The Scarlet Pimpernel (Lake Illustrated Classics, Collection 4)

By Emmuska Orczy

The first and most successful in the Baroness's series of books that feature Percy Blakeney, who leads a double life as an English fop and a swashbuckling rescuer of aristocrats, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" was the blueprint for what became known as the masked-avenger genre. As Anne Perry writes in her Introduction, the novel "has almost reached its first centenary, and it is as vivid and appealing as ever because the plotting is perfect. It is a classic example of how to construct, pace, and conclude a plot. . . . To rise on the crest of laughter without capsizing, to survive being written, rewritten, and reinterpreted by each generation, is the mark of a plot that is timeless and universal, even though it happens to be set in England and France of 1792."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1561036064
• ISBN13: 9781561036066
• Release Date: August 1994
• Publisher: Ags Pub
• Length: 62 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.3" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

“It was the sound of a good, solid, absolutely British ‘D-a-m-n-!’”

I first saw several movie versions of “The Scarlet Pimpernel” and always wanted to see the Play. With the purchase of a Kindle and text-to-speech, I could not afford to pass up the book. I was amazed to see that the book started similarly to the movies, with the telling of the bloodlust of the French Revolution and how one man, for the sport of it, saved many from the guillotine, thwarting the authorities and tricking the sergeant at the city gate into letting him through. Then I was afraid the story was going to bog down as we took a long time to drudge through a scene in an inn. I did not realize this was meant to introduce the major players in the soon-to-be mystery. The essence of the story was best said in the book: “Only between these two hearts there lay a strong, impassable barrier, built upon pride on both sides, which neither of them cared to be the first to demolish.” The story picks up after Marguerite realizes what she has done by giving away the pimpernel's identity and decides to make amends. Usually, I cannot stand flowery writing or long descriptions of feelings. But for some reason, this book was so well written that what would seem like extraneous information enhanced the tale. I also noticed it is told mostly from Lady Blakeney’s point of view. Once again, this is a case of the book being better than the movie. I was surprised to find the Pimpernel poem came from the book: They seek him here; they seek him there. Them Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in Heaven? Is he in Hell? That d-a-m-n-e-d elusive pimpernel.