Some like their romance novels mushy; full of moonlight and roses. Others prefer the explicit details of what are, not-so-politely termed 'bodice-rippers.' If you belong to either category, give Georgette Heyer a miss. If, however, you prefer your romance tempered with humour, peopled by believable characters rather than cardboard cut-outs and written in elegant prose, you are undoubtedly a Heyer fan already.

Born on August 16, 1902 in Wimbledon, England, Heyer published her first novel, The Black Moth, at the age of 19 and went on to create an entire genre of literature known as 'Regency Romance.' While others had set their stories in this period before her, and several would follow, it was Heyer's meticulous research and attention to detail that brought the era alive for the reader.

From how much a pair of silk stockings cost to the kind of carriage a gentleman would drive around the park; from descriptions of balloon ascensions to an account of a military campaign, Heyer's accuracy was legendary. So much so that, for years, An Infamous Army was required reading at Sandhurst, the British military academy, for its detailed description of the Battle of Waterloo.

'Hessians were worn with pantaloons, never with breeches.'

— Heyer, in a letter to her publisher Her characters, too, break the mould of the typical romance; her leading ladies are rarely beautiful — only Heyer would have the gall to describe one of her heroines as having 'mouse-coloured hair, short-necked and lacking in height.' To compensate, however, they are endowed with wit, intelligence and a great deal of common sense; qualities that the men in Heyer's world admire more than a pretty face (well, it is fiction after all.)

'In her world of romanticised anti-romanticism ... men and women really talk to each other ... and plan to spend the rest of their lives together developing the relationship'  

— A.S. Byatt

She was also, perhaps, the first 'romance' writer to deliver strong-minded, independent heroines; women who are liberated enough to fight for their happiness, yet realistic enough to see that true love is not the stuff of storybooks.

'I daresay Freddy might not be a great hand at slaying dragons, but you must own, Meg, that one has not the slightest need of a man who can kill dragons.' — Cotillion

Her eye for detail also infuses a greater depth into her secondary characters. Be it the profligate brother, the efficient manservant, the formidable dowager or the timid chimney sweep, Heyer's pen breathes life into even the most insignificant members of her drama, forming a perfect Greek chorus as a backdrop to her stories. And of course, providing the humour.

In Heyer's world it is humour rather than passion — a shared appreciation for the absurd — that lays the foundation for true and lasting love.

'Talking to you is like — like talking to an eel!'

'No, is it? I've never tried to talk to an eel.'

                             — Black Sheep

Though she was a bestselling author — often racking up sales of over half a million — her work never received literary acclaim; the highbrow set, by and large, dismissing her work as fluff. But those who bothered to read her books discovered the depth beneath the fluff.

'Dons, journalists, intelligent women everywhere... even feminists... enjoyed the romantic syllabub all the more because they were aware of the hard core of realism underneath.'

— Jane Aiken Hodge,

The Private Life of Georgette Heyer

Heyer died on July 4, 1974, leaving behind 51 titles in print, translated into at least 10 languages. For her fans everywhere she will forever, in the words of the Guardian, be remembered as the 'queen of historical fiction.'