The Elusive Pimpernel [Hardcover]

Baroness Orczy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

It's the early days of the French Republic, and Robespierre's revolutionaries find their wicked schemes repeatedly thwarted by the cunning and heroic Pimpernel — in reality, Sir Percival Blakeney. In this thrilling sequel, the terrorist Chauvelin devises a vile plot to eliminate the Pimpernel and his beautiful wife, once and for all.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Johanna Ward brings suspense and wit to this story of intrigue set in the days following the French Revolution....She makes good use of her native British and superb French accents to help create vivid and complex personalities. Ward's great sense of mood and timing carry listeners through to the very end...." --AudioFile --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

Baroness Orczy was born in Hungary in 1865, the daughter of Baron Felix Orczy, a landed aristocrat and well-known composer and conductor. Shemoved with her parents from Budapest to Brussels and then Paris, where she was educated. Orczy alsostudied art in London and exhibited work atthe Royal Academy. Later sheMontagu Barstow and together they worked as illustrators and jointly published an edition of Hungarian folk tales. Fame came in1905 with the publication of The Scarlet Pimpernel, which was originally a play co-written with her husband. Its background of Revolution in France and swashbuckling hero, 'Sir Percy Blakeney', was to prove immensely popular. Sequels followed and many years later film and TV versions are enduringly popular, with new productions from time to time. However, Orczy alsoalso wrote detective stories which have a following today amongst those intersted in the genre. She died in 1947. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: IndyPublish.com (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140434960X
• ISBN-13: 978-1404349605
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoroughly good read!, December 13, 1999

By 

Scarlet - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Elusive Pimpernel (Hardcover)

This is another excellent Scarlet Pimpernel story from the pen of Orczy. It has all the usual elements - Chauvelin, Marguerite and of course the foppish Sir Percy.

In this tale Chauvelin attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of the French Revolutionary Government by weaving yet another dastardly plot to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel; he seeks not only to destroy his arch enemy but also to humiliate Marguerite. As always though Chauvelin underestimates the cunning and brilliance of Sir Percy and the League of the Pimpernel.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - it was exciting and romantic; although to the veteran Pimpernel reader the ending may seem predictable, Orczy manages to keep you in suspense to the very end. A very lucid book and one which is difficult to put down.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fairly good sequel..., November 1, 2002

By 

Rebecca L. Schlichtig (Westfield, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Elusive Pimpernel (Hardcover)

"Elusive" isn't my favorite Pimpernel sequel, but it's not bad at all either.

First, the bad: While I can understand that Marguerite is a woman in love, some of her stupidity at the beginning bordered on unbelievable (I don't mean this as an offense to Margot, who is one of my favorite characters, but if you read this book, you'll understand what I mean when I say she makes a bad decision). As usual, Percy becomes a secondary character in his own books, and that bothers me. Lastly, the choice Chauvelin gives Marguerite and Percy gets to be a little too much.

The good:
When Percy is around, he really shines. He has some really great moments in this book (which I won't spoil). The reader gets an idea of some of the emotions that are going on behind the facade. Also, "Elusive" has much more of a climax than some of the other Pimpernel books, which is a nice relief. Lastly, Desiree Candeille is an interesting character.

In all, I would recommend Eldorado between Elusive Pimpernel, but it's still a good read anyway.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Pimpernel Book, August 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Elusive Pimpernel (Hardcover)

I've read the first four SP books, and this is my favorite. It doesn't have as confusing a plot as some of the others do (Namely Eldorado...) Plus I think that Percy and Chauvelin are perfectly matched up enimies, and they show it off better than anywhere else in Bouloge. This is the most swashbuckling version of the one's I've read, where Chauvelin tries to win by brains and Percy beats him out with brawn. Beautiful!