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Q&A | May 16, 2012

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Describe your latest book. It is titled Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man, and it is coming out in May from Doubleday. This is the first... Continue »
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2 Beaverton Literature- A to Z

The Scarlet Pimpernel (Signet Classics)

by Baroness Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel (Signet Classics) Cover

ISBN13: 9780451527622
ISBN10: 0451527623
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

This timeless novel of intrigue and romance is the adventure of one man's defiance in the face of authority. The rulers of the French Revolution are unable to discern the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a man whose exploits are an embarrassment to the new regime. Is he an exiled French nobleman or an English lord? The only thing for certain is his calling card--the blood-red flower known as the Scarlet Pimpernel...

Synopsis:

The year is 1792. The French Revolution, driven to excess by its own triumph, has turned into a reign of terror. Daily, tumbrels roll over the cobbled streets of Paris bearing new victims to the insatiable Madame Guillotine.... Thus the stage is set for one of the most enthralling novels of historical adventure ever written.

The mysterious figure known as the Scarlet Pimpernel, sworn to rescue helpless men, women, and children from their doom; his implacable foe, the French agent Chauvelin, relentlessly hunting him down; and the lovely Lady Marguerite Blakeney, a beautiful French exile married to an English lord and caught in a terrible conflict of loyalties — all play their parts in a suspenseful tale that ranges from the squalid slums of Paris to the aristocratic salons of London, from intrigue on a great English country estate to the final denouement on the cliffs of the French coast.

Synopsis:

During the French Revolution's reign of terror, the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel rescues helpless men, women, and children from their doom in this unique, wonderfully colorful adventure classic.

Synopsis:

This timeless novel of intrigue and romance includes a new Introduction by distinguished professor Gary Hoppenstand of Michigan State University. The story involves rulers of a French Revolution who are unable to discern the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a man whose exploits are an embarrassment to the regime. Reissue.
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About the Author

Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1865-1947), an only child of Austro-Hungarian nobles, lived most of her life in London, where she built her reputation as an established novelist, playwright, and artist. Also a success on stage, her most famous novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, spawned a series of books featuring its cast of characters.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
S.Elliott, May 4, 2010 (view all comments by S.Elliott)
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a daring and romantic adventure — shy on literary merit, heavy in plot — and well worth reading. How is this not even more of a classic? It should be read out loud at nighttime to a group of anxious children in footed pajamas. It should rest alongside Treasure Island and Alexandre Dumas. Major kudos too for the fact that it is written by a woman. Who said men get to write all the fun high-adventure stuff?

I was riveted by this swashbuckling tale, following each twist and turn with baited breath. It took me roughly fifty pages to get a good feel for the pacing, but about 1/4 of the way through, the story took a sudden leap and I LOVED it. Marguerite St. Just is your stereotypical woman in distress and her decision to help the evil Chauvelin in order to save her brother Armand from the guillotine is equal parts heroic and stupid. If she wants to save Armand, she has to help Chauvelin capture the Scarlet Pimpernel. However, as she works with the corrupt Frenchman, she soon starts to realize that she’s in love with the man in disguise. He is everything her whimpy, goofy, annoying husband is not. But THEN…oh well, I won’t spoil it for you…but let me tell you: It’s just one fun thing after another.

What I love most is Chauvelin’s true villainy. He is the embodiment of corruption and evil. Unrelenting and sadistic. He always has a sly smile or he’s rubbing his hands together — spinning his French moustache between his horrible little fingers. This book has clearly defined who you are rooting for and who you are rooting against. And I find that refreshing among today’s contemporary literature that wants to throw any idea of a “hero/heroine” out the window. I get tired of reading books with unlikable characters. Who am I supposed to care about? The pedophile? The shoplifter? The kid who kills animals? Oh…all of them? Ugh.

Sometimes I just want a dashing Englishman to save the day and make an evil Frenchman look stupid.

The Scarlet Pimpernel requires some suspension of disbelief, but it’s totally a fun book. I’m glad I read it.
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mary.raglin, October 7, 2008 (view all comments by mary.raglin)
What can be said that sounds adult and not just WOW! Mystery, suspense, the French Revolution! This book is a very fast paced book that once you start you find yourself flipping the pages so fast. In todays world we seem to know what happens and sure enough it does but the writing style is such that the Baroness keeps you wanting to see how it comes about!
To think that this book has endured 100 years of school children HAVING to read it makes me glad that it is still around so that as an adult I can truly appreciate her writing.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780451527622
Introduction:
Hoppenstand, Gary
Author:
Hoppenstand, Gary
Author:
Orczy, Baroness
Author:
Orczy, Emmuska
Author:
Happenstand, Gary
Author:
Orczy, Emmuska Orczy
Author:
Hoppenstand, Gary
Publisher:
Signet Classics
Location:
New York
Subject:
History
Subject:
Classics
Subject:
France
Subject:
Nobility
Subject:
Blakeney, Percy, Sir
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Historical fiction
Subject:
Adventure fiction
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
2000
Edition Number:
100
Edition Description:
B-Mass Market
Series:
Signet Classics Paperback
Series Volume:
106-14
Publication Date:
20000531
Binding:
MASS MARKET
Grade Level:
from 12
Language:
English
Pages:
288
Dimensions:
6.78x4.18x.82 in. .30 lbs.
Age Level:
from 18
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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Languages » Foreign Languages » Spanish » Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

The Scarlet Pimpernel (Signet Classics) Used Mass Market
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$2.95 In Stock
Product details 288 pages Signet Classics - English 9780451527622 Reviews:
"Synopsis" by , The year is 1792. The French Revolution, driven to excess by its own triumph, has turned into a reign of terror. Daily, tumbrels roll over the cobbled streets of Paris bearing new victims to the insatiable Madame Guillotine.... Thus the stage is set for one of the most enthralling novels of historical adventure ever written.

The mysterious figure known as the Scarlet Pimpernel, sworn to rescue helpless men, women, and children from their doom; his implacable foe, the French agent Chauvelin, relentlessly hunting him down; and the lovely Lady Marguerite Blakeney, a beautiful French exile married to an English lord and caught in a terrible conflict of loyalties — all play their parts in a suspenseful tale that ranges from the squalid slums of Paris to the aristocratic salons of London, from intrigue on a great English country estate to the final denouement on the cliffs of the French coast.

"Synopsis" by , During the French Revolution's reign of terror, the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel rescues helpless men, women, and children from their doom in this unique, wonderfully colorful adventure classic.
"Synopsis" by , This timeless novel of intrigue and romance includes a new Introduction by distinguished professor Gary Hoppenstand of Michigan State University. The story involves rulers of a French Revolution who are unable to discern the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a man whose exploits are an embarrassment to the regime. Reissue.
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