The Scarlet Pimpernel

by Emmuska Orczy

Edition: Kindle, 2012

Synopsis: Armed with only his wits and his cunning, one man recklessly defies the French revolutionaries and rescues scores of innocent men, women, and children from the deadly guillotine. His friends and foes know him only as the Scarlet Pimpernel. But the ruthless French agent Chauvelin is sworn to discover his identity and to hunt him down.

French revolutionaries ruthlessly track down “traitors,” whether they are men, women, or children, to execute them on the dreaded guillotine. Time and again, these titled people are whisked away to safety by the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel. French agent, Chauvelin vows to learn the identity of the man and capture him. To do so, he blackmails the ‘cleverest woman in England’ Lady Blakeney, to do his dirty work for him. Should she save her brother, the only family member she has left, or protect the identity of a hero?

I believe I will have to find some way to bring the phrases “Odd’s fish or “Odd’s life” into daily use. Maybe even “Zounds!” I can’t hope to ever be half as witty as the characters of this book, so I may as well be eccentric.

It was a delight to come back to this book. It has been some time since I first read it, so there were some details I had forgotten. Still, I enjoyed it just as much this time as I did before. The humor held up. I will admit I’d forgotten how much the romance played into the story, and there wasn’t as much adventure as I thought. Still, it was a blast of a tale.

Sir Percy Blakeney is, hands down, is my favorite character. Every scene he was in was loads of fun. I have not read the rest of the books in the series, but I think I am going to have to make time to do so.

Readers looking for a humorous and romantic adventure story may enjoy this classic tale.