The French Revolution, mainly the Reign of Terror in which thousands of innocent men, women, and even children were sent to their deaths by the blade of the guillotine. However, a mysterious figure who calls himself the Scarlet Pimpernel (a small wildflower) risks his life and those of his faithful followers when they cross the English Channel to rescue as many innocents as they can. Our hero is successful to the point that Robespierre himself notices and orders the French agent Chauvelin to hunt the Scarlet Pimpernel down. Chauvelin finds a way when he discovers a secret about the brother of Marguerite Blakeney, an unhappy French woman married to the seemingly dull and witless Sir Percy Blakeney.

Marguerite's perserverence in the face of despair and the tension between her and Percy.

M. Chambertin -- er-- Chauvelin ;)

Read the rest of the series. (There are several sequels.)

Happy and excited by the end.

goes by Baroness Orczy in her writings but was born Emma Magdalena Rosalia Maria Josefa Barbara Orczy. She is also well known for one of the first "armchair detective" stories and one of the first women detectives in literature; Lady Molly of Scotland Yard. But the invention of the Scarlet Pimpernel is her main claim to fame.

It's the classic swashbuckling romance with mystery, true love, evil villians, and history all thrown together to create a timeless story. If you've seen the movie or the musical, this book is a must read!

No reason not to.

The movie and musical versions are slightly different from the book. The main characters are basically the same but artistic liberties were taken heavily for both versions. There are also at least 16 sequels to "The Scarlet Pimpernel" all of them are good reading as well.

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Created Apr 14, 2002 at 8:20pm • Submit your own review...