These Old Shades (Historical Romances)

This is one of two Georgette Heyers that I recommend to those who have not read any of her books. It has a great plot, and all of the humor and historical relevancy that is typical of this author. Fun and touching!

Having only recently discovered Georgette Heyer, I am pleased and amazed to watch her stories unfold with such creative drama, intricate twists, and uplifting, compelling character studies. I enjoy her vocabulary, literary references, foreign words and impressive artistic skill. Although I am a novice, I look forward to exploring this author.

Heyer was very young when she wrote these old shades, but her characters develope, dialogue is humorous and uses correct cant terms, and appropriate, with her research, she is able to give us a feeling for the period. The plot is somewhat immature,but fun.

This was my first Georgette Heyer novel and it definitely wont be my last. I've already purchased "Federica" and "Devil's Club". I just found out that there is a third book to the Alastair saga and that is "An Infamous Army" which I will be purchasing as well. I enjoyed the story very much. At some parts it was rather slow and I thought maybe it would've been better to have listened to the audio instead. However, I kept reading and Justin "Satanas" was so intriguing I just had to trudge forth. Justin is a devilish man and he gives no apologies for his wicked ways. He saves a young boy from a cruel person, his brother and purchases him on the spot to be his Paige. The Paige's relationship/feelings for her Monseigneur are of the utmost adoration, admiration and of fierce loyalty. However, Justin discovers information,(a well hidden secret) about his new Paige that he will justly and excitedly use against his archenemy,Compte de Saint Vire.

One of my favorites among Georgette Heyer's historical novels. Colorful characters and an usual heroine create a stir in aristocratic 18th century Paris. I am thrilled by the appearance of new editions of Heyer's books. My old 1970s paperbacks have fallen apart from age and repeated readings.

Mrs. Heyer was a genius at recency romance. Her characters are full life size images and hold your interest. The situations are fun and completely plausible. She taught everyone how it should be if your writing a romance. This first of a trilogy is one of her best.

"These Old Shades" is a sequel to Georgette Heyer's reputed first-ever novel, "The Black Moth," the title character of that first effort being a man known as Satanas to his few intimate friends.

He is Justin Alastair, the Duke of Avon, premier swordsman of his day, a libertine and a "care-for-nothing." His word is law to anyone who wishes to continue living, and he is also a seducer of any woman who catches his eye, whatever her rank in society. Where seduction has failed, he has sometimes stooped to kidnapping and forcible rape. Yet he is also intelligent, witty, devilishly handsome and very charismatic.

I can see how such a character would have intrigued the fifteen-year-old Georgette Heyer when she first wrote of him. At my first reading of "The Black Moth" I was near that age, and Justin Alastair also seemed dangerously intriguing to me then. I am much older now, and the notion of such a man is far more troubling than it was in my girlhood. People of that supremely selfish ilk do not change and become caring, considerate human beings, and the Love of a Good Woman does not reform such brutal ruiners of other people's lives.

But Georgette Heyer's storytelling ability is so great that I am willing to suspend my disbelief and actively root for such a man within the structure of her novel, and hope he really can find true love that will redeem his character.

I love this book, because it's an excellent good read.

I tried this book after enthusiastic recommendations from others. I enjoy historical fiction but had never read Heyer before. I found the book enjoyable enough. I appreciated the fine-tuned dialogue with its period usages. I find more current historical fiction tends to be full of anachronisms, especially in speech, but this one seemed well researched.

As for the characters, I did not mind Avon and Leonie's age difference, although I found the author hit us over the head with her constant portrayal of Leonie as this irresistible coquette; I am one of those who found her somewhat irritating and immature. I also would have felt more empathy for her supposedly dark and abusive past if we had seen a bit more of it to start with. I liked some of the supporting characters, like Rupert, Avon's brother, and Fanny, Avon's modish sister. And like others, I disliked Heyer's implications that one's birth status somehow predicts one's appearance and behavior.

Overall, the book was well plotted, with lively period details and forgivable sentimentality. I kept seeing a movie in my head as I read it. I may well read more of Heyer's books, and didn't know until I read reviews that this is one of Heyer's first books. As for the title's meaning, there is an explanation on the Wikipedia site.

Wow. What a story! There have been many devilish dukes written on the pages of Regency Romance novels but this Devilish Duke is the Grandsire of them all. Gorgeous. Utterly delicious. I'll take two. And then there is our spitfire heroine. A delightful imp of a girl who steals hearts without a thought and stabs foes without a care. I loved her. The original Original. Perfection. The book is the prequel to Devil's Cub but one does not necessarily need to read them in order. It might help to keep some of the principle side characters in order from one book to the next, but both books stand alone quite well. This was a fantastic look at the French side of the Regency era. I would have liked a little more historical detail, but that is just me. The writing simply transports one directly into the story. The language is phenomenal. Another great one by the master of the genre. Very very highly recommended for all Regency Romance lovers.

I have been reading and re-reading Georgette Heyer for nigh on to 30 years, and "These Old Shades" is one I never tire of revisiting. It is crisp and well-plotted, delightful in its incorporation of artifice and reality into an intricate combination of breathtaking adventure and comedy of manners. While rooted securely into its period structure it is easily accessible even to those to whom the mores and morals of the Anglo-French nobility is brand new. Each time I read it I am delighted to see how Miss Heyer adeptly demonstrates the reality of her characters, however much they are placed centuries apart from our own lives. At family meals they argue and tease and plot, they bicker in private but present united fronts to the world, they are loyal and proud and funny -- in short, they are very much as we are when we are at our best -- and worst. If you have never read a Heyer, by all means start with this one. It cannot fail to enchant.

This is the first book in a wonderful Heyer series. The next three books depend on events and knowledge of the characters introduced in "These Old Shades". It is not my favorite Heyer romance for several reasons, but I definitely encourage its purchase and reading especially at a bargain price. The mannerism and values of the historical period covered in the book do not translate well to modern times, but Heyer has captured the aristocratic viewpoint well. The Duke is one of the most difficult characters to understand or like in any of her books. His treatment of Leonie and her feelings for him seem just a little too much Lolita-ish for these times, but weren't so creepy when written. This is not a book to read when one is looking for a delightful Regency Romp or a romantic comedy; it is a darkly themed book of revenge using an innocent young woman as the weapon. Leonie does become a women of enormous strength in the later books. I have purchased every Heyer book published for Kindle so I recommend snapping the books up whenever they are available at bargain prices.

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).

I have loved Georgette Heyers' stories for many years. These Old Shades was one of my favorites and I really enjoyed reading the story again. I am now reading the follow up story The Devils Cub and am enjoying it just as much as These Old Shades.

I have read all of Georgette Heyer's regency books. She has long been my favorite authoress. No one has ever written a regency romance comparable in style, with knowlegeable authenticity of the period, nor quite the superb entertaining story plots as she!

I recently "discovered" Georgette Heyer and am starting to devour her books! Everyone told me that this is one of the best to read early on, and I agree! A great tale of intrigue and romance; lots of action and humor and drama and surprises!

I just bought the audio-book version of this book for a friend who is in a long-term nursing facility. I have read the book probably over 50 times, so I have a great deal of affection for it. No, actually, I love it. My problem with the audio-book version is that the accent of the person reading the book is all wrong. And because of his limitations at imitating other people's accents, he can't do a convincing rendition of what any of the main characters in the book should sound like. I noticed when I listened to it before buying it. His accent when reading the Duke's lines does not make him sound like a half-French, half-English aristocrat. He makes him sound like something else, but I'm not sure what. Avon should sound cool, aristocratic, dignified, slightly cold, and above-it-all. This narrator is not successful at imparting those qualities. I hope at some point they re-issue the audio-book version with someone else reading it.

I recently "discovered" Georgette Heyer and am starting to devour her books! Everyone told me that this is one of the best to read early on, and I agree! A great tale of intrigue and romance; lots of action and humor and drama and surprises!

I just bought the audio-book version of this book for a friend who is in a long-term nursing facility. I have read the book probably over 50 times, so I have a great deal of affection for it. No, actually, I love it. My problem with the audio-book version is that the accent of the person reading the book is all wrong. And because of his limitations at imitating other people's accents, he can't do a convincing rendition of what any of the main characters in the book should sound like. I noticed when I listened to it before buying it. His accent when reading the Duke's lines does not make him sound like a half-French, half-English aristocrat. He makes him sound like something else, but I'm not sure what. Avon should sound cool, aristocratic, dignified, slightly cold, and above-it-all. This narrator is not successful at imparting those qualities. I hope at some point they re-issue the audio-book version with someone else reading it.

I loooove Georgette Heyer, this book I had it but it was in very bad shape and I wanted a brand new copy. What I like very much about this copy is the beautiful painting in the cover. And the book itself is one of my favorite ones by Georgette. I can read it over and over again.

Sometimes, in all my empowered glory, I just want a straightforward romance with a sinister and powerful hero, a heroine dressed as a boy, and a couple kidnappings and shootings. It scratches an itch.

Justin Alastair is tall, elegant, languid, and deadly. Also inscrutable. That means that the whole story hinges on things that the hero knows and we don't as readers. The heroine is very child-like compared to him, but for good story reasons, and as the book goes on, it makes more sense that they could be good for each other.

Read if: You like a not-so-nice hero and the woman who reforms him.

Skip if: Retrograde sex roles will make you grind your teeth.

My favorite book by my favorite author. The characters in this book are particularly vivid and the story is spellbinding. I could go on and on but I'll leave it at this... this book is a must read for lover's of historical romance.