Heroes sometimes come in unlikely packages. Someone is sneaking aristocrats out of France before they can be executed by Robespierre's revolutionaries. French agent Chauvelin is determined to catch this mysterious character, known only as the Scarlet Pimpernel. To do so he blackmails a beautiful French actress, recently married to a dimwitted English baronet, Sir Percy Blakeney. Marguerite Blakeney must make a choice between her brother and an unknown hero - with many more lives at stake! The Scarlet Pimpernel, an ...
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Heroes sometimes come in unlikely packages. Someone is sneaking aristocrats out of France before they can be executed by Robespierre's revolutionaries. French agent Chauvelin is determined to catch this mysterious character, known only as the Scarlet Pimpernel. To do so he blackmails a beautiful French actress, recently married to a dimwitted English baronet, Sir Percy Blakeney. Marguerite Blakeney must make a choice between her brother and an unknown hero - with many more lives at stake! The Scarlet Pimpernel, an exhilarating story by the Baroness Orczy, was a sensation when it first appeared. It spawned an entire series of novels featuring the masked rescuer. (Barnes & Noble)
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"We seek him here, we seek him there, that demned, elusive Pimpernel."
Indeed,everyone seeks for the identity of the famed Scarlet Pimpernel. The French Committee of Public Safety wants him because he and his fellow Englishmen keep saving aristocrats from the hungry blade of Madame Guillotine. The British worship their unknown hero, their curiosity as to his identity growing every day.
I first read this book as a young girl, and I fell in love with it. Set during the time of the French Revolution, it's a combination romance, mystery and high adventure novel. Even the reader isn't certain at first who the mysterious hero is. Then our loyalties are torn between him and the lovely and talented Marguerite Blakeney, a French woman married to a British gentleman and fop. Forced to choose between saving the life of her beloved brother Armand and betraying the noble Pimpernel, she struggles with her actions and choice.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a quick read, which I found a pity, because I wanted the fun to continue. There is a follow up novel -- short stories of continuing adventures called The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. I recently re-read both of them, and found them still entertaining and fun.
Why is he called the Scarlet Pimpernel? It's a small red roadside flower in England. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.
Angel
Apr 3, 2007
Excellent book
This is my FAVORITE classic novel. I read it in high school and loved it. I have at least 3 copies, just in case I loose one. I loved the suspense, mystery, and romance. I enjoyed that the novel had a historical basis. I was hooked from the first paragraph and could not put the book down until I finished reading it.
