Georgette Heyer - Imitators

Imitators

As Heyer's popularity increased, other authors began to imitate her style. Around 1950, one of her readers notified her that another author had written several novels in a style similar to Heyer's. The offending novelist even reused names and character traits from her books. Heyer seriously considered filing a lawsuit but dismissed the idea when no new works by the other author were announced. In 1974, however, this author released a new novel which combined plot elements and proper names from multiple Heyer novels and duplicated much of her phrasing. Heyer's lawyers again counseled restraint. Rather than file a lawsuit, they suggested that she leak the copying to the press. Heyer refused.

In 1961, another reader wrote of similarities found in a different author's works. The novels borrowed plot points, characters, surnames, and plentiful Regency slang. After fans accused Heyer of "publishing shoddy stuff under a pseudonym", Heyer wrote to the other publisher to complain. The author denied the accusations, so Heyer made a thorough list of the borrowings and historical mistakes in the books. Among these were repeated use of the phrase "to make a cake of oneself", which Heyer had discovered in a privately printed memoir unavailable to the public. In another case, the author referenced a historical incident that Heyer had invented in an earlier novel. Heyer sought a lawyer's opinion but ultimately chose not to sue.