I like the element of humour in Georgette Heyer's writing. An enjoyable read.

Light gothic romance fiction, among my Mom's favorites. Considerably better than the average gothic romance. Some of them are more like historical fiction, such as Simon the Coldheart. I read them from time to time when I was growing up.

2020 Review
Well, I'm now older than Arabella, Sophy, and Frederica so I guess I shall have to take Miss Thane as my role model.

Original Review
I love this book. I love the characters; I love the plot. I love Sir Tristram, with his lack of sensibility and sweet heart. I love Sarah Thane, with her wry sense of humor and blend of practicality and romanticism. I want to be her. I love Eustacie...and this third or fourth reading, I finally even loved Ludovic.
But you know who the real unsung hero of this novel is? Sir Hugh Thane. I always viewed him as a clueless character but he really isn't. He is just as subtle and brilliant as any of them! I'd marry him.

Charming. Delightful. A favorite!

The Talisman Ring is my favorite book by Georgette Heyer (followed closely by The Reluctant Widow) because it has a perfect blend of romance, adventure and, especially, humor. There are several times throughout the book, no matter how many times I read it, that just make me laugh out loud. And the two couples juxtapose each other very well; one couple is young and brash and fun, and the other is older and more mature. Seeing the older couple's relationship grow is, in my opinion, one of the story's highlights. And the dialogue between characters is great- there is a lot of chemistry between the fairly large cast of characters, and even the secondary characters are VERY memorable. If you like Regency romances (without the physical action), then Heyer is for you. And if you like Heyer, then The Talisman Ring is definitely for you.

At first, The Talisman Ring and I weren't going to get along very well. The first character introduced, Sir Tristram Shield, seemed altogether too dry to be the Proper Heyer Hero.

He meets with his great-uncle, who is Soon To Die, and hears him propose that he should wed his cousin.

The first half of chapter one, I just wasn't quite into BUT THEN ...

(ah, yes. The 'But Then' that took up my lunch break and gave me a good few giggles)

... but then I hung in there. And it got better. Much better.

Eustacie, a young French girl who knows exactly what she would wear should she ride in a tumbril on her way to the guillotine (dressed all in white, with perhaps a handkerchief, a little pale but quite unafraid), burst into the scene and by the end of chapter one the dryness of Shield was quite forgivable when contrasted to Eustacie (and the appearance of Beau Lavenham was interesting - was he supposed to be the hero?).

The great-uncle dies leaving Eustacie and Shield betrothed. It is not an altogether happy betrothal.

"Yes, but I think I shall," said Eustacie, propping her chin in her hands and gazing mournfully into the fire. "After all, I have had a very unhappy life without any adventures, and it would not be wonderful if I went into decline. Only nothing that is interesting ever happens to me," she added bitterly, "so I dare say I shall just die in childbed, which is a thing anyone can do."

Sir Tristram flushed uncomfortably. "Really, Eustacie!" he protested.

Eustacie was too much absorbed in the contemplation of her dark destiny to pay any heed to him. "I shall present to you an heir," she said, "and then I shall die." The picture suddenly appealed to her; she continued in a more cheerful tone: "Everyone will say that I was very young to die, and they will fetch you from the gaming hall where you-"

"Fetch me from where?" interrupted Sir Tristram, momentarily led away by this flight of the imagination.

"From the gaming hall," repeated Eustacie impatiently. "Or perhaps the Cock Pit. It does not signify; it is quite unimportant! But I think you will feel great remorse when it is told to you that I am dying, and you will spring up and fling yourself on your horse, and ride ventre à terre to come to my deathbed. And then I shall forgive you, and-"

[ventre à terre by the way, is basically riding flat out. Very romantic, to be sure.]

As you can see, Eustacie is a Romantic. Sir Tristram Shield is Not. Also, there is another cousin who has fled the country due to a murder which he may or may not have committed. Also there is the title ring that everybody wants. (Except Eustacie, who just wants an adventure).

Eustacie decides that she doesn't want to be betrothed to Sir Tristram and so [very naturally] runs away. To London. To be a governess.

Things happen. Hilarious things. Sparkling dialogue and new characters. Eustacie runs into a smuggler - or as they like to be called - free traders.

"I wish I could be a smuggler," said Eustacie wistfully. "I think I should like that."

"You wouldn't do for a smuggler," he replied, shaking his head. "We don't encourage females in the trade. It's too dangerous."

"Well, I do not think it is fair that just because one is a female one should never be allowed to have any adventures!"

Quite right, my dear Eustacie. Quite right. But no fear, there is quite an adventure ahead of you.

In the course of things (a chase! a revelation! a gunshot wound!) Eustacie and the wounded Free Trader arrive at an inn and it is there that one of the best characters of the book is introduced. Or rather, she introduces herself:

"Let me present myself to you: Sarah Thane, a creature of no importance at all, travelling to London with my brother, whom you may hear snoring upstairs."

She wishes to know if Eustacie and the Free Trader are eloping.

"But, of course, I am not eloping with him! Voyans, how could I elope with him when I have only just met him? It would be quite absurd!"

"Oh, if you have only just met him, I suppose it would," agreed Miss Thane regretfully. "It is a pity, for I have often thought that I should like to assist an elopement. However, one can't have everything."

And so the adventure continues. And what an adventure! The stakes increase and the ring is ever absent. Or is it? Danger lurks about them ...

“I may have said that I wanted to have an adventure," replied Miss Thane. "But I never said that I wanted to be murdered in my bed.”

... and hilarity rushes forward with it.

Sir Tristram redeems himself in my eyes and more, though his name is often blackened by those around him:

"On the contrary, I am becoming quite accustomed to it. But I am afraid that even your imagination must fail soon. I have been in swift succession a tyrant, a thief and a murderer, and now a fortune hunter. There is really nothing left."

This book is now one of my favourite of Heyer's books. The Goodreads summary is quite right in saying that:

The Talisman Ring is one of Heyer's funniest and fastest-paced romantic comedies, telling the story of a fugitive heir, a tempestuous Frenchwoman, and the two sensible people who try to keep them out of trouble.

Quite right indeed.

Heyer, I salute you with this one.

So funny. A rip-roaring adventure.

Eustacie longs for romance and a lover who rides ventre a terre (she's French). Sir Tristram, handsome and sensible, is not that lover (he's English). But when Eustacie stumbles across Ludovico, a man in hiding after being framed for murder, she and her new friend Sarah Thane get more adventure and romance than either of them bargained for.

Heyer delivers her usual sparkle with this caper. The MacGuffin is a valuable antique ring that can prove one man's innocence and another's guilt. The chemistry between playful and smart Miss Thane and the level-headed Sir Tristram is a delight, and Eustacie could be related to another Frenchwoman: Léonie from These Old Shades (also by Heyer). Fans of regency romance and adventure stories couldn't ask for better.

I could have wished for a few more scenes between the Beau and Sir Tristram. Both are worthy adversaries, and few techniques work better for ratcheting up the tension than having two well-matched opponents circle, each trying to guess how much the other knows and what he might do next.

4.5 stars

It got off to a slow start, as none of the initial characters really held my interest. When a second group of characters were introduced, all was made clear, and even the initial set of people became much more entertaining.

Eustacie and Ludovic are romantic idiots prancing around in and about a murderous mysterious mystery while being chaperoned by the two wiser - but no less entertaining pair that is Tristam and Sarah. The mystery itself is way too simple. I'd rather call this a mystery-themed comedy, and a great pea-brained-flying-pig comedy it is. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and the personalities are standouts. I think several quotes are just about enough to explain the chaotic energy that is this book:

'Then understand this, Sally!', said Sir Hugh. 'Not a yard from this place do I stir until I have that fellow laid by the heels! It's bad enough when he comes creeping into the house to stick a knife into young Lavenham, but when he has the infernal impudence to turn my room into a pigsty, then I say he's gone a step too far!'

Ludovic is stupid, brash, and easily manipulated...despite being on the run for suspected murder. Which of course leads to hilarious scenes like this,

"He was not one to submit patiently to being an invalid, nor did it seem to be possible to impress him with a sense of the dangerous nature of his situation. Once he was possessed of his clothes, nothing short of turning the key on him could keep him in his room. He strolled about the inn in the most careless way imaginable, his left arm disposed in a sling and Sylvester's great ruby on his finger. When begged to conceal this well-known ring somewhere about his person, or to give it back to Tristam for safe-keeping, he said No, he had a fancy to wear Sylvester's ruby. Twice he nearly walked into the arms of local visitors to the Red Lion, who had come in for a tankard of ale and a chat over the coffee-room fire, and only Miss Thane's timely intervention prevented him sallying forth into the yard with Sir Hugh to win his bet with a little marksmanship.

Miss Thane, accustomed to handling the male, did not attempt to dissuade him from shooting. She merely suggested that if he wished to fire a noisy pistol the cellar would be the best place for such a pastime. Ludovic was just about to argue the point when Sir Hugh providentially pooh-pooed his sister's suggestion, on the score that no one could be expected to culp a wafer in the wretched light afforded by a branch of candles. This was quite enough to make Ludovic instantly engage to win his wager under these or any other conditions, and down they both went..."

Eustacie is airheaded and shallow-minded, and her romantic notions all seem to birth from Radcliffe mysteries or her being rescued from the guillotines in France.

Eustacie gave a joyful shriek. 'Basil!' she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. 'Yes, yes, of a certainty it was he! Why did I not think of that before? Miss Thane, it is my cousin Basil who is the villain, and although you do not know him I assure you it is much, much better, because he wears a silly hat, and I do not at all like him!'

Sarah Thane plays around with Eustacie's notions and joins in with the group's plans and fooleries, but stays a bit more practical-minded and very funny in her actions. In a quest to search for a hidden panel in the suspect's Dover House, she takes it upon herself to become an endless talker. The end result is hilarious enough to knock off your socks. Her brother Sir Hugh is the ignorant chap, or so he seems to play off as, but his at times indolent behavior, or at times angry behavior are things to watch out for with popcorn in hand.

Tristam is the straight-laced fellow of the bunch and seems very much like a caretaker of 3 wild animals. His scenes with Sarah are the best of the bunch and they really do play off that banter quite well between the two of them.

All in all, it's a simple substanceless story but a funny one. Definitely worth a read.