These Old Shades [Hardcover]

Georgette Heyer (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Heineman (1964)
• ASIN: B000MVQUFQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,865,739 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

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best ever., October 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: These Old Shades (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful, plot- and character-driven book; indeed, it is the Tom Jones of romance fiction. Like Tom Jones, it is densely written and it is intricate. The plot is not merely a structure for explaining how and why the characters fall in love. Instead, the love story is a natural element of the overall plot. The story is subtly developed, like a good mystery; clues are dropped throughout and the big climax scene is stunning. When I read that scene as a teenager, I was so amazed, I re-read it and then re-read the entire book to that point to figure out why I hadn't picked up on what was going to happen. Unpredictability is such a relief. The relationship between the hero and the much-younger heroine is developed slowly. He is urbane and dry, she charming and playful. Despite their age difference, it becomes clear that they are well-suited. She balances him, and makes him human rather than the cold and arrogant man he is at first. Another important element is that the dialogue often resembles the dialogue in a Jane Austen book; the formalities and conventions of rank and address are respected. Finally, the supporting characters are well-drawn and entertaining, and the villian is truly disturbing. Since I read this book many years ago, I do not think I have ever read a better romance novel.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masque of lace and steel, November 25, 1999

By 

Brett Evill - See all my reviews

This review is from: These Old Shades (Hardcover)

This is one of the landmarks in the Heyer canon: the most extravagant and adventurous of her romances. Set forty years before the Regency novels for which Heyer is most famous, 'These Old Shades' forms a series with 'Devil's Cub' and 'An Infamous Army', which relate the adventures of later generations of the Alastair family. (A Heyer afficionado may also detect a connection with the inferior 'The Black Moth', set yet earlier.)

In 'These Old Shades' the Duke of Avon (the most ruthless and sinister of Heyer's heroes) pursues a passion for vengeance and Titian hair, and ends up catching the most flamboyant and daring of her heroines.

Read 'A Civil Contract' for a lyrical love-story, 'The Convenient Marriage' for clever dialogue: and 'These Old Shades' for adventure.

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars words cannot describe how WONDERFUL this story is, May 28, 2000

By 

"shell30" - See all my reviews

This review is from: These Old Shades (Mass Market Paperback)

'These Old Shades' is my absolute favourite by Georgette Heyer. Out of so many wonderful stories that she has written this book is in a class of it's own. No romance reader should ignore this book. It has it all - romance, intrigue and humour. It is more enjoyable because it doesn't have any of the heavily erotic love-making scenes that can be popular today. 'These Old Shades' is so well written that it doesn't need to rely on them. It is, purely and simply, a romance story in its truest form.

In several ways Barbara Cartland's 'Love Me For Ever' is very similar to 'These Old Shades' - runaway meets cycnical Duke, is briefly disguised as his page, calls him Monseigner and becomes his ward. 'Love Me For Ever' is one of my favourite Barbara Cartland stories, but 'These Old Shades' has more depth and the characters, Justin, Duke of Avon and Leon/Leonie, and even the supporting characters are much stronger.

Please read 'These Old Shades'if you get a chance. You won't be sorry.