Customer Reviews

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

I enjoyed this book, and I'm a bit surprised by all the really bad reviews. It may not be perfect but it is a fun read, which I believe is what the author intended.

DON'T expect Jane Austen or Baroness Orczy or Philippa Gregory. Lauren Willig's "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" is not deep, destined-to-be-classic, impeccably accurate historical fiction--nor is it intended to be. The author says on her website that she wrote it for fun after passing some tough grad school exams, and her enjoyment of writing it comes across in the book.

Sure, Amy Balcourt isn't quite as prim and proper as your standard young lady of 1803. It would be difficult to feature in a romance novel if she were. Which, though it hurts my intellectual pride to admit it, this essentially is.

It is not, however, I hasten to add, a bodice-ripper Harlequin that's all sex and no substance with no plot, flat characters, and a lot of heaving bosoms. Um, well...there are a few heaving bosoms, but that isn't the *sole* focus of the plot.

On the contrary, the book is well-written and engaging. The plot may be insanely contrived at times, but that's what makes it a comedy! The writing is light and funny, the dialog is witty, the romance is...romantic, the plot is suspenseful and full of funny unexpected turns, and the characters are outstanding.

Rebellious, vivacious Amy Balcourt and dashing, mysterious Lord Richard Selwick are the main characters. Amy is a lively, intelligent young woman with big plans to help the mysterious Purple Gentian save England (though she wouldn't object if he fell in love with her in the process). She is appalled when she meets Richard--an Englishman on Bonaparte's payroll, which in Amy's eyes amounts to nothing short of treason. Richard, of course, has a secret: he *is* Amy's idol, the Purple Gentian--who does *not* welcome the aid (or the romantic distraction) of a meddlesome, saucy (though very attractive--and very determined) accomplice. Hilarity ensues.

Despite the comedy, the characters are sympathetic and realistic. Both have troubled pasts to overcome and ambitious (and often conflicting) dreams. The chemistry of their love/hate relationship is wonderful.

Amy and Richard lead a wonderful cast of memorable, often eccentric--bordering on outrageous--supporting characters. There's Miss Gwen, the prim, straight-laced chaperone with a penchant for prodding people with her parasol--up to and including Bonaparte himself! There's Lord Richard's delightful family--his constantly flirting parents and overeager little sister and his two best friends--quiet well-behaved Geoff (who tends to get forgotten amid Richard's boisterous family) and cheerful, irreverent Miles (who provides a large part of the boisterousness himself). There's Stiles, Richard's butler, an ex-actor who does all of his buttling in character as King Lear and who ends up as a pirate...

The setting in Napoleonic Paris is very well done, and we encounter not only the First Consul and his wife, but an assortment of their contemporaries--Napoleon's promiscuous sister Pauline, his hen-pecked brother-in-law Joachim Murat, and his evil minister of police, Fouché.

"The Pink Carnation" is by no means a deep and meaningful work of historical fiction, nor does it make any claims to be. It is essentially romantic comedy--with all the silliness, crazy plots, and exaggerated characters that entails. These shouldn't be considered as flaws, however--they make the book a joy to read. The humor will have you laughing, the romance will have you sighing, and the suspense will make it impossible to put down.

Don't overlook the "Pink Carnation" series just because it isn't deep and serious historical fiction. Someone on the historical fiction forums called it "light historical fiction," which is a perfect term for it. It is written for entertainment, not education--and in this it certainly succeeds.

When historical mysteries first started to become really popular I didn't really understand why. Then I realized that all we do in studying history is try to explain mysteries, even if it's just trying to understand the motivations of peoples personal actions. So I overcame my aversion to historical mystery and started in on this new-ish genera.

When I first read the title "The secret history of the pink carnation" I thought that the pink carnation had to be a painting of some sort. As it turns out, the pink carnation is a not-so-real English spy who worked against Napoleon. In fact, the pink carnation is the third in a line of English spies named after flowers who all worked in France. In modern times Harvard grad student Eloise Kelly is trying to uncover the real identity of the pink carnation, the only spy who was not unmasked by the French. She gets her opportunity when an elderly woman, a descendent of one of these flower spies, grants her access to family letter and diaries that revel the identity of the pink carnation, but have always been kept secret from the world.

And so we have the secret history of the pink carnation. Is the spy the same person as the romantic Purple Gentian, a spy who poses as the collector of Egyptian objects for napoleon? Is it Amy Balcourt, a young woman whose father, a French noble, was murdered by the revolutionaries? And will Eloise Kelly even be allowed to figure the mystery out over the objections of an annoying young British noble who doesn't want her poking into his families past?

In my opinion the main virtue of this book is that it's funny. All those little ironic, stupid observations that we make in the course of a normal day are written down. The characters routinely act stupid, say stupid things and get into ludicrous situations. I found the romance to be both overdone and not convincing, but in general the humor wins out and this book is fun to read, if not a masterpiece. But it's not really the kind of book written to be a masterpiece-it's the historical equivalent of chick lit or a beach read.

Three stars.

At the time that this book was released, I was working at a bookstore. The bookstore included it in its recommended reading list and that, coupled with positive feedback from other people, was enough to have me picking it up (for all that it took me until a few days ago to actually get around to reading it).

I am now terribly glad that I bought this book at a discount.

I went in to reading the book expecting a tongue-in-cheek take on espionage during the French Revolution. Instead, I got a bodice-ripper.

The book featured perhaps what is the least compelling cast that I've ever read; the heroine is insipid, the hero is ruled by what's in his pants, the supporting cast is transparent at best. The heroine is a flake - perhaps her intended characterization in the spirit of parody, but she steps well over the line between amusing and irritating. The hero is remarkably ineffective as a spy, to the point that it's a wonder that he survived his first attempt. The supporting cast is interchangeable and frequently confused; I still can't keep straight the inner circle of the Purple Gentian, as the friends have little build-up until the climax of the book, barring the squabbling one has with the hero's sister.

The characters are modern - very modern. The women are spunky and dominating to a fault (unless the plot requires otherwise), while the men exist primarily to ogle the ladies' derrieres and angst. With a costume change, the book could very easily be set in the present day.

The espionage in the book is laughable: the hero is sneaking in through windows while masked and caped, only to fall over the heroine and suddenly find himself thoroughly distracted by her heaving bosom and wriggling backside. Napoleon's office is conveniently empty for the heroine to casually riffle it, and the deepest dungeon of the Ministry of Police is easily penetrated by gentry posing as cleaning women. The seduction scenes have more pages than any sort of spying and/or dramatic rescues.

The romance itself is bland at best and irritating at worst. Every character has a deep love-hate relationship, unless they've moved past that to the ooey-gooey love stage. The actual sex scenes are florid and utterly cliché, transposable with virtually any book sold in the Romance section. They're also vaguely disconcerting, as the heroine at most times seems to act like a 12-year-old, a perception that isn't quite dispelled by her more physical interactions with the hero.

The modern plotline interwoven with the main plotline is jarring; they switch back and forth with no real distinction, so you aren't quite certain which you're reading until you get to a name. The modern heroine behaves as though she's the main heroine transported to the present day: ineffectual and falling all over herself with self-thwarted lust. It's terribly difficult to believe that she's a doctoral candidate (written by a doctoral candidate!).

Had this book been marketed as romance and released as a mass-market paperback, I probably wouldn't have been terribly disappointed; it'd make a decent beach book of the bodice-ripper type. Given its marketing and its release as a hardcover and trade paperback, though, I feel almost betrayed; I expected so much more, so having it turn out to be that beach bodice-ripper further soured my perceptions of it. I'd recommend it as a bargain book for a one-time, fluffy reading, but even that seems to be too much. Instead, hit up the local library and pick it up with a stack of romance novels; it'll fit right in, at just the right price.

Warning: make sure that you have staked out enough of time to finish this novel before you begin this wonderful novel. It's another one of those unputdownables. Not because the books is tensely plotted, full of riveting twists and turns, but because it is one of those absolutely fun books that are a joy to read.

After a dating debacle with her latest boy friend, graduate student Eliose Kelly applies for a grant to go to England do some research. Eliose is doing her doctoral thesis on British spies of the Regency period, spies like the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation. And while everyone knows the identities of Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian, the identity of the Pink Carnation has always been a mystery. And Eliose cannot find mention of him anywhere (not even the Public Records Office in Kew) except for in the tabloid-like newspapers. And so, quite desperate, she writes to the descendants of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian, asking them for access to their records. She is rudely rebuffed by all except one: Mrs. Selwick-Alderly, a descendent of the Purple Gentian, invites her to tea, and obligingly enough gives her access to some letters in her possession. The letters are written by a young half-French lady, Aimee (Amy) Balcourt, a refugee of the French Revolution, who dreams of returning to France, and of helping her hero, the Purple Gentian, rout the despicable republicans who have taken over her country. Now, at lastin 1803, Amy's brother invites her to return home and to live with him. And for Amy, who has lived in rural Shropshire all these years dreaming of such an opportunity, it is a dream come true. And so, together with her favourite cousin and confidant, Jane, and a daunting chaperone, Miss Gwen, the three women cross the channel. Amy is sure that once she is in Paris, she will be able to quickly identify the English gentleman who is the Purple Gentian, and that he will gratefully accept her offer of help. But Amy is about to discover that dreams and reality are two different things, and that it might not be so easy to identify the Purple Gentian after all. And in the meantime, one must contend with that awful man, Richard Selwick, who, traitorously, seems to have no qualm about associating with the much despised republicans...

I shall always be thankful that Lauren Willig took up writing! "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" was a delightful read -- witty, humorous and loads of fun. The book is split into two subplots, one that takes place in 1803 and focuses Amy, and the other one in modern times that focuses on Eliose. Both are well done and cleverly juxtaposed so that you're left desperately wanting to know more at once -- will Amy finally realise who the Purple Gentian is? And how will Eliose's relationship with Colin Selwick ever progress beyond sniping? Engaging and deeply engrossing, I enjoyed the book thoroughly from start to finish -- there were no false notes. And I'm avidly waiting for the next Pink Carnation installment, which will, I hope, feature quiet, efficient and intelligent Jane (my favourite character). And while I hate to sound like a gushing nitwick, thank you, again Lauren Willig, for this fabulous read!

This story seemed to have a lot of promise while still carrying desirable light-read elements. Unfortunately the author can't write dialogue and can only imagine romance blossoming from people who banter in unclever, unrealistic (even for a romance novel) fashions. I didn't give this "one star" because of the fresher-than-average plot. Too bad someone with a gift for writing didn't pen this.

The only surprising thing about this book is that it ever got
published. I was encouraged by the basic premise, but the
plot was just too silly for words.

There was no seamless segue between present and past; instead
the book lurched between one period and the other. The author
was obviously confused herself, because she didn't realise when
her Regency characters should speak and behave differently to
her modern ones. Georgette Heyer is in absolutely no danger of
being knocked from her pedestal as Queen of Regency romances.

And poor Richard Selwick wouldn't have lasted two minutes in the
band of the Scarlet Pimpernel - a more unfocused and ridiculous
spy is hard to imagine. If he hadn't got himself killed on his
first mission with Sir Percy Blakeney, he would have been sent
packing as soon as the band returned to Dover.

As for Amy - was she really twenty, or only twelve? A stupid,
spoilt and childish brat with no charm or accomplishments to
redeem her petulant and pouting behaviour. I was only sorry
that she didn't meet her end at the hands of the dastardly
French police.

I skimmed most of this book, because it really wasn't worth
the effort it took to read slowly.

One star for trying - but Ms Willig shouldn't give up her day
job.

This is basically a romance novel. I agree with many of the other reviewers who said the mystery is transparent and that the writing is full of anachronisms . . . and yet I thought this book was great fun. Richard is pretty sexy, and while there were lots of heaving bosoms the characters did manage to get some action in among all that swooning. The modern subplot is unrealized - I was a little let down by the way she ended the modern part of the story with a thud, to be continued in the next book, presumably. I would really like to read more about Jane, whom I agree was the most interesting and mysterious character (and I wouldn't be surprised if Miss Gwen has a few surprises up her sleeve, as well).

I read this over a couple of hours while stuck in bed with a cold, so perhaps I was primed to be amused. I didn't have high expectations, either, but I still enjoyed the book and was sorry when it ended. (I'm planning to borrow the next in the series from the library rather than spend money on it, however).

I'm sorry, I tried and I tried but I just could not finish this book. Usually, the fact that I didn't finish would preclude me from being able to write a review about it, but my failure to read it was not due to disinterest or too little time- rather, I simply got tired of having to roll my eyes after every paragraph.

First of all, I absolutely adore both historical novels and romance novels, as well as witty comic novels, and if a book can combine all three, so much the better and kudos to the author. But a historical novel this was not, nor was it a witty comic novel, and it was definitely one of the poorest romance novels I've ever tried to read, considering that it sounded like it was written by a very ambitious, but inexperienced, 16 year old.

Historically, this novel was a mess. The heroine's language and behavior read like a young woman in modern times ATTEMPTING to speak and act like a young woman in the early 19th century, and not knowing at all how to do so. If we compare Amy to literary characters of Amy's contemporary, I suppose she would be best equated to Pride & Prejudice's Lydia, but Amy behaves with even less charm and more recklessness than the unlovable, feckless Lydia. Willig wants her heroine to be spirited and endearing but instead Amy comes off as childish and obnoxious. I wasn't even going to comment on the sexual escapades that Willig insisted on indulging in this novel, but it really is too ridiculous to ignore. Amy's behavior would be more typical of a brazen whore or an otherwise experienced seductress, but any other respectable young woman in her position would never have behaved so. It simply was impossible to be the innocent sex kitten that Willig wants Amy to be. In Regency England, you had to be either one or the other, and if you were The Other, you were scorned and shunned.

As a comic novel, this failed miserably, and it was at Willig's obvious but weak attempts at humor that most of the aforementioned eye-rolling took place. I consider myself to be a seasoned reader of British/Irish comic novels, with my tastes ranging from Austen to Fielding to Keyes to Wodehouse. I can appreciate bawdy humor as well as I can appreciate subtle witticism, and this book did not crack a single smile out of me (and it doesn't even take much, really. I'll laugh at almost anything). As for the modern-day protaganist, Eloise......just imagine me sighing heavily here. She tried. She really tried. She wanted to be Becky Bloomwood and Bridget Jones, but fell very, very flat.

I really wanted to like this book. In fact, I bought it for myself instead of checking it out from the library just because from reading the description, I was sure I would like it and would want to have a copy of my own. I think with a little more fine-tuning and a little bit less of the obvious self-indulgence, Willig could write a great novel, and I really do wish her luck in the future. Maybe someday she will write a book that I can actually get through.

After reading glowing reviews and an article about the author, I bought this book to take on a trip. Who doesn't love a light read on the plane? This one is so light, there is nothing there. Couldn't put it down? Couldn't finish it, is more like it. Half way through I skipped to the end. Unbelievably predictable and inane, it's insulting to the reader in it's stupidity. However, if this were cleaned up a tiny bit, it might be good reading for an 11 year old. Reader, save some money, go buy a second-hand paperback romance. If the author is any indication of what is coming out of our institutions of higher learning, we can expect more smart people cashing in on the the little guy and girl, using the same-old same-old. The author sounds smart and interesting, to bad she's using her skills to produce formulaic drivel. The historical background of this book is geared for the type of reader who only reads the first paragraph of any story in the newspaper. That's not you! Get out there and find something better!

Having enjoyed "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and loved it for years, I read about this book with interest. I saw much praise and looked forward to reading it. Unfortunately I was badly disappointed. If you liked Baroness Orczy's classic, be warned. This is a pale, irritating copy. I though Guy C. Clayton's attempt to use the book downright annoying, but at least it held together as a story.
It's a story within a story. Eloise Kelly travels in England to pursue research regarding secret agents of the Revolutionary era, specifically the Scarlet Pimpernel and his successors, the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation. She is given papers relating to the latter two, by a descendent of Sir Richard Selwick, the Purple Gentian.
The inset tale then unfolds. Amy Balcourt has burned to pursue a life of adventure for years, having, with her mother, escaped the French Revolution. So when her brother invites her home during the peace she jumps at the chance, accompanied by cousin Jane and chaperone Miss Gwen. They soon meet Selwick on the boat to France. There follows much burbling between Amy and Selwick from their instant attraction. The nature of Selwick's masquerade also dictates an instant antipathy, when Amy discovers he associates with Bonoparte. The tale continues through much chit chat between the pair of an allegedly witty nature. It also lurches along in great leaps of adventure that are absurd.
We meet the brother involved in something nefarious with a shady Englishman who is suspected of being the Gentian. We then meet Bonoparte and Josephine at her salon and are subjected to a nonsensical scene involving him and Miss Gwen berating him. My patience, already being tried, became stretched.
The further adventures of Amy defy logic and belief. She listens at doors, is let loose in the Tuilleries, finds secret papers, jumps from second storey windows nary a scratch, meets men at midnight without thought and nearly is seduced in a boat. She's a first class pain. More hair than wit. Jane was far more interesting.
Danger abounds but is far too easily overcome to be taken seriously.
Richard is marginally better than Amy, but as soon as he kisses her, whilst on his mission, his brains leak out and he never recovers them.
This is not romantic adventure, it's a risible romp.
Read the original, it's got more true adventure, suspense and romance for all its age.