Barren Corn

– ‘The story is beautifully written… compelling’ Boston Transcript

– New York Times bestselling author

– ‘Escapism of the highest order’ The Daily Mail

– Republication of one of Georgette Heyer’s ‘suppressed’ romance novels, out of print for almost a century

They met in the summer of 1926 on a hill-top in Villefranche on the French Riveria. Hugh instantly began to sketch the beautiful Laura, magnificent in statue, calm of demeanour. The moment she heard his voice Laura had known he belonged to a class above her own. He was one of the English Leisured Class; she worked in a hat shop. Against all her instincts, Laura is persuaded by Hugh to marry him. Will the apparently mismatched couple thrive or be torn apart by London high society?

About the Author

Georgette Heyer is the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists. She was born in Wimbledon, London in 1902, the eldest of three children. A vociferous reader from an early age she wrote her first book to amuse her sick brother, Boris, and it was published in 1921. She would write over fifty more and virtually invented the historical romance genre. She died in 1974.

Praise for Georgette Heyer

‘Perfect craftsmanship’
New York Times

‘My favourite historical novelist – stylish, romantic, sharp, and witty… her sense of period is superb’
Margaret Drabble

‘Brings history to life… Georgette Heyer is second to none’
The Sunday Times

‘One of the great protagonists of the historical novel’
Philippa Gregory

‘Heyer’s women are spunky, daring and outrageous… her heroes the stuff of dreams’
Diana Palmer, New York Times bestselling author

‘Downright delicious… wonderful entertainment from first page to last’
Chicago Sunday Tribune

‘Wonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic. Georgette Heyer achieves what the rest of us only aspire to’
Katie Fforde, New York Times bestselling author

‘Georgette Heyer is unbeatable’
India Knight

‘A fabulous, witty writer’
Stephen Fry