These Old Shades

Rating:
Summary: a loveley and romantic lovestory
Review: "These old shades" was the first Georgette Heyer I ever read. This was a few years ago and I never forgot this story of hate, revenge and true love. The duke of Avon is a cynical and cruel man, very aristocratic (this was before the french Revolution) and hautain. Leonie (or Leon) captures his heart with her passionate love and devotion for him, even when he was still her master and she his page. She is the most enchanting of romantic heroines and will never be forgotten. The other figures in this story are amusing and charming. There is the young brother, the silly and loving sister and a real villain. The book gives a very nice discription of the aristocratic "beau monde" in England and France before the Revolution, just like the Scarlet Pimpernel- books by baroness Orczy. I think many people will love this book.

Rating:
Summary: words cannot describe how WONDERFUL this story is
Review: '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.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable but,
Review: I enjoyed the story overall but a little too much French especially for someone like me who knows very little of the language.

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Summary: Historical Background
Review: I love the whole "series" of interrelated Heyer novels that begins with this one, continues on through Devil's Cub and Regency Buck and ends in An Infamous Army. Love all of the them, and simply HAVE to read them in order. I'm so glad Heyer is being reprinted right now (though I own most of them in hardback).

Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag for me
Review: I opened this book with great expectiations, having seen it so highly lauded by many of my favorite authors. It took me quite some time to get into it. I really did not like the Duke early in the book, although I found him highly amusing as the book wore on, and I never really became fond of Leonie--she comes across as immature rather than spirited. The enormous age difference was a little off-putting to me; I'm not convinced this couple represents one of those great love stories, despite the compelling proposal scene.

The use of French in the book provided realism, but often left the reader (unless well-versed in French) a bit out of the loop. Very little of the action actually takes place in England; most is in France. By the way, ignore the cover; the book is Georgian in time period. The Duke's revenge & the intrigue behind it is well-played.

Although I eventually enjoyed the book, it'll never be one of my favorites. Sorry, fans.

Rating:
Summary: Not my sort of heroine
Review: Lately, I've been grabbing all the Heyer's I can possibly get my hands on from my local library; and since this particular book had been so highly rated by everyone, I felt compelled to read it. Now let me preface my review by saying that I prefer Heyer's older heroines to her younger heroines. As a result, I wasn't as enchanted as everyone else was by Leonie. Like so many of Heyer's heroes, I'm not at all interested in ladies just emerging from the schoolroom. Leonie's behavior was just too immature and childish for my tastes. Furthermore, I wasn't a big fan of Justin Alistair, who seemed cold, scheming, and too concerned with revenge.

As others have mentioned, the random French dialogue in the book can be rather off-putting for people not familiar with the language. I don't know French myself, but I do know some Spanish and Italian, so I was able to decipher most of what was said.

In addition, this was a Georgian era book, not a Regency novel. So what you'll see in this book are powdered wigs, face patches, and other signs of French fashion. I prefer the greater sense of propriety and etiquette of the Regency period versus the more free-love aspect of the French-styled Georgian period. So, for me, this book already had 2 strikes against it.

Unlike others, however, I was not disenchanted by "These Old Shades" because of the age difference between the two main characters. One of my favorite books is Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" in which the hero is 40, and the heroine is only 18. So the age discrepancy in this Heyer novel was not an issue with me. But I do agree with other reviewers that the father-daughter relationship that existed between Leonie and the Duke for most of the book suddenly morphing into a romantic relationship was a rather strange and disturbing event. An adoption would have been more believable in Leonie and the Duke's case, in my opinion.

If you prefer older heroines like Abbie in "Black Sheep," Deborah Grantham in "Faro's Daughter," Arabella in "Arabella," Frederica in "Frederica," Sophy in "The Grand Sophy," and/or Eve Matheson in "Lady of Quality," "These Old Shades" might not be your cup of tea.

I can only recommend "These Old Shades" to people who enjoy Heyer's younger heroines. Read this book if you enjoyed Amanda Smith in "Sprig Muslin," Horatia in "The Convenient Marriage" (also a Georgian novel), Penelope Creed in "The Corinthian," and/or Phoebe Marlowe in "Sylvester." These Heyer books all feature younger, "schoolroom misses."

I suppose everyone has their own personal favorite, but in my opinion, Georgette Heyer's best book is still "Frederica." And a close second is "The Grand Sophy."


Rating:
Summary: Alright
Review: Several of my favorite authors have mentioned this book(or this author) as one of their favorites. So...even though I had never read a harlequin romance novel before and I had never heard of the author and I wasn't too into the storyline from the blurb...I figured, it couldn't hurt to try it out.
When I first started reading the book, I was somewhat dissapointed. I wasn't too into the story at the start. It didn't really catch me the way some other books do...so as the days passed by, I very gradually read a few pages here and there. Sometime in the middle of the book it started to become more interesting, and I would actually make time to read the book, but that was half because I wanted to move onto other things.
Still, the book and the characters did start to grow on me. I wanted to see what happened. By the end of the book, I was almost dissapointed that it was over. I decided it wasn't a bad book after all, and I almost gave it four stars.
However, one of the things that turned me off from the start was the use of French in the book. I guess it was supposed to add a sort of authentic feel to the characters...and make them more believable...but if you don't know French at all, you might have trouble in these parts and be annoyed, even when you miss very small dialoge because of the language barrier. This is a book written in English. When I read a book in English, I expect to understand it.
Also, I wasn't so into their love. Like some of the other reviewers, the father-daughter relationship and the age difference just didn't do it for me. Half the time I tried to imagine that he was younger than he was...but part of me wanted her to end up with one of her younger suitors...
And I guess these are very small points, but sometimes the style of the writing sort of threw me off. The author, for example, would refer to the characters (whom she talked about in 3rd person for most of the book) as "my lady" or something of the sort. It took me a while to get used to that without stopping to consider the paragraph....
Additionally...I felt like the book sort of went along at too smooth a pace for the most part...there were some exciting parts and you knew when the book was sort of at the climax...but it never really did get THAT exciting to me. Perhaps more excitement would have done the book good.....

Rating:
Summary: Dark & Menacing, But A Great Read
Review: The Duke, also known as Satanas, recues a disguised damsel in distress, thus becoming an old enemy's nemesis. A wonderful read about characters you come to care a great deal about. I would recommend this to any fan of the genre! If you like this, don't forget about the sequel about the next generation, The Devil's Cub. Another great read!

Rating:
Summary: The best of Georgette Heyer's style, wit and emotion.
Review: THESE OLD SHADES includes the best of Ms. Heyer's considerable style. Her flair for witty dialogue, outrageous but believable characters -- and best of all -- real emotion is outstandingly displayed in this fast read of a book. The Duke of Avon, i.e., "Satanas" is a marvelous antagonist. His subtle, "bad boy" charm and engrossing intensity draws the heroine, Leonie, and the reader. The supporting cast of THESE OLD SHADES include figures from classic farce and classic Heyer: the foppish and hilarious brother, the society-conscious sister, the vulgar and wicked villain (Comte de Saint-Vire). All these characters romp, love and exchange funny, gorgeous dialogue with perfect period detail. Most satisfying of all is that at the heart of the story is very real, very passionate characters who will go to any lengths to win each other. For a Georgette Heyer fan, this book is a delicious treat. For those about to discover Georgette Heyer, you couldn't find a better place to start

Rating:
Summary: Read this first!
Review: This is one of my favorites - if not for Leonie then for the supporting cast of characters. If you read this one then Devil's Cub is a must. Heyer picks up the story 20 some odd years later following the adventures of Justin and Leonie's son.