The Talisman Ring [Hardcover]

Georgette Heyer (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Bantam Books (1969)
• ASIN: B0014C3IFM
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Author of over fifty books, Georgette Heyer is the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists, making the Regency period her own. Her first novel, "The Black Moth," published in 1921, was written at the age of fifteen to amuse her convalescent brother; her last was My Lord John. Although most famous for her historical novels, she also wrote eleven detective stories. Georgette Heyer died in 1974 at the age of seventy-one.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ride ventre á terre to your Heyer supplier for this!, June 16, 2000

By 

Daniel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Talisman Ring (Paperback)

The Talisman Ring is a marvellous piece of comedy, high drama, farce, romance and wit. If you find Regency drawing-room dramas slow-moving, but enjoy the beautiful writing, and want something to set your pulse racing and your excitement on end - buy The Talisman Ring. If you love mystery, this book is considered by some to be Heyer's masterpiece from her mystery writing career - probably because it is not a mystery in the strict sense of the word. It is a late 18th century story of snowdrifts, misunderstandings, disguises, humour, murder, and stolen rings. The book is very romantic, with one of Heyer's most likeable casts - Eustacie de Vauban, the romantic, strong-willed French refugee, Ludovic, Lord Lavenham, refugee of justice, smuggler and rogue, Miss Thane, as sensible as she is romantic and inventive, and Sir Tristram, one of Heyer's sardonic dark heroes. With Basil Lavenham, the oily dandy, a charming innkeeper, his deaf sister, a couple of bumbling Bow Street Runners, and Hugo Thane, Justice of the Peace, this is a happy, very fast-moving novel full of the sort of corruption that the reader can forgive, and it is just the right length for a beginner. Younger readers, in particular, should thoroughly be recommended to read this book to introduce them to the world of Heyer and its high drama, stylised manners and wonderful language.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfection, April 10, 2009

By 

Winter Maiden (San Diego CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Talisman Ring (Paperback)

This book manages to be a romance (x 2), a romantic adventure, a murder mystery, and a comedy of manners, all rolled into one and with a bit of fashion and political history poured on top. As the old lord dies, he hands his volatile young French ward Eustacie over to no-nonsense bachelor Sir Tristram to marry. Incurably romantic, Eustacie runs away and falls into the arms of a smuggler, who turns out to be her long-lost cousin Ludovic, thought to have skipped the country after being accused of murder. When Ludovic is shot by customs officers, he and Eustacie take refuge in a local inn, where they run into maiden-lady Sarah Thane, traveling with her brother Hugh, a magistrate. As Eustacie and Sarah try to figure out how to restore his patrimony to Ludovic, they must decide whether to trust the sardonic Sir Tristram or yet another cousin, the silky Basil Lavenham.

The inn becomes the center of action for a series of set-pieces that are effortlessly comic or exciting, as Heyer chooses. (But mostly comic.) Some of the best scenes involve the gulling of some poor Bow Street Runners and Sarah's brother Hugh, a classic Heyer type: the bluff older brother or uncle who can't figure out what all the fuss is about, but has an unwavering appreciation for a good cellar. (Compare Rupert in "The Devil's Cub.")

A bit of a warning for casual fans of Regency romances: as with Heyer's other Georgians, the period detail is exact, right down to the language of the narrative, which can make the book a denser read than the usual historical romance written in the modern idiom. It's no more difficult a read than Jane Austen, though, and Heyer really does put you right into the period.

This and "Arabella" were my first Georgette Heyer books, read when I was around nine or ten. Even at that age I found the tempestuous younger couple tiresome, but grooved on the older couple, particularly the divinely unflappable Miss Thane. My love for this book never fades.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Heyer, April 28, 2005

By 

Chapati (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Talisman Ring (Paperback)

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.