Beau Brocade

by Emmuska Orczy

A romance of the chivalrous highwayman, Beau Brocade.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance

275 pages, Hardcover

First published November 18, 1907

About the author

Full name: Emma ("Emmuska") Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orczi was a Hungarian-British novelist, best remembered as the author of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1905). Baroness Orczy's sequels to the novel were less successful. She was also an artist, and her works were exhibited at the Royal Academy, London. Her first venture into fiction was with crime stories. Among her most popular characters was The Old Man in the Corner, who was featured in a series of twelve British movies from 1924, starring Rolf Leslie.

Baroness Emmuska Orczy was born in Tarnaörs, Hungary, as the only daughter of Baron Felix Orczy, a noted composer and conductor, and his wife Emma. Her father was a friend of such composers as Wagner, Liszt, and Gounod. Orczy moved with her parents from Budapest to Brussels and then to London, learning to speak English at the age of fifteen. She was educated in convent schools in Brussels and Paris. In London she studied at the West London School of Art. Orczy married in 1894 Montague Barstow, whom she had met while studying at the Heatherby School of Art. Together they started to produce book and magazine illustrations and published an edition of Hungarian folktales.

Orczy's first detective stories appeared in magazines. As a writer she became famous in 1903 with the stage version of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic-style swashbuckler of a brave gentleman outlaw, a youngster in peril for having accidentally gotten snarled in Prince Charles’s cause, and the youngster’s beautiful sister. A villain and an overly proud local sergeant are the pair of antagonists in this case. A bunch of colorful side characters make the tale gleam and sparkle.

Content: lots of swearing, for the most part “sanitized” swears that were common in the era.

[Cassie Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in England, right after Bonnie Prince Charlie's sad failure, the English government is tracking down all of the treasonous Nobles who supported him.
Beau Brocade, A beloved Robin Hood-esque character is a highway man by trade, but a gentleman at heart. (Which he proceeds to lose to the lovely lady Patience, sister of Philip James Cascoyne, eleventh Earl of Stretton, one of those unfortunate nobles.)
Anyway, as in all of Baroness Orczy's stories, Love finds a way, and the climactic ending will leave you on the edge of your seat

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emmuska Orczy is one of my favorite authors. In this book she, yet again, created a gallant hero who keeps you guessing all the way to the end.

[Matilda Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orczy's heroes, like Heyer's, behave as women want their heroes to behave. A very satisfying romance!

[Angela Priebbenow · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is one of Baroness Orczy's lesser known works, it retains the intrigue and excellent style of her more famous works. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys her more famous works such as "The Scarlet Pimpernel".

[Sem · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a relief to know that my inner twelve year old is still alive and well.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as a teenager. Swashbuckling tale set in England after the failed revolution of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun diverting read for those who enjoy her other books (eg Scarlett Pimpernel,etc)

[Phil Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised to find when I began reading this book that it is set in central Derbyshire. An entertaining read if not great literature but especially worth reading by those with an interest in this location.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt this was very similar to Scarlet Pimpernel in tone, plot and characters.