The Nonesuch (1962) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters edit see section history

• Waldo Hawkridge: The Nonesuch. He is 35 years old and has inherited Broom Hall from Joseph Calver, to the surprise and dismay of other family members.
• Mrs Underhill: Matron residing at Staples (most distinguished house in the village near Broom Hall)
• Lord Julian Lindeth: Lady Lindeth's 23 year old son, who has a case of hero worship for his cousin Waldo (the Nonesuch).
• Theophania "Tiffany" Wield: Mrs. Underhill's orphaned niece. Tiffany is 17-years-old, considered a great beauty, and has inherited a fortune from her father. Her mother died in Tiffany's infancy. Tiffany lived with the Underhill's until her father died when she was 14. Her maternal uncle and trustee, Mr. Henry Burford, then moved her to his home and then to a school for young ladies.
• Laurence Calver: Another cousin of Waldo's. Lawrence believes he had the strongest claim to be Joseph Calver's heir.
• Lady Sophia Lindeth: The Nonesuch's aunt who hoped her son, Julian, would be the heir to Cousin Joseph.
• George Wingham: A nephew of Lady Sophia Lindeth, (son of her eldest sister)
• Joseph Calver: The previous owner of Broom Hall, whose recent death has set the stage for the story.
• Courtenay Underhill: Mrs. Underhill's 19-year-old son
• Ancilla Trent: Previously a teacher at Miss Climping's Seeminar, Miss Trent is credited with helping Tiffany transform from a tomboy to something closer to a young lady. Miss Trent now holds the position of governess/companion at the Underhill's.
• Patience Chartley: daughter of the Rector of Oversett.
• Mrs Chartley: wife of the Rector of Oversett
• Mrs Wedmore: Long-time housekeeper of Broom Hall
• Miss Charlotte Underhill: Mrs. Underhill's 15-year-old daughter
• Arthur Mickleby: son of the local squire.
• Lizzie Colebatch: A young woman in Oversett
• Lady Colebatch: Humphrey Colebatch's motehr
• Humphrey Colebatch: A young man in Oversett. Humphrey has a stammer and is bookish.
• Jack Banningham: a young man in Oversett
• Blyth: Lawrence Calver's valet
• Gregory Ash: Young man of Oversett

Quotes edit see section history

• “I wish you did return my regard," he said. "More than I have ever wished anything in my life! Perhaps you may yet learn to do so: I should warn you that I don't easily despair!”

  Waldo Hawkridge

• “Do you know, I think that of all your idiosyncrasies that choke you give, when you are determined not to laugh, is the one that most enchants me.”

  Waldo Hawkridge

• “The Reverend William Trent, whose mind was of a serious order, had several times warned his elder sister that too lively a sense of humour frequently led to laxity of principle. She now perceived how right he was; and wondered, in dismay, whether it was because he invariably made her laugh that instead of regarding the Nonesuch with revulsion she was obliged to struggle against the impulse to cast every scruple to the winds, and to give her life into his keeping.”

  Ancilla Trent

• “God knows I'm no saint, but I don't think I'm more of a sinner than any other man.”

  Waldo Hawkridge

• “Let me tell you, my girl, that I'm swallowing no more of your insults! And if I hear another word from you in disparagement of the Corinthian set it will be very much the worse for you!”

  Waldro Hawkridge

• “You are an atrocious person! Since the day I met you I have become steadily more depraved.”

  Ancilla Trent

• “I'm really not quite as frippery a fellow as you seem to think! I own that in my grasstime I committed a great many follies and extravagances, but, believe me, I've long since out-grown them! I don't think they were any worse than what nine out of ten youngsters commit, but unfortunately I achieved, through certain circumstances, a notoriety which most young men escape. I was born with a natural aptitude for the sporting pursuits you regard with so much distrust, and I inherited, at far too early an age, a fortune which not only enabled me to indulge my tastes in the most expensive manner imaginable, but which made me an object of such interest that everything I did was noted, and talked of. That's heady stuff for greenhorns, you know! There was a time when I gave the gossips plenty to talk about. But do give me credit for having seen the error of my ways!”

  Waldro Hawkridge

• “He was not so much cynical as armoured; and at the age of five-and-thirty believed that he was past the age of falling in love. What he saw in Miss Trent he liked: the fine eyes which looked so directly into his, the graceful carriage, the indefinably well-bred air which distinguished her, and the absence of any affectation in her manners.”

  Waldro Hawkridge

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• ‘Well, it’s an odd circumstance, but I’ve frequently observed that whenever you boast of your beauty you seem to lose some of it. I expect it must be the change in your expression.’

  Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers

• the fine eyes which looked so directly into his, the graceful carriage, the indefinably well-bred air which distinguished her, and the absence of any affectation in her manners.

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

• She decided that her wisest course would be to put him out of her mind. After reaching this conclusion she lay thinking about him until at last she fell asleep.

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

• forced her to confront the truth she had hitherto refused to acknowledge: she had been in love with the Nonesuch for weeks.

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

• but, there’s no heart behind that lovely face,

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• The most senior of the three cousins gathered together in Lady Lindeth’s drawing-room was George Wingham, the son of her ladyship’s eldest sister.

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• To a proud woman of her upbringing the imputation of setting her cap at the Nonesuch was so abhorrent that she was nauseated every time she thought of it.

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• abandoning the sporting attire of the Corinthian for all the extravagances of fashion popular amongst the young dandies.

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

• ‘I wish for some private conversation with you, Miss Trent. Now, don’t freeze me with Indeed! as you froze poor Laurie, or tell me that you can’t conceive why I should hope to find you alone!’

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

• natural ringlets to fall becomingly from a knot placed high on her head. She looked very much younger, and, in Sir Waldo’s eyes, beautiful.

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• London
• Staples: the most considerable house in the neighborhood of Oversett, the village in which Broom Hall is situated. Home of Mrs Underhill, her daughter and niece.
• Broom Hall: House to which the Nonesuch is heir, "though generally inferior in style and size to young Lord Lindeth's seat in the Midlands, was a very respectable house, with probably as many as thirty bedrooms. It did not stand in a park, but its gardens appeared to be extensive."
• Harrogate: Town near which Broom Hall is situated.
• Leeds: Town to which Broom Hall is somewhat closer than Harrogate
• Oversett: The village in the middle of the parish in which Broom Hall is situated.
• Knaresborough
• Maniford: Waldo's town house
• Portland Place
• Mountsorrel
• Bridlington
• Bardsey
• Bond Street

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Nonesuch: a paragon

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by A Civil Contract, and followed by False Colours.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Georgette Heyer (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PZ3.H514 Np2 PR6015.E795
• Dewey: 813

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Appropriate for young adults with advance readings skills. Content is similar to Jane Austen.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Romance › Authors, A-Z › ( H ) › Heyer, Georgette
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Historical
• Books › Romance › Regency