassy. They make a great duo when tackling a mystery.
The books are well written with solid plots, an interesting cast of characters, and beautiful descriptions of a variety of places in England. As an Anglophile, I really enjoy “spending time” in the UK in this series.
