One of my favorite movies growing up was The Scarlet Pimpernel. I'm referring to the 1982 version with Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour and Ian McKellen. I quote it from time to time, mostly strange moments that have no meaning to anyone but myself, but I purchased the DVD to show my kids why I say things like, "I spit upon their graves." I was pleasantly surprised how much they enjoyed the movie. They even showed it to some of their friends!
Anyway, fast forward a bit to me searching for something to read. Since this is one of the coolest stories, I wanted to give it a shot. As a general rule, I tend to stay away from reading books related to movies since it's normally a disappointment (I'm looking at you Timeline). I do break the rule more than I used to, and here I go again.
It's the French Revolution, and many members of the aristocracy are being beheaded daily by the guillotine. Some of them are lucky enough to be saved by the Scarlet Pimpernel and his league of brave soldiers. Using clever disguises, they smuggle some of the doomed out of France and safely to England. The Scarlet Pimpernel has become a thorn in the side of the Revolution, and they have employed Chauvelin to discover his identity.
The book starts farther ahead than the movie. Percy and Marguerite are already married in the book, and the tension is already present in their marriage. The main "rescue" is also different, but I'm not here to spoil anything. Even though the rescue might be a bit less high-profile, it was no less exciting. It's been a long time since I literally couldn't put a book down, but I HAD to finish this yesterday.
I loved this book. And I can honestly say that I still love the movie. It was more loosely based on the book, but the beloved poem is in there, so I can't complain.
I learned a few things. There are other Scarlet Pimpernel books, and chronologically, Orczy also wrote two books that predate Percy. She also wrote quite a few sequels, but not all of them were successful. The Scarlet Pimpernel was originally a play, which I found to be interesting. Orczy wrote many novels during her life, and I want to read more of her work. I'm going to try and track down some of her non Scarlet Pimpernel works as well as getting more Percy in my life, but I have another book waiting for me, so the Baroness will have to wait. Great Book!!
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