
Venetia
Georgette Heyer · 1958
Many Heyer scholars consider this her masterwork: a romance between a sheltered country girl and a dissolute rake who turns out to be capable of genuine love. The dialogue is extraordinary, the heroine unusually self-possessed for the period, and the love story develops with real emotional intelligence.
Romance · the Pro canon
The case for it, the case against, and the rest of the canon open with Pro.