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Summary: One of my two all-time favorite books!
Review: (My other favorite is Charlotte's Web, by E.B.White, which is of course totally different from Simon the Coldheart!) Most of Georgette Heyer's books are set in Regency England, and she herself did not consider "Simon" to be one of her best efforts, asking that it not be re-printed. I am glad her kids got together and decided to re-print "Simon" because it is a totally unique blend of medieval life, adventure, romance, and character studies. Simon himself is a larger-than-life hero who walks straight through the front door and into the reader's memory for a lifetime! As my 10-year-old daughter observed when she read it, "Mom, I love this book! That Simon's a man and a half!"
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Summary: History come alive
Review: Georgette Heyer has turned out a book that shows great insight into the medieval lifestyle. The characters come alive and are completely credible. The events are historically accurate and the plots are resolved wonderfully well. A hugely entertaining book all round
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Summary: Did Heyer want this book published?
Review: Georgette Heyer wrote so many wonderful books that I recommend you skip this one, unless you are trying to read the whole oeuvre or are a serious scholar of the progress of her writing style. It is set in medieval times (as is her unfinished and rarely read history, Lord John) and her gift for dialog and characterization seems to be lost beneath the weight of the armor. If I remember right, according to her biography, The Private World of Georgette Heyer, this book was an early effort which she did not wish to be published. Instead, go on to one of her other novels. For mysteries, I recommend Blunt Instrument or Who Killed the Butler; for romances, any of the historical ones. And if you are new to Miss Heyer's work, you have many blissful hours ahead of you.
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Summary: Not her era...
Review: I am a devoted fan of Georgette Heyer, and have read a couple of her suppressed books--which number about six, all from her early publishing period, before she found her 'voice'. This was among the suppressed titles, but her husband decided to republish it after her death. I think her judgment on the matter was better, unfortunately. Heyer started publishing at age nineteen, and 'Simon' is obviously juvenilia. Sometimes embarrassingly so--c.f. Simon's affection for small boys (!) and the fact that he falls in love with the putative heroine only after seeing her in male garb. (!!) And unfortunately, the middle ages is not her era. The dialogue is heavy and not particularly realistic--far from her witty efforts in the Regency books. There is the occasional good scene that suggests Heyer's future triumphs--such as Simon's encounter with his father. But for the most part, this book should have stayed in the obscurity to which Heyer consigned it.
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Summary: where has this book been all my life?
Review: I havent read Heyer before and am not a fan of the regency period so was glad to get an opportunity to try this author on. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! This book is absolutely fabulous, its a hard read because of the old type English but its worth it. Really believable characters. I got this from the Library and will now have to buy myself a copy cos its a keeper. I cannot recommend this book highly enough
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Summary: Simon the Coldheart is a fine read!
Review: Simon the Coldheart is now rarely in print - sadly Dame Heyer's cardboard mysteries are more often available than this her one foray into medieval life & times when she delved into the Norman Conquest & produced a remarkable, enduring tale of the clash of two cultures. No quarter was given in those times - not from men, not from women & they loved & fought in the only way they knew - with honor & duty &, that strangely new emotion, courtly love! Fascinating & worth finding!
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Summary: Not her era...
Review: This book is a fun read because you really get into the characters and find yourself anxious to see the outcome. What also made this book even more enjoyable was to follow reading it with reading "Beauvallet" which, set in the 16th century, revisits the family that Simon the Coldheart starts.
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Summary: Fun and interesting
Review: This book is a fun read because you really get into the characters and find yourself anxious to see the outcome. What also made this book even more enjoyable was to follow reading it with reading "Beauvallet" which, set in the 16th century, revisits the family that Simon the Coldheart starts.
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