The chilly season is upon us but a good book can warm your heart. Luckily there is historical romance author Sophie Irwin to provide the sparks of love to get the fires going. Author of A Lady's Guide to Fortune-hunting and A Lady’s Guide to Scandal and a new novel arriving in this new year, Sophie Irwin delivers regency era romance with a modern day flair that is sure to keep you turning pages late into the night.
Born in Dorset, Irwin studied historical fiction at Oxford University and has a long love of romance literature, citing Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer as her biggest influences. Irwin even did her dissertation on how Georgette Heyer created a huge boom in romance fiction during World War II in the UK as the sweet escapism of her works provided much needed relief from the horrors of war and with many men busy at the warfront, the publishing industry found new buyers marketing to women. The power of a good book has always been a good companion for hard times and in 1939 The Times called reading for pleasure “our safest refuge from the mental torment of war.” For those interested in Heyer’s stories, Sophie Irwin says that Frederica is her favorite and she recommends starting there.
Sophie Irwin loves recommending books and encouraging anyone to try the romance genre. In an interview with The Bookseller she describes how she hopes more people will discover that they too enjoy a good romance.
"It’s the same reason why we love things like ‘Gossip Girl’, but it’s even better. It’s just fascinating to read about very privileged, rich, beautifully dressed people having silly conversations over tea. It’s so much fun because it’s so removed from what’s going on [at the moment] but you empathise with it. I think it’s the best escapism there is."
For those looking to enjoy some of that delightful escapism, her first novel, A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting, is a great place to start. It has all the fun trappings of the Regency era but for the novel Irwin wanted to try applying a modern perspective on examining the intersections of wealth and gender during such a socially rigid era. “You never really have that many women in [historical rom-coms] that are sort of quite open and honest about the fact that they are after money,” Irwin said in the interview about how women “being mercenary is usually so unsexy in historical rom-coms.” Her second novel, A Lady's Guide to Scandal, has a plot that seems loosely inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion and features another strong-willed heroine learning to cast off the social expectations that had previously restricted her all life long. These books make for fun reads with plenty of twists, laughs, and enjoyment.
Fans of Sophie Irwin will also be thrilled to learn that she has an upcoming novel due out Summer 2025: How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days. In the meantime, Herrick Library has Irwin’s current two novels and plenty of other fun historical romance reads for you to check out.
Warm your heart with these historical romance reads this winter! HerrickDL AdultPicks
