Set in the Georgian period, about 20 years before the Regency, These Old Shades is considered to be the book that launched Heyer’s career. It features two of Heyer’s most memorable characters: Justin Alastair, the Duke of Avon, and Leonie, whom he rescues from a life of ignomy and comes to love and marry. The Duke is known for his coldness of manner, his remarkable omniscience, and his debauched … debauched lifestyle. Late one evening, he is accosted by a young person dressed in ragged boy’s clothing running away from a brutal rustic guardian. The Duke buys “Leon” and makes the child his page. “Leon” is in fact Leonie, and she serves the Duke with deep devotion. When he uncovers the true story of her birth, he wreaks an unforgettable revenge on her sinister father in a chilling scene of public humiliation.
PRAISE FOR GEORGETTE HEYER:
“Our Georgette Heyer display of the Sourcebooks reprints has been a huge success, not only to those early fans like myself, but to many new readers who appreciate her style and wit.” Nancy Olson, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC
“Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen.” Publishers Weekly
“Wonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic. Georgette Heyer achieves what the rest of us only aspire to.” Katie Fforde
“Absolute monarch of the Regency romance.” Kirkus Reviews
more
Georgette Heyer is wonderful. Witty and romantic, she is an expert in her historic eras, someone who has read and absorbed the very feel and of every aspect. (She spent hours at various museums and libraries, reading letters and prose from the relevant days)
However, who cares? GH creates a story of a ragamuffin boy who is really a girl, who runs …
These Old Shades
Gossip, scandal and an unforgettable Regency romance
Alastair-Audley Book 1
Georgette Heyer
Release Date 1926, actual edition 02/28/2011
Publisher Cornerstone Digital
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PGNGSI/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_awdo_NA6MW57RTG6XG3BDPXND
Justin Alastair, the Duke of Avon, is a reprehensible rake …
One of Georgette Heyer’s best works in my opinion riveting from start to finish.
I love the strong female characters in al Georgette Heyers novels. These are all clean/ sweet romances, which is the way I like it. The historical research from clothing to language and attitudes is very accurate which adds to the pleasure of the read.
I read this book when I was in middle school. I loved it!! This is the reason I love to read. This book touched me in a way I can’t explain. It made me run a gauntlet of emotions. This is the first book a rated with five stars.
I love Georgette Heyer and this is one of my favorites.
THESE OLD SHADES is another of Heyer’s chick-in-pants Georgian romances. Again, she pulls it off. Leonie is absolutely believable as the girl dressed as a boy who becomes the Duke of Avon’s page.
As well as being a chick-in-pants romance, this is also a May-December romance, because Avon is a heck of a lot older than Leonie. He has also been a …
One of my absolutely favourite regency historical novels
Amazingly characters, and fun too!
Did not want it to end
This is one of my favorite Georgette Heyer books, and I was long overdue for a reread. Justin, Duke of Avon, and Leon/Leonie are two of the most enjoyable characters I have ever read. The duke is a notorious rake, arrogant, condescending, and seemingly obsessed with his appearance. His conversations are laced with insults and sarcasm. But he is …
Clean, interesting romance. Heyer does it so well!