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A Civil Contract
A Civil Contract
Dec 5, 2025 3:15 AM

Author:Georgette Heyer

A Civil Contract

If you love Bridgerton, you'll love Georgette Heyer!

'The greatest writer who ever lived' ANTONIA FRASER

'[My] generation's Julia Quinn' ADJOA ANDOH, star of Bridgerton

'One of my perennial comfort authors. Heyer's books are as incisively witty and quietly subversive as any of Jane Austen's' JOANNE HARRIS

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Adam Deveril returns from the Peninsula War a hero, only to find his family on the brink of ruin and his much-loved ancestral home mortgaged to the hilt.

It is Lord Oversley, father of Adam's first love, who introduces him to Mr. Chaleigh, a City man of apparently unlimited wealth, with his eyes firmly fixed on a suitable match for his one and only beloved daughter.

Though this civil contract may work on paper, saving one from ruin and bringing the other desired social status, there is only one way to find out if it can really work . . .

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'Elegant, witty and rapturously romantic' KATIE FFORDE

'Utterly delightful' GUARDIAN

'Absolutely delicious tales of Regency heroes. . . Utter, immersive escapism' SOPHIE KINSELLA

'Georgette Heyer's Regency romances brim with elegance, wit and historical accuracy, and this is one of her finest and most entertaining ... Escapism of the highest order' DAILY MAIL

'If you haven't read Georgette Heyer yet, what a treat you have in store!' HARRIET EVANS

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Readers love A Civil Contract ...

***** 'A wonderful tale - recommended for those who want some variation in the romances they read.'

***** 'A Civil Contract is a departure from her usual formula, and it knocked my socks off.'

***** 'Very touching, with a dose of humour.'

***** 'One of my all-time favourites among her many brilliant and enduring books.'

***** 'Amazingly good characters, lots of interior dialogue and character development, lots of humour.'

Reviews

'An alchemist who converts the basest materials into gold'

—— The New York Times Book Review

'There aren't many writers around who are as much fun as Larry McMurtry'

—— Boston Globe

Think Macbeth meets Gossip Girl

—— Natasha Harding , The Sun

I enjoyed this book very much; it's Twilight turned High School Musical (minus the singing). I would reccomend this book to anyone I know, and I am definitely going to read the other books written by Lauren Kate

—— Chelsie Davies , South Wales Argus

It doesn't seem so daring now, but it's an inspiring model of personal crusading. Written in lyrical, restrained prose, this is not only a historical document of writer ahead of her time, but an enduringly good read.

—— Scotsman

Excellent . . . the wonderful, Day-Glo certainties of adolescence have rarely been so brilliantly laid out

—— Independent on Sunday

Such double happiness! Marilyn Chin in new, top form. What fun!

—— Maxine Hong Kingston

Effervescent

—— i

Wickedly fizzing dialogue... delightful prose

—— Jonathan Gibbs , Independent

Clever, well paced and structured

—— Keith Miller , Times Literary Supplement

Intriguing first novel... The narrative voice floes with wit and vigour...his debut ties author and reader in engaging knots that echo the tangled webs connecting the gossipers and photographers and their privileged fodder

—— James Smart , Guardian

It's uncommonly well written, with a bountiful supply of manic energy... Would Paul Auster kill to write a book as playful, fast-paced and unashamedly populist as this? Doubtful, but somewhere there's a "Paul Auster" who might

—— Alastair Mabbott , Herald

Sparky debut

—— Jonathan Barnes , Literary Review

Benedictus takes us on a trail of the contentious highs and lows of the rich and famous in a mixture of dark humour and sharp dialogue. For Benedictus, and his valiant debut novel, more of the same please

—— Ben Bookless , Big Issue

The story of the ultimate celeb after-party, it's a knowing wink at publishing and celebrity culture - a high-concept first novel sitting just the right side of salacious

—— Elle

The Afterparty avoids smugness partly because it has more affection that vitriol for the culture that it mocks... It's very funny, but sad, too... Well-drawn characters, smart dialogue and a canny plot

—— Anthony Cummins , The Times
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