The Talisman Ring (Hardcover)

In some ways, I like this better than some of her Regencies, which eventually became formulaic, or at least stylized. In those, characters who desire adventure or romance are sometimes mocked. By contrast, The Talisman Ring perfectly balances sympathy for Eugenie with a tongue in cheek treatment of the adventure itself.

My only criticism is the villain. I never feel that villains were Ms. Heyer's strong suit. I'm not sure why. Part of it may be her desire to make them ordinary; the other part may be her preference for associating effeminacy in men with villainy.

That's a minor quibble, however, in a highly enjoyable tale.

First off there is Eustacie who is an escapee from the French Revolution (although well before there was any danger thus breaking her romantic heart that she wasnever a romantic figure going to her death in a Tumbril). She is being set up for an arranged marriage with her cousin Sir Tristram - whose greatest wish is not to marry her at all. To escape this marriage she flees at night (despite terrible tales of the headless horseman which roams the nearby woods). In her flight she comes across a band of smugglers and her 'romantic' cousin Ludovic.

There is the missing 'Talisman Ring' of the title of this book which will release Ludovic from years of exile as an accused (but naturally innocent) murderer.

This book has one of my favourite Heyer heroines, the unshakeably prosaic Sarah Thane who steps in to help Eustacie clear her cousin Ludovic of murder and thus make them able to at last marry. In the meantime Sarah must work around the even more prosaic Sir Tristram.

Heyer manages to turn the most ordinary events into wonderfully farcical situations. She has a coterie of secondary characters to support this - for instance the two sincere but bumbling Bow Street Runners, as well as Nye (the inn owner) and his deaf daughter. There is also a lovely turn by Sarah's self-contained brother who, despite being a stern upholder of the law being a JP, only cares seem to be food and good smuggled wine.

The trouble with writing reviews is it never captures the essence of the humour and it is high in this one - I think Talisman Ring is one of Heyer's best. It was written in 1936 just before Heyer began her obsession with Regency Drawing room comedies - but this has the lightness of touch which her later Regency's such as Frederica, and The Grand Sophy have. It is all light and airy good fun. If you haven't read this one, then add it to the top of your Must Read list.