Beauvallet [Hardcover]

Georgette Heyer (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: E. P. Dutton & Co. (1968)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000JPIBBG
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,412,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author of over fifty books, Georgette Heyer is the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists, making the Regency period her own. Her first novel, "The Black Moth," published in 1921, was written at the age of fifteen to amuse her convalescent brother; her last was My Lord John. Although most famous for her historical novels, she also wrote eleven detective stories. Georgette Heyer died in 1974 at the age of seventy-one.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not one of my favourite Heyer's, very Errol Flynn though, August 17, 2005

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beauvallet (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a whole different Heyer to what I am used to. One of her earlier books it is very reminiscent of the silent films of Douglas Fairbanks, and in fact I always imagine Errol Flynn in the lead role of Beauvallet, flashing his teeth and being full of derring-do.

I have to say that I much prefer her georgian and Regency books, but this book isn't unsuccessful - just a bit different. For instance, it is set in Elizabethan times and the slang is a bit jarring at times. But it is full of adventure as Nicholas Beauvallet, a privateer for England, falls in love with one of the Spanish women on a ship he robs, and she falls for him. He must then travel to Spain and kidnap her under the roof of her protective father, and run away with her back to England.

It is definitely a sparkling love story, and quite a long read to. Interestingly it is one of the only novels she wrote as a continuation of a previous one - as Nicholas Beauvallet is a descendant of "Simon the Coldheart"

I would not recommend this book as a first Heyer novel for anyone. I would definitely recommend that historical romance fans read this though. There is no sex or bodice ripping, it is very tame by today's standards, but it is a really nice romantic novel.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful and different, September 14, 2004

By 

skisno "skisno" (Hollis, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauvallet (Mass Market Paperback)

I thought I read all of Georgette Heyers books with the exception of a few of her mysteries but I was wrong. Somehow I missed this one. It is a gem that is not to be missed.

My mom turned me onto Georgette Heyer when I was a teenager and I gobbled up all of the books at the library and used-books stores. I'm delighted to see so many of them reissued with forewards by popular authors. Although I'm offended my some of the authors chosen to write the forewards because their writing in no way can be compared to the deft and light touch of Georgette Heyer, I think it's wonderful that they are being republished and brought to the attention of a new generation of readers.

Beauvallet is set in Elizabethan times. I'm not aware of any other Georgette Heyer book that is set in this time, so that makes it a treasure in itself. Nick Beauvallet is a rugged charmer with an eye for a pretty lady--so different from the other Heyer books where the heros are more intellectual and less down to earth. He's a self-made entrepeneur who also happens to be a pirate for England. It's wonderful how Drake and other famous historical characters are mentioned casually as contempories of Nick. Secondary characters steal the show very much like Heyer novels set in Georgian and Regency times. Joshua, Nick's sidekick is delightful. Nick's lady love is a feisty Spanish beauty who is worth the risk that Nick takes to rescue her from an arranged marriage in Spain during the time of the Inquistion. King Philip is a baddie as are his minions who are determined to impose their un-Christian version of Christianity on the general populace (or else!) The outrageous Nick Beauvallet outwits King Philip and his posse in an exciting narrative. You'll enjoy every minute of this old-fashioned but fun book.

It's a rowdy and earthy book, very different than her Georgian/Regency books, which is not a bad thing. If I were to compare it with her other books, I would say it is most like The Talisman Ring in down-to-earth tone. I was surprised and delighted to discover it.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sparkling Elizabethan romance, deft historical detail, February 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beauvallet (Mass Market Paperback)

A dashing gentleman of 16th Century England might dare to break the rules, especially if, as tensions rose with Spain, he found his heart lost to a Spanish lady. So Nick Beauvallet, knight and sailor, who dares much, and whose manservant Joshua is himself worth the book. The author's keen eye for history, and neat writing, make her work delightful.