Charity Girl

By: Georgette Heyer

Narrated by: Hugh Skinner

Brought to you by Penguin.

Charity Steane has nothing in the world but hope.

Escaping a miserable life under her tyrannical aunt, she decides to take her chances with her estranged grandfather in London. Now it's just a matter of finding him.... And as a 'charity girl' with no dowry and no options, hope can only get her so far.

But with the help of the dashing and kind-hearted Desford and his dearest friend Hetta, it seems like Charity's fortunes might be about to change.

That is, until the surprise appearance of a long-lost relative throws things into chaos and suddenly the three friends find themselves surrounded by blackmail and scandal.

Will their efforts to do right by each other plunge them all into ruin?

©1970 Georgette Heyer (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Absolutely delicious tales of Regency heroes [...] Utter, immersive escapism." (Sophie Kinsella)

"I could mainline Heyer's Regency romances until the end of time and still not get bored [...] Georgette Heyer is perfect lockdown escapism." (India Knight)

"One of my perennial comfort authors. Heyer's books are as incisively witty and quietly subversive as any of Jane Austen's." (Joanne Harris)

Poor performance

Unfortunately I couldn’t finish the story- the screeching voice of the heroine was too much for my “poor nerves”!

Penguin & Audible, you’re fired!

I love GH, but this narration is such a huge disappointment that it ruined the story. Penguin Books and Audible, you failed! Do us all a favor and hire someone with the talent to enhance the wittiness of GH, someone like Phyllida Nash!! There is no way to fall in love with the heroine when you can’t even take her seriously because of her ridiculous voice! This narrator has a beautiful voice for the Viscount, but the rest of the character voices are beyond terrible!

Fun romance, great narrator

First, the narrator is great. Yes, Cherry’s voicing is on the annoying side. Because… well, you guessed it. (And Lady Silverlake’s historically accurate lisp is spot on.) I don’t remember caring for Charity Girl much compared to other Heyers when I read it years ago, but this go around I really enjoyed Desford and Hetta. Just wish we had one more scene with the Earl!

Don’t be fooled

If you haven’t read Charity Girl, don’t be forestalled by the ridiculous voice given to the eponymous heroine. It all comes right in the end in true GH fashion. An enjoyable farce that engages a nice balance of heartfelt and comical characters.

Better narrator, please

Generally a good GH, with her classic humor, outlandish plots and a lovely understated love story. At this point she was recycling many phrases from earlier works, and the performance could have benefitted from a better narrator.