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4) 18/2/11
Georgette Heyer: These Old Shades
Set slightly earlier than the Regency period and spanning both France and England, this is the story of a boy called Leon, who is really a girl called Leonie, and the notorious Duke of Avon, nicknamed Satanas. On first sight he realises Leonie is female, recognises her ancestry and knows he can make use of her to damage an old enemy, but gradually he comes to care for her and to find out that she's more than he first assumed her to be. This is early Heyer - circa 1925 - and supposedly her first instantly successful novel, but it's the worst one of hrs that I've ever read. The characters are totally annoying. Leonie is too stupid to live. She doesn't know how to engage her brain before opening her mouth. Supposedly 19, she acts like a brainless six year old most of the time and elicits no sympathy at all. The Duke of Avon has been kidnapped by alens and a level-headed gentleman put in his place because although we get a list of his terrible behaviour, we see no sign that he's anything other than respectable and kind. He's never anywhere near as bad as his reputation.
Georgette Heyer: These Old Shades
Set slightly earlier than the Regency period and spanning both France and England, this is the story of a boy called Leon, who is really a girl called Leonie, and the notorious Duke of Avon, nicknamed Satanas. On first sight he realises Leonie is female, recognises her ancestry and knows he can make use of her to damage an old enemy, but gradually he comes to care for her and to find out that she's more than he first assumed her to be. This is early Heyer - circa 1925 - and supposedly her first instantly successful novel, but it's the worst one of hrs that I've ever read. The characters are totally annoying. Leonie is too stupid to live. She doesn't know how to engage her brain before opening her mouth. Supposedly 19, she acts like a brainless six year old most of the time and elicits no sympathy at all. The Duke of Avon has been kidnapped by alens and a level-headed gentleman put in his place because although we get a list of his terrible behaviour, we see no sign that he's anything other than respectable and kind. He's never anywhere near as bad as his reputation.
