Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Hodder & Stoughton (1953), Paperback
Description
Sir Percy leads a band of musicians whose play is of questionable quality. Nonetheless, the disguise enables him to listen in to conversations as revolutionaries lay their plans in an ale house. But his mission on this occasion is to save the La Rodiere family and others from the Guillotine. The band uses the rabble to mask the rescue, as whilst they sing and dance around Chateau Rodiere, it becomes possible to outwit even Citizen Chauvelin, who has arrived on the scene. Treachery from within the band is afoot, however, and Sir Percy has to rely on wit and judgment to bring about an astonishing conclusion.
User reviews
LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
The Baroness' usual blend of fact and fiction - the English priest brought in for the execution of Louis XVI is rescued by the League, and a tangle of love affairs lead to added complications for the Pimpernel. One of the 'traitor' stories - Percy, omniscient as he is, sees the betrayal coming, but
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is unbelievably patient and forgiving. He is described by the black sheep as an 'arrogant schoolmaster', which is about right. I enjoy reading about Percy and the League almost as much as I do Percy and Marguerite, and it's a mark of the Baroness' talent that both characters are effective and captivating as individual personalities, not merely a hero and his damsel or a heroine and her husband. Some secondary League members are featured - Jimmy 'Froggie' Holte, Tom Galveston, Everingham and Glynde, and of course St John Devinne; though not as deftly described as Percy or Chauvelin, the camaraderie between them is reassuring and fun at times. And poor old Chauvelin has a bad time of it in this adventure - I had visions of him spinning like a top in an effort to keep up with the Pimpernel, let alone one step ahead! Vastly entertaining. Show Less
LibraryThing member thatotter
I chose this as my first Scarlet Pimpernel sequel because it's set next after the original book. Let's just say lightning didn't strike twice in the same place. The writing was pretty bad, the plot wasn't gripping, and it was hard to care about the random new characters. Orczy does a better job at
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getting into the heads of female characters than male characters, which is a problem in a book like this where there's no Marguerite but lots of League members. Show Less
Language
Original publication date
1936
Local notes
Scarlet Pimpernel, 02
DDC/MDS
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