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A review by crowsandprose
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
4.0
This book was a companion to me while I was ill -- still am, too -- and quite enjoyed it. It is the start, I think, of some good old intrigue with a league of secret noblemen who strive to rescue innocent if well born people from the French Republic's hungry Madame le Guillotine...
But really, at the core of it, it's about a proud and clever woman, estranged from her husband who she loves but is distant from, and what it will take to reconcile them. Oh yes, there's spies and plots and murder and treachery, but... when it comes down to it, this is about a married couple getting past pride and being able to see where they went wrong.
It's very -- ah, 'woman as temptress/fallen' (as the times were) but it's not so insulting to women as, say, Twilight, by any means. Lady Blakenley is intelligent, cunning, crafty, and loves her brother enough to enter a world of intrigue to save him... and loves her husband enough to defy convention and chase him across the channel. Bella Swann would just cry and consider suicide a lot at her failure to be what someone else wants, so while the The Scarlet Pimpernel has some old fashioned ideas about women, they're a lot more empowering then some modern lit these days!
An excellent book, and if you've got love in your life-- or a desire for some intrigue-- you ought to consider reading it. It does end rather abruptly, which left me a little cold (and the only reason it lost a star) but it's a damn fine romp through the pages otherwise
But really, at the core of it, it's about a proud and clever woman, estranged from her husband who she loves but is distant from, and what it will take to reconcile them. Oh yes, there's spies and plots and murder and treachery, but... when it comes down to it, this is about a married couple getting past pride and being able to see where they went wrong.
It's very -- ah, 'woman as temptress/fallen' (as the times were) but it's not so insulting to women as, say, Twilight, by any means. Lady Blakenley is intelligent, cunning, crafty, and loves her brother enough to enter a world of intrigue to save him... and loves her husband enough to defy convention and chase him across the channel. Bella Swann would just cry and consider suicide a lot at her failure to be what someone else wants, so while the The Scarlet Pimpernel has some old fashioned ideas about women, they're a lot more empowering then some modern lit these days!
An excellent book, and if you've got love in your life-- or a desire for some intrigue-- you ought to consider reading it. It does end rather abruptly, which left me a little cold (and the only reason it lost a star) but it's a damn fine romp through the pages otherwise