The Scarlet Pimpernel

Title: The Scarlet Pimpernel (audiobook)

Author: Baroness Orczy

Narrator: Michael Ward

Publisher: Puffin Books

Genre: Classic, Historical Fiction

Source: Own & Hoopla

My Review:

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy is not something I would have picked to read. I read it because it was the classic for my book club this month. The only problem is that I don't typically enjoy classics, and I don't typically read from this period. So, my enjoyment was doomed from the beginning.

I said all that to say, take my review with a grain of salt.

I don't enjoy reading books with a lot of accents (dialect) and that made this one difficult from the start. Also, it is a slow beginning with not much happening for the first nine or so chapters. At that point, I switched to the audioboook, which made for a better "reading" experience.

Read for:

-French revolution

-the Scarlet Pimpernel (the spy)

-the many disguises and clever ingenuity of the spy

-it is well witten

Disliked for:

-the overuse of D---

-the relationship between Sir Percy & Marguerite

-all the references to the guillotine

-the over explained scenes 

While I am not sure what all the fuss is about, I am glad to have read it. I don't have any intentions of reading any more of the books in the series. On the other hand, my husband is also reading (and enjoying!) this book, and can't wait to read more!

Synopsis (Goodreads): 

Armed with only his wits and his cunning, one man recklessly defies the French revolutionaries and rescues scores of innocent men, women, and children from the deadly guillotine. His friends and foes know him only as the Scarlet Pimpernel. But the ruthless French agent Chauvelin is sworn to discover his identity and to hunt him down.