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Take him away,' said Sir Nicholas, bored. ‘God speed you, señor.' Narvaez was led away, protesting. ‘Señora, be pleased to go aboard the Venture. Diccon, have their traps conveyed at once.' Don Manuel, held between two men, cried out. ‘Unhand her, fellow! Your commander! I demand to see your commander!' Dominica's character isn't perhaps as well developed as she might be, but Beauvallet is just wonderful. Think of any number of Errol Flynn movies! It would be quite fun to have a modern movie made of this book - someone like Benedict Cumberbatch could carry Beauvallet's part very well.
The soldiers were armed and ready in the waist and on the forecastle. There were gunners, grimed and stained with sweat, standing by their culverins; the brief panic had been swiftly quelled. Let the Venture come! Heyer's Simon the Coldheart opens with a 14-year-old Simon, bastard and stubborn, approaching Fulk of Maltice for a place as his squire. Thus begins the adventures of the Lord of Beauvallet, which include knighting, lording, fighting, digging, wardening, . Joined by his half-bro Geoffrey and his adopted bro Alan, he meets the tiger-lady of his dreams, Lady Margaret, except she's FRENCH and EVERYTHING'S RUINED. Overall, Heyer is one of my favorite authors, and I’ve probably read more of her books than any other author. If I have one complaint about the book it is that I think Ms. Heyer should have made Doña Beatrice the villainess. As I commented in the GH group, she would have been truly terrifying and efficient; instead, her son, Don Diego, is merely contemptible and inept. In addition, his pseudo-father Fulk is a riot. Fulk is a storming, shouting bear of a man, made of honey and daisies underneath. He's just a big bag of kittens, basically.My Lord John (1975) covers much the same period (1393–1413). King's Henry IV and Henry V (Simon's friend) also appear in it. What can I say? I am a fan of Heyer. This was my second historical fiction of her (or third if one counts An Infamous Army). I love Simon The Coldheart (I have read it in just three sessions, it was so engaging). I am a little disappointed with Beauvallet. I freely admit that Margot of Belrémy is very haughty and cool. Her motto says "Conquest or Death", and she intends to keep it though it brings her in opposition to Simon of Beavallet. Really, she's the perfect fit for Simon. Both are cold and stubborn. I can only imagine what their children would be like. urn:oclc:870958981 Republisher_date 20120529184823 Republisher_operator [email protected] Scandate 20120528140822 Scanner scribe1.shenzhen.archive.org Scanningcenter shenzhen Worldcat (source edition)
Not certain if Beauvallet succeeds at this, but thought it was worth a mention. Curious if her other historicals follow a similar trend, and am now interested in hunting down one of her thrillers to sample its prose! I conceive that to be none of your business, señor. If you must know I am on my way home from Santiago to Spain.' It has to be said, they are not for everyone. Laura’s cousin, who she was sure would love them, said ‘Laura, there’s far too many cousins marrying cousins for me!’ Fair enough. There are also some problematic scenes for contemporary readers: consider yourself warned and skip to the bottom if you want to know which novels to avoid.Thank you all for loving her the way I did. I feel we’re part of a not-so-small secret society who ride ventre-a-terre for a good book, and are not afraid of making a cake of ourselves by admitting that we love and cherish Georgette. She flung up her hands, and the dagger flashed in the sunlight. ‘Oh, now I know that they named you well who named you Mad Beauvallet!' Though I enjoyed the plot well enough, Margaret/Simon annoyed me excessively. I liked the secondary characters and plot, that is what made this book for me. My favourite heroines: Ancilla Trent, Venetia Lanyon, Abigail Wendover, Sarah Thane. Intelligent, believable, witty. I love the young heroines, too – who wouldn’t love Kitten???, but the heroines with a touch more life experience are more interesting. it was her rescue from the rapacious Raoul did make me want to giggle and reminded me very much of the 1920s cinema - understandable since this was written in 1925, when the author was a young & naive 22/23 year old!
Members of the Georgette Heyer Fans Group can let their eyes glaze over this section, as they have heard this story many, many, many times before!
Summary
Beauvallet is set in 1586 during the reign of Elizabeth I. This is just one way it differs from Heyer's usual Regency era tales, another being that it's about a hero traveling into enemy territory to claim his love.
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