The Talisman Ring

The heroines in Georgette Heyer's The Talisman Ring don't quail in the face of danger, which is a good thing considering the tight squeezes they seem to find themselves in.  Heyer is up to her usual entertaining standards, though this is probably more of a romp than normal.  It's a cross between a story of an affaire du coeur (or the beginning of one anyway) and a murder mystery.  There is no swordplay involved, but smugglers abound as do excisemen, Bow Street Runners and rather large quantities of illegal liquor. 

As a matter of fact Heyer does a few things in this novel that are a bit out of the norm, including having two sets of potential lovers.  And the real heroine might just turn out to be someone you're not expecting.  The premise, though, is traditional Heyer--on his deathbed a rich uncle requests that a favored nephew marry a young woman who after his death will no longer have familial protection.  Sounds romantic enough, right?  Maybe.  Only the young woman is intensely romantic and extremely impetuous.  She also happens to be French, having made a narrow escape just before the Revolution and now lives the quiet life in the English countryside--unfortunately to her displeasure.  Her proposed suitor is more mature and serious and outright refuses to come to her aid (in the event she may need it) riding ventre a terre, which simply will not do.  Well, he'll come to her aid, as he's a most respectable fellow, just not in such a silly  manner.   This will have to simply be a marriage of necessity and convenance.

Young Frenchwoman Eustacie de Vauban has notions of romantic adventure, which do not include marrying her staid cousin Sir Tristram Shield.  She'd rather run off and become a governess, which is what she sets off to do one night.  After a series of mishaps, which include losing her bags, she has a run in with a band of smugglers.  By chance one of the smugglers happens to be her cousin Ludovic, heir to the Lavenham fortune.  Unfortunately he can't claim it as he was falsely accused of murder and was bundled off to the Continent to keep out of danger (that would be the hangman's noose).  Or so everyone thought, but here he is on the Sussex coast with barrels full of illegal spirits.  In the confusion and excitement Ludovic is shot and Eustacie must get him to a nearby inn, which has ties to the smugglers.  Finally, an adventure worthy of Eustacie's fantasies.

At the inn Eustacie encounters Miss Sarah Thane, eminently practical but with an adventurous side as well who gets involved in Eustacie's schemes but at the same time has a calming effect on the situation getting Eustacie (and Ludovic as well) out of more than one scrape.  Sarah is the spinster sister of Sir Hugh Thane, a justice of the peace, who is only too willing to turn a blind eye to any illegal activity as long as he's not inconvenienced and can partake of the fine smuggled port.

Eustacie and Sarah contrive to help Ludovic reclaim his title and rightful place as heir.  The proof they need is a valuable talisman ring that was stolen at the time of the murder.  Against his better judgement Sir Tristram gets involved as well after he traces his young French cousin to the inn.  Although Ludovic has a good idea who committed the murder, getting the ring back verges on the farcical.  To make matters worse, Ludovic must stay hidden, which causes no end to the craziness.

Published in 1936 The Talisman Ring is one of Heyer's earlier novels.  I suspect it would really have been just the thing to take someone's mind off bombing raids as she alluded to in her quote:    

"I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense, but it's unquestionably good escapist literature, and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter, or recovering from flu.  It's period detail is good; my husband says it's witty--and without going to these lengths, I will say that it is very good fun."

And this one is indeed very good fun!  It's an entertaining read with a fast moving plot and interesting, well formulated characters.  The mystery aspect isn't really surprising, but it makes a nice contrast to the budding romances between the various characters.  I've got a couple more Heyer novels lined up, another romp of a book (The Corinthian) and a Gothic romance (Cousin Kate).  I'll be sharing more in the next month or so.  It's always good to have a nice escapist story (or two) to fall back on! 

Comments

[Eva]

I'm reading this one right now! :D So of course I haven't read your review yet. But I think it's great fun so far. ;)

[Kate S.]

It sounds most entertaining. I haven't read any Heyer yet and I think it's time I started!

[iliana]

Oh that's a wonderful quote by Heyer. I love a good fun story and from the few books I've read of hers I think they are great fun. Looking forward to hearing more on the gothic romance one.

[Danielle]

Eva--It is a fun read and I hope you enjoy the rest! It's good to have a few of her books on hand.
Kate--I only read my first Heyer a few years ago. I think my favorites are A Civil Contract, and Faro's Daughter, but all the boks I've read by her have been enjoyable! She wrote so many, I have yet more to look forward to.
Iliana--This is very entertaining--a bit different than her other books, but very fun. Isn't that a great quote! And I've just started the gothic romance, so will let you know how it goes!

[litlove]

I love a bit of escapism. I always feel quite tenderly grateful to books that have given me a real laugh, lifted my mood and provided some distracting entertainment. Heyer is brilliant at doing just that!

[Danielle]

Litlove--She's great for escapism and this is really the perfect light sort of read for a little distraction. I'm always up for a bit of that.

[Melanie]

I've just begun Heyer's biography, and it is fascinating. I've read many of her books but can always find more to put on the TBR!

[Danielle]

Melanie--I loved her biography and find myself going back to read about Heyer's novels. I have a stack of Heyer's books to look forward to!

[Dorothy W.]

How fun that you've read so much Heyer lately! I agree that she's great escapist reading, and I'm glad I've got another novel of hers on my shelves. This one sounds like a whole lot of fun.

[Danielle]

Dorothy--This was fun--pure escapist sort of story. I've a couple more to read, but after that I think I'll save the other Heyers for a rainy day later on!