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 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

乔吉特·海尔是二十世纪英国女小说家。她一生写了近三十部以十八世纪欧洲为背景的历史传奇小说，颇受英国读者的喜爱且经久不衰。《爱与恨的抉择》（原名《这些古老的风俗画》）是她的成名作，自1926年出版后直到七十年代末作家去世时，几乎年年再版，有时甚至一年再版两三次，是英国的一本畅销小说。它讲述圣维雷伯爵的弃女莱奥妮的坎坷遭际和埃文公爵同圣维雷伯爵间勾心斗角的曲折故事。整部作品清新、活泼、机智，带有王政复辟时期喜剧的轻松格调，特别是作品中的对话，具有奥斯丁那种简洁、幽默的风格。