~The Scarlet Pimpernel – A Review

The Author:
Baroness Emmuska Orczy was born in Hungary in 1865. Her name at birth was Emmuska Magdalena Rosalia Maria Josefa Barbara Orczy. The daughter of a composer/conductor, her family eventually settled in London in 1880, where Baroness Orczy met and married Montague Maclean Barstow in 1884. The couple had one son, John. The author of several novels, Baroness Orczy’s first book was published in 1905. A few of her works include: Eldorado, The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel and Sir Percy Hits Back. She died in 1947.

Technical Details:
The Scarlet Pimpernel was first successful as a play opening in 1903, after the author was unable to get the novel published. The play was received very well and the novel was finally published in 1905. The edition that I read was a part of Dalmatian Press’s “Great Reads” collection, published in 2004. The book contains 31 chapters and is 273 pages long.

The Story:
The French Revolution is in full sway. The nobles are fleeing or hiding, the guillotine is ever in use and the English tremble as they read the reports from the country across the channel. As the people of the former upper class of France are being led to their deaths, a hero, known only as the Scarlet Pimpernel, plunges into the depths of danger to rescue the men, women and children doomed to face the guillotine. Meanwhile, in England, Lady Marguerite Blakney is forced to make a terrible decision; either she works with the French government official Monsieur Chauvelin to discover and capture the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel, or she allows the same official to condemn her beloved brother to death on the guillotine. Whom should she choose? The hero or her brother? How could she live with herself, knowing she is responsible for the death of either? Or is there, perhaps, another alternative that she hasn’t thought of?

The Writing Style:
I found the writing style easy to read. The descriptions were colorful and well executed. My only complaint was the drama. The author seemed to be a little melodramatic, mostly in the writing of the dialog, though also, occasionally, in the actions of her characters.

The Characters:
The characters were well done, though some of the things they did seemed a little too dramatic to be realistic. They were well developed and otherwise, portrayed very well. None seemed to be lacking in any way. The villain was sufficiently villainous and the hero was… well… very heroic!

My favorite character… Sir Percy or Sir Andrew. I confess that it was a draw between the two. While I (of course!) really liked Sir Percy, there was something about the integrity and willingness to serve that Sir Andrew had, that made me really like him.

Warnings:
There is some minor offensive language in this book.

Conclusion:
Over all, I did enjoy “The Scarlet Pimpernel”. It had an excellent story, enjoyable characters and a good ending.

“We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere…”

To the KING be all the glory!