Civil Contract is my favourite Heyer novel, being the nearest to a serious work that she wrote. Her heroine is something of a novelty, being plain, rather shy and not charming and of a fairy like beauty. She is also of humble origin, being the daughter of a man born in poverty, and a mother who was a farmer's daughter... and for many in the upper-class world she will always be seen as a Cit's daughter. Heyer creates a heroine who is realistic in her lack of charm and beauty. Jenny learns to fit in with Society but she is shy and gruff at times and dresses badly, till she realises that simple clothes and less jewelry suit her better. She understands her husband and love him, and manages to conceal her feelings from him for a time.. knowing that for her to admit to love for him will only embarrass them both.
Adam grows to love her but he does not fall romantically in love at any stage and while he realises that Julia is not the right woman for him, he probably will always admire her for her better qualities. The book is warmly realistic in its depiction of a marriage which is probably more like many marriages at the time than romantic ones. The couple are awkward with each other, and dont understand things about the other's class, at first. Adam is angered and embarrassed by Mr Chawleigh lavishing him with expensive gifts and suggesting modernising Fontley and making it more luxurious.
Jenny, while not wanting to make Fontley luxurious, does want to make the house more comfortable and keep it in good order and can't understand why Adam is slow to accept this, or to realise that she is an excellent and active housewife who can assist him in his plans for the estate. She is bewildered when Charlotte says that the family all love the house even for its very shabbiness - she thinks if you love something you want to improve it and make it as good as possible.
Adam is a charming figure but at times naive and slow to develop. He undertakes a difficult marriage to save his estate and to keep it in his family and to provide dowries for his 2 sisters whose fortunes were lost. He tries to shake off his love for Julia, but she finds it hard to keep a distance from him, and their social meetings are painful for both. He tells Julia that although its true that upper class couples often practice infidelity or romantic friendships outside their marriages, he does not believe that he can do so, however innocently. He does not love Jenny but he will not expose her to the gossip of the Ton, by being seen with another woman. He says that Jenny has few friends and no family apart from her father and she is too shy to make her own way in Society, and he will not allow himself to neglect her, even if he does not love her.
The book is also realistic in the way the relationship between Adam and his father-in-law is portrayed. He admires the man's shrewdness while often deprecating his vulgarity and domineering ways. He grows to like him and Mr Chawleigh likes him while wishing that Adam would lead a more grandiose life and give up his interest in farming. The 2 men are often at odds and have ambivalent feelings about each other, but they have a mutual respect. Adam has hopes at the end that he and Mr Chawleigh can work together, him using his father in law's business skill and interest in engineering and him contributing to the partnership his knowledge of country life.
I've loved this book for so many years, my partner read it but found it too unromantic, but it's the very realism that pleases me.
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