08/08/2021
During the French Revolution, a French diplomat blackmails an expatriate Frenchwoman into discovering who the anonymous hero rescuing French aristocrats from the guillotine is. Shocked by the discovery of the true identity of the hero she has betrayed, she attempts to save him from the French trap.
Hang on, how is is this an espionage novel?
Well, The Scarlet Pimpernel himself is a secret agent rather than a spy. But Marguerite, the protagonist of the novel, literally calls herself a spy. In response, Chauvelin, the agent running her, delivers the classic phrase, ‘spying is an ugly word’.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is the hero who launched a thousand copycats. Worth reading for its influence alone. A classic.
https://graemeshimmin.com/scarlet-pimpernel-book-review/
A review and retrospective of the classic novel The Scarlet Pimpernel by by Baroness Emma Orczy. Includes full plot summary and analysis.
