The Scarlet Pimpernel

Baroness Orczy

During the French Revolution many of the titled class people found themselves facing the guillotine. They may or may not have had involvement in the royal government. After years of oppresion that did not matter. The lower class had risen up against all in the upper class. This not only included the men who had part of the government, but also their wives and children.

The French gentry had found one unexpected saviour. The Scarlet Pimpernel, a mysterious Englishman, was helping people escape Paris, France, and the guillotine. Who was this brave man and his band of helpers? How many people would they be able to save? How many more would they not be able to save?

Marguerite St. Juste was at the pinnacle of the new French society when she was courted by a foppish Englishman, Sir Percy Blakely. Although he was rather dull witted, he loved her completely. Now they are married. But he no longer gave her any regard. He heard the story of how she had inadvertantly sent a noble family to the guillotine and could not forgive her. The more he ignored her the more she realized she loved him.

At the same time her brother has been identified as a traitor in the new French government. Chauvelin, a military leader in the French government, has blackmailed her. When she gave him a lead on the Scarlet Pimpernel, she could get her brother free from France. She knows she has to help her brother. Yet if her husband knew of her latest treachery...

This is romantic, swashbuckling fun. OK, so there are no swords or swordplay. Yet the sense of adventure and roguish fun that is common with swashbuckling is present throughout this story. This is a wonderful novel.

The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas