Metzger, Barbara 1944-

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METZGER, Barbara 1944-

PERSONAL: Born February 15, 1944, in New Rochelle, NY; daughter of Jerome Ira (a stockbroker) and Celia (Zirolnik) Metzger. Education: Connecticut College, B.A., 1966.

ADDRESSES: Home—P.O. Box 883, Montauk, NY 11954.

CAREER: Novelist. Greeting card verse writer, 1966; worked as an assistant editor, proofreader, and copy editor, 1966-75; artist and craftsperson, 1969—. Member of Friends of the Montauk Library and South Fork Craftsmen's Guild.

AWARDS, HONORS: Romantic Times, award nominations for A Worthy Wife, Lord Heartless, and The Primrose Path, and award for Miss Lockhart's Letters.

WRITINGS:

ROMANCE NOVELS

Bething's Folly, Walker (New York, NY), 1981.

The Earl and the Heiress, Walker (New York, NY), 1982.

My Lady Innkeeper, Walker (New York, NY), 1985.

Rake's Ransom, Walker (New York, NY), 1986.

A Suspicious Affair, G. K. Hall (Thorndike, ME), 1995.

Father Christmas, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1995.

An Enchanted Affair, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1996.

The Primrose Path, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1997.

Snowdrops and Scandalbroth, G. K. Hall (Thorndike, ME), 1998.

Miss Lockhart's Letters, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1998.

A Worthy Wife, New American Library (New York, NY), 2000.

Saved by Scandal, Signet (New York, NY), 2000.

The Painted Lady, Signet (New York, NY), 2001.

Cupboard Kisses, Signet (New York, NY), 2001.

Miss Westlake's Windfall, Signet (New York, NY), 2001.

A Debt to Delia, Signet (New York, NY), 2002.

Also author of novels Lady Whilton's Wedding, Lord Heartless, Miss Treadwell's Talent, The Christmas Carrolls, and Valentines. Contributor to anthology A Regency Christmas Eve, Signet, 2000.

OTHER

(With Carol Hilgartner Schlank) Martin Luther King,Jr.: A Biography for Young Children, Gryphon House (Mt. Rainer, MD), 1990.

(With Carol Hilgartner Schlank) Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Biography for Young Children, Gryphon House (Mt. Rainier, MD), 1991.

(With Carol Hilgartner Schlank) A Clean Sea: TheRachel Carson Story: A Biography for Young Children, Cascade Press (Culver City, CA), 1994.

(With Carol Hilgartner Schlank) Together and Equal:Fostering Cooperative Play and Promoting Gender Equity in Early Childhood Programs, Allyn & Bacon (Boston, MA), 1997.

Editor of local library newsletter.

SIDELIGHTS: Barbara Metzger once told CA: "My arts and crafts consist of animal paintings—acrylics on natural materials—and hand-built ceramics. I sell mostly at craft shows, from May to December. In the winters I write. . . . I loved [the work of Regency romance novelist] Georgette Heyer and the whole feeling of Regencies—sweet and silly, basically fun."

Many critics have acknowledged the "basically fun" aspect of Metzger's romance novels. A review of Snowdrops and Scandalbroth by an All about Romance contributor pointed to the way Metzger "explores, in the lightest and funniest of ways, the double standard that we sometimes apply to the behavior of heroes and heroines." In Metzger's 1998 novel the strapping Viscount Chase is basically chaste—and "it's killing him," as the reviewer wrote. Worried that his lack of romantic experience will label him a failure, the viscount seeks a woman to marry. But before any of the fair maidens will give him a look, the count must develop a more randy reputation. He needs "a mistress to show off, but not one who will gossip to others"; penniless governess, Miss Partland, seems to fill the bill. Concerned about her own reputation, Miss Partland assumes a fictitious name and settles into the role of courtesan. The All about Romance reviewer cited an "overly complicated external plot" that includes a jewel theft as a drawback to Snowdrops and Scandalbroth, but "worth remembering" are the scenes in which Metzger switches her characters' gender roles. "It is then," the critic continued, "that we have the opportunity, however fleeting, to consider the appeal of a hero willing to save his body for the woman he loves."

In The Painted Lady Metzger offers, in the opinion of Jonathan Taylor of Romance and Friends, "another delightfully funny Regency," this time centering on the duke of Casewell, who lives to paint. Unfortunately, aristocrats of the eighteenth century don't paint pictures, so the duke must hide in the attic where he paints nudes—but only from memory, lest a live model betray his secret.

A problem with canines is what dogs Corin, Seventh Viscount Knowle, in Metzger's The Primrose Path. When Corin's inheritance of Primrose Cottage is willed instead to the family dogs, courtesy of eccentric aunt Sophie, it is up to Sophie's young maid Angelina to care for the canines until homes can be found for one and all. Corin and Angelina are destined to find love together, but not before they maneuver through espionage and romantic triangles.

Metzger takes a darker plot turn with A Debt to Delia. In this 2002 novel the title character is an honest woman who made one mistake, resulting in an out-of-wedlock child named Delia. Into the young mother's life comes Major Tyverne St. Ives, who vows to look after Delia as a dying wish to the woman's brother, George, who has sacrificed his life to save the major. For all his attention to young Delia, the soldier is no lady's man and, said a Publishers Weekly contributor, "his talk of honor and duty fails to impress [the unwed mother], who demands nothing less than a marriage built on love." The reviewer summed up A Debt to Delia as "unforgettable" and an example of Metzger's writing "at its finest and funniest."