Baroness Emma Orczy: Walking With A True Woman

In the early chapters of Baroness Emma Orczy's 1911 novel A True Woman, Louise Harris and her fiancé Luke de Mountford take a walk through Battersea Park in the Chelsea district of London, England. I can't remember if they actually walk across it, but Orczy mentions nearby Albert Bridge. And why not? It's beautiful! Just be careful if you walk across in a large group. You'll see signs posted reminding your party to break step every now and then. Otherwise, the bridge might collapse, and dump you into the river Thames!

As they stroll through Battersea Park, Luke mentions to Louise that a newfound relative is visiting London. Apparently one of his uncles had a son, and he's visiting London for the first time. The man doesn't seem to want anything more than to connect with his family. But Louise is aghast that Luke hasn't mentioned this man before. If his claims are true, the newcomer will replace Luke as the inheritor of the family fortune.

I can imagine Luke and Louise walking through the placid, tree-lined walkways of Battersea Park. Surrounded by such tranquility, Louise would have contemplated how the possibility that Luke might not inherit his surviving uncle's money would change their future plans. Up until now, Luke has devoted his life to being his uncle's right-hand man, managing all the family's investments and finances. He has no inheritance of his own, no income to fall back on. In this age of gentility, Luke would fall far below Louise's position in society. From society's standpoint, he would have nothing to offer her.

Sadly for Luke and Louise, this is exactly what happens.

Despite scientists' declarations that the fog that used to choke London's streets in a thing of the past, fog as thick as pea soup flows into London a few months later. It swarms around famous landmarks like Picadilly Square, and dampens the enthusiasm of crowds waiting to see the latest plays in the theatre district. Luke, now dispossessed, drives Louise and her father to an embassy party in her father's car. As he's no longer invited to such high society functions, he boards a city bus. After watching from afar for far too long, he has decided to confront his usurper in the man's club. He may no longer control the family finances, but he must convince the man to send their ailing uncle off to Spain for his health.

A few hours later, the usurper is found stabbed through the throat in a horse drawn cab. The cab driver cannot attest to the identity of the person who boarded the cab with the usurper, so thick with the fog. The next morning, Luke's walking stick is found in nearby Green Park. Secreted inside the walking stick is a stiletto knife. The blade has blood on it.

My wife and I walked past Green Park after visiting the Prime Minister's residence back in 2011. I remember a nice flat green expanse of lawn. But it was the evening, and we were hungry, so we didn't have time to explore it. If we had, I suppose we might have found someone's walking stick, and become an integral part of a murder investigation!

Luke is put on trial for his cousin's murder. Despite months of public pressure, Louise has refused to break her engagement to Luke because he lost his fortune. As she loves him, and believes in him, she attends the inquest. During a break in proceedings, they join with the fashionable set by walking the Ladies Mile in Hyde Park.

My wife and I explored Hyde Park in 2013. We saw the Rotten Row, where people rode their horses. E. F. Benson mentions the Rotten Row in several of his novels, such as Dodo, A Detail of a Day and Scarlet And Hyssop. While the Rotten Row stretches across the south area of Hyde Park, the Ladies Mile ran along the North. We had a great time exploring this historic park, along with our fellow walkers, cyclists, and horseback riders.

Thankfully, I wasn't suspected of murder at the time. This made it easier for my wife and I, as we didn't have to ignore everyone around us gossiping about the mountain of evidence against me. But then, my wife is a true woman. Had I been under suspicion, my wife would have stuck by me, just like Louise did with her beloved Luke.

Dragon Dave

Baroness Emma Orczy on Our Love for Chocolate

Right now I'm reading the novel Petticoat Government by Baroness Emma Orczy. It illustrates how the French aristocracy traded favors to wield important government positions. One theme of the novel suggests that Orczy wished her English readers to understand the level of government corruption that led to the French Revolution.

A chief figure in the novel is Madame de Pompadour. Although of humble origins, she rose to prominence as a favored mistress of King Louis XV. She used her influence to go on such an elaborate spending spree that the parliament instituted a Ministry of Finance. As the court traded on favors back then, the young husband of the Prime Minister's daughter was appointed the French Finance Minister.

While he initially viewed himself as unqualified for such an exalted position, the young husband finds that wielding the most powerful government position in France agrees with him. He welcomes groups of petitioners to his bedchamber in the Palace of Versailles, and entertains their ideas and suggestions from his throne-like bed. Orczy sees the women as largely wielding the real power in French society back then. So while the husband listens to their plans and pleas, it is his wife, the Prime Minister's daughter, who actually decides how to spend, or check, the government's income.

On one occasion, the secretary to the Finance Minister tells a supplicant that he holds no qualifications for entry. But when the young man tells the secretary that he's engaged to his daughter's friend, he is granted immediate access to the exalted chamber.

On this same August 13, 1746, he succeeded in being present at the petit lever of M. le Controleur-General des Finances. Once within the secret precincts of the bedchamber he, like so many other petitioners and courtiers, was duly confronted by the stony stare of M. Achielle, and found himself face to face with an enormous bedstead of delicately painted satinwood and ormolu mounts, draped with heavy azure silk curtains which hung down from a gilded baldachin, the whole a masterpiece of the furniture-maker's art.
Baroness Emma Orczy, Petticoat Government, 1910.

Another theme of the novel is the French aristocracy's love of chocolate. People in important government positions have access to chocolate, which is then not sold in bars, or an ingredient for desserts, but seen as the rich man's drink. Favors are traded, and access granted, because of people close to the servants who bring and mix the hot cocoa. Earlier in the novel, the Finance Minister's secretary wins his position because his daughter brings hot chocolate to a highly-placed official each morning. Of course, the young Finance Minister finds that his new schedule of drinking a cup of hot chocolate each morning agrees with him. 

When the young supplicant, who is engaged to the friend of the secretary's daughter, enters the Finance Minister's bedchamber, these are his first impressions:

The scent of chocolate filled his nostrils, and he vaguely saw a good-looking man reclining under a coverlet of magnificent Venetian lace, and listening placidly to what was obviously a very amusing tale related to him from well-roughed lips. From the billowy satins and laces of the couch a delicate hand was waved toward him as he attempted to pay his respects to the most powerful man in France...

Earlier this month, I enjoyed discovering the rich history of chocolate in Britain, which was celebrated in Norwich Cathedral by converting a large brass mixing bowl from a chocolate factory into a baptismal font. Now, through British-Hungarian author Baroness Emma Orczy, I'm learning that chocolate played a role in bringing down the government of France in the 18th Century. Oh, for the love of chocolate!

Dragon Dave

Emma Orczy and the Goddess of Reason Part 2

Christianity was founded on strongly held beliefs. The theological divides between Christian denominations can be huge. As in centuries past, people still regularly wage theological wars not just between denominations, but within their own to suppress a given practice, or impose a new belief. New churches spring up every day, and if they are successful, and give birth to others, eventually form new denominations. Yet the townspeople of Loddon, England have chosen to put all those differences aside, so they could worship together. They enjoy a richer, and more united religious community as a result.

A burial marker in the aisle of Holy Trinity, Loddon

Henry VIII is often seen as a villain. As an American, it would be inappropriate for me to either criticize him or to sing his praises. But after robbing the Catholic Church of the power it wielded over all aspects of English life, he didn't try to create his own religion. While he made significant changes to religious practice and belief, he still allowed his subjects to worship in a way they recognized as Christian. 

Three hundred years later, in their zeal to empower the common people, French reformers like Robespierre did not follow Henry VIII's example. After bringing down the religious authority of the Catholic Church, they went on to rob the country of the entire basis of its secular government. Then they set up an entirely new calendar, and established not one, but two new state religions. The people embraced neither the calendar nor the new religions. Eventually, they returned to the Catholic Church. As they had eradicated the aristocracy, France today lacks the rich history and cultural diversity England enjoys as a modern republic which also has a monarch.

As bloody and as terrible as Henry VIII's reign was, one wonders what might have occurred had the English king not broken with the Catholic Church. Might the number of the common people who hungered for change have grown, until centuries later, they rose up and brought down the entire secular and the religious leadership of Britain? What might the United Kingdom look like today had that happened? Would it have an American style President and Congress? Would all its churches be barren rooms, without a trace of ornamentation or memorials, their painted rood screens destroyed, plaster board covering aging frescos on old stone walls, and their historic stain glass windows replaced with triple insulated glass? Or would Catholicism have returned, stronger than before, like it did in France?

In merging their separate communities, the townspeople of Loddon may have lost some of the beliefs and practices particular to their respective denominations. But unlike the people of France during their revolution, as popularized by Baroness Emma Orczy in her novel The Elusive Pimpernel, they are not beheading anyone, either by a republican guillotine, or a royal executioner. They may not worship a goddess of their own design, but they employ reason in sharing a true community spirit, and generosity of spirit in merging their differences in belief and opinion. 

Imagine that.

Dragon Dave

Emma Orczy and the Goddess of Reason Part 1

An altar in Holy Trinity, Loddon

In Baroness Emma Orczy's novel The Elusive Pimpernel, Chauvelin, the former French Ambassador to England, tricks Sir Percy Blakeney and his wife Marguerite into traveling to Boulogne, a small coastal town in northern France. When Chauvelin captures Marguerite, he forces Sir Percy to write a letter explaining that all his brave exploits in rescuing the French aristocracy from the guillotine were really only done for money. Yet, when Chauvelin writes to his superiors in Paris, telling them of his triumph, Robespierre and his fellow reformers grow annoyed with Chauvelin. They wonder if he has fully embraced their Republican ideals, as he has dated his letter as (I believe, September), instead of Fructidor, a month in the newly imposed French Republican Calendar.

In order to celebrate his triumph, Chauvelin then organizes a celebration in Boulogne. As a condition of Sir Percy finishing the letter on this day, Chauvelin agrees to ring the church bells as part of an evening service. So while the townspeople rejoice with forced gaiety, and herald an actress attired as the newly created French goddess of Reason, Sir Percy manages another stunning escape. In the process, he takes with him the incriminating letter and his wife Marguerite. He leaves Chauvelin tied up in the prison, where the former ambassador hears the old church bells ring.

A painted wooden screen in Holy Trinity

Like any Church of England, Holy Trinity Church in Loddon is steeped in centuries of history. Yet the townspeople only worship there from May to November. For the rest of the year, they worship in St. John's Methodist Church.

After visiting Holy Trinity Church (and enjoying their fine book sale), my wife and I visited St. John's in Loddon. Unlike many Methodist churches we have visited in the United States, which could easily rival an ornate Lutheran or Episcopal church, the sanctuary of St. John in Loddon was barren. No ornamentation, no carvings, no burial or memorial markers. Just a hall with a modern interior of bare walls, windows, and a platform. 

Most Protestants in the United States are used to worshipping in such sparse surroundings. But I was intrigued why a Church of English congregation would trade a sanctuary so rich in history and beautiful for one so barren for six months of the year. I asked a man working in the St. John Methodist church office why the two churches had decided to share everything, from their worship service location to (presumably) the style of the services themselves. He explained that, as it was a small town, they had merged the congregations for two reasons: 1) to enhance the worship experience by increasing the size of the congregation, and 2) so the Holy Trinity members could save money. Apparently, it much more to heat the immense stone Holy Trinity building in the winter than it did the smaller, better insulated St. John. 

The Methodists broke away from the Church of England in earlier centuries for profound religious reasons. When worshippers have a choice of congregations, they usually chose the one which best conforms to their religious beliefs. Yet the people of Loddon have chosen to say, "Our beliefs don't matter so much as the fact that we worship and fellowship together." 

A community where the people's faith unites them, rather than divides them? Imagine that.

Dragon Dave

2017 In Review Part 2

Last week, I listed all the novels I read in 2017 on the right. Here's the final post on those I felt compelled to tell you about.

Jeffrey Archer's house:
 the Old Vicarage, Grantchester 2017

Shall We Tell The President by Jeffrey Archer
A taut political thriller set in Washington DC, written by a former politician who worked at the highest levels of British government. I found it interesting how he knows so much about the workings of the American government and its law enforcement agencies. I visited the author's house in Cambridge last year. 

St. Edmundsbury Cathedral 2017

In Mary's Reign by Emma Orczy
A romance involving renowned Protestant-hater Mary I, the daughter of Henry VIII, a young man at court, and two women who look startlingly similar. I visited Bury St. Edmunds this year. It was a rainy day, so we had little time to explore the town. So we spent it largely inside the cathedral. Had I read the novel before I visited the town, I might have ventured out to nearby St. Mary's Church, where she was buried.

Paddington Helps Out by Michael Bond
The answer, in case you are wondering, is No. One can never get enough of Paddington Bear.

Five Hundred Years After by Steven Brust
I'm most familiar with Brust's stories about Vlad, the former assassin and underworld figure, who is on the run from his fantasy-world equivalent of organized crime. He drops lots of hints about how his world came to be, with it's mix of witchcraft and sorcery. This one leads up to a pivotal event in the world's history, and involves the ancestors of Vlad and his friends (and perhaps a few of his longer lived friends). 

The War in the Air by H.G. Wells
A bicycle repairman helps extricate a man and a woman from a downed air balloon on a windswept beach. Then the air balloon takes off again, and whisks him off to Germany. The army finds him, along with plans for a proposed airplane. He is brought on board a zeppelin, and transported across the ocean to the United States, where the fleet of German zeppelins devastate New York. A strangely prophetic novel, written three decades before World War II.

Big Ben 2011

The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards
While I'm a Doctor Who fan, I've never really liked the TV versions of the Ninth Doctor and his companion Rose. But I liked their characterization in this book, as they investigate attacks on people in early twentieth century London. The story featured displaced European aristocrats, who had to flee to England for their lives, much like Baroness Emma Orczy. And the climax occurs inside Big Ben, an English landmark I'd very much like to tour, but probably would never be allowed inside. 

The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle
Unlike his Sherlock Holmes adventures, this is a 14th Century historical novel based partly in Minstead, England. It's really a series of misadventures featuring a young man who grows up believing he will become a monk, but falls in love with a noblewoman, becomes a squire, and eventually a knight and a landowner. As it happens, Minstead sits roughly halfway between Brighton (which I visited in 2013), and Lyme Regis (which I visited in 2015). Arthur Conan Doyle must have liked the town, as he was buried there.

E. F. Benson's House in London 2013

The English Way of Death by Gareth Roberts
An adventure in 1930s England, featuring the 4th Doctor and favorite companions Romana and K-9. There's some interesting nods to the Mapp and Lucia series by E. F. Benson. It takes place near the Victoria and Albert museum, where E. F. Benson lived, and also out on an English beach, where a strange brick bathing hut serves as an entry portal to another dimension. 

Winnie The Pooh by A.A. Milne
A fond look back at childhood stories, and a reminder that an important and beloved novel can be whimsical and lighthearted.

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Global warming has left many of the world's coastal cities underwater. Large swathes of New York City now stand in the intertidal zone. Skyscrapers have been fortified to withstand the conditions, and life goes on as usual, with intrigues, big business, and disasters. Homeless people live in boats on the water, scavenging to get by. Others who can't afford housing stay in tents atop the skyscrapers. The novel features a woman who travels around the world in a blimp, transplanting endangered animals to  regions where climate shift will allow them to survive. Another thread involves a search for buried treasure from a ship that sank off the coast during America's Revolutionary War. There are references aplenty to Herman Melville, including a lost story or novel which might also be recovered. But mostly it's a story about the centuries-old history of the city, and a thoughtful vision of its potential future.

A Mississippi River Boat in England?
Horning 2017

The Confidence Man by Herman Melville
The Canterbury Tales on a Mississippi River Boat. The theme is how much are you willing to trust, and believe in, your neighbor. Will you choose to believe in a good cause, based only upon a stranger's word? This is a tiresome read, and most of the time I was plodding through it. I don't recommend it. Nonetheless, it is one that challenged my outlook regarding the "good causes" people ask me to help, whether they be legally organized charities, or the scruffy, unwashed person on the street.

A Son of the People by Emma Orczy
A Hungarian Lord of the Manor tries to build a modern mill, using principles he's read about in England. But the local serfs are fearful that his advancements will leave them out of work, and they rebel by setting fire to the fields. While the rich lord is foreword-thinking, he's stupid about money, and ends up owing everything to a greedy Jewish moneylender. A peasant, who has worked hard and invested wisely, comes to his aid, and asks for his daughter's hand in return. This semi-autobiographical novel makes for an interesting study of life at the time in Europe, the interaction of the classes, racism, and the inevitable march of technological progress.

I'd be honored if any of my (eventual) published novels were to prove as noteworthy as the above listed titles.

Dragon Dave

2017 In Review Part 1

Last year I read some wonderful stories by some amazing authors. You can peruse the entire list off to the right. I'll touch on a few of the more meaningful journeys in this post.

The Highlanders by Gerry Davis
The novelization of a 1960s Doctor Who TV serial. It takes place in an era when the English fought the Scottish for who would be king of the United Kingdom. It's where the 2nd Doctor meets Jamie, a Scottish Highlander who is fighting the English Redcoats. As an American, it's a reminder of the time when the British and the colonies didn't agree who should rule part of Britain. The story aired on TV during the 1960s, when the British were in the process of disbanding their empire. It seems equally relevant today, given Britain's desire to abandon the European Union via Brexit, and with Scotland recently voting over whether or not to leave the U.K.

King Soloman's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
The Bible records the lavish extent to which Soloman built the Jewish temple. Other verses say that he built equally lavish temples for the gods of other lands, such as those his foreign wives worshipped. While Soloman is revered for building the first Jewish temple, the money he spent on it, and the labor he demanded of his people, led to the breakup of the Jewish kingdom. The novel's hero Allan Quartermain has become a cult hero, the subject of books, movies, and comics. Haggard wrote more novels about him, but this was his first: the search for the fabled diamond mines in Africa that Soloman used to fund his lavish building program. What I found most interesting are 1) how he kills so many animals for sport (or, in the case of elephants, for their ivory), and 2) how he convinces thousands of people to go to war in order to save the life of himself and his friends.

Cambridge 2017

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
I discovered detective Jackson Brody via the TV adaptations. Atkinson's novel is very different from the TV versions. For one thing it's set in Cambridge, as opposed to the TV version, which is set in Scotland. Another interesting features involves the highly sexualized nature of Atkinson's story. There's nudists bathing in the River Cam, a woman who sells her soul (and body) to find her place in society, and another woman who decides to become a lesbian. The main plot involves the identity of a dead girl, with the culprit being a child molester. Even more startling is Jackson's fear that his young daughter will be corrupted by an increasingly sexualized society. This was a polished, literary work, as much a novel of character as a mystery. Agatha Christie it is not.

Lovejoy & Lady Jane Felsham punting on the River Cam

The Judas Pair by Jonathan Gash
The first Lovejoy novel set in the English county of East Anglia, which itself is made up of the smaller counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. (This makes East Anglia a super county to live in, I guess. Ask Jonathan Gash--he lives there). The Lovejoy of the novels is very different from the TV version. He isn't afraid to use violence to get what he wants. He's also less averse to stealing, if he deems the situation warrants it. Yet the book focuses even more on antiques, and the peculiarities there of, than the TV show. The Judas Pair is a set of flintlock dueling pistols, and the novel covers the complexities of the guns in far greater detail. The story, likewise, is far more complex and layered. I'm not sure Lovejoy of the books could ever be called the James Bond of antiques, but it would be interesting to compare Gash's novels with Fleming's. Intriguingly, the TV version also has Lovejoy visiting Cambridge, and punting on the River Cam, which doesn't take place in the novel.

The beach in Aldeburgh, a popular seaside destination.
Suffolk 2017

In the Days of the Comet by H. G. Wells
Europe is poised on the brink of war. The coast of the English county of Suffolk is being bought up by property developers. English industry is run entirely by corporations and property developers. Then a comet passes through Earth's atmosphere without destroying the planet. The exchange of gases change how people regard their place in the world, and sets them on a path to treat others in a more equitable fashion. While the story is clearly idealistic and utopian, it does suggest that Wells foresaw the labor union movement. 

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century by Addison E. Steele
Did I really read this novel last year? Hm. Can't remember anything about it. Sorry.

Hospital Station by James White
An entertaining novel about a Human medical doctor on a space station. He treats more aliens than humans, and each has biological, gravity, and atmospheric requirements that make coexistence difficult. A very entertaining precursor to S.L. Viehl's recent Stardoc series.

The Trouble with Tribbles by David Gerrold
The author tells how he sold his first story to television, from his original story proposal, to his pitch session, to story development, and finally to the filmed version of the beloved Star Trek episode. It covers his interaction with the Star Trek cast and production staff, from Leonard Nimoy to Gene Roddenberry. It's an inspiring book, when you consider that Gerrold sent the production team his story idea as an unpublished author. Through Star Trek, he went on to have a successful career in TV and as a literary author.  

In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen
A murder takes place during World War II in an English Manor. Something fans of "Downton Abbey" might enjoy.

Annie of Albert Mews by Dee Williams
This novel also takes place in WW2, in an area of London called Rotherhithe. Annie grows up in a conservative, nonreligious household. Her friend is less moral, becomes a nightclub singer, and inevitably pays the consequences for her actions. Annie's first love dies in the war. She joins the Salvation Army, much to her parents' chagrin. She is almost raped, she nearly dies amid the bombing, and eventually is evacuated to the countryside. An involving historical novel of how life changed in Britain during WW2. (Some Sherlock Holmes adventures take place in Rotherhithe. I'd be interested in visited the area some day).

The god Amun protects the Egyptian King Tarharqa.
The British Museum 2013.

The Gates of Kamt by Emma Orczy
Explorers discover a lost civilization of ancient Egyptians, untouched by the modern world. A fun romp by the author of the Scarlet Pimpernel series, written in the style of H. Rider Haggard.

More About Paddington by Michael Bond
One can't get enough of Paddington Bear, right?

Given an abundance of time, I'd write more about all the books I read last year, not just the ones I noted. I'll finish this list of last year's most notable books in my next post.

Dragon Dave

The Scarlet Pimpernel & Doctor Who on the Reign Of Terror

Baroness Emma Orczy's description of revolutionary France in her novel The Scarlet Pimpernel brought home to me scenes from "The Reign of Terror," a six-part Doctor Who adventure. In the first episode, "A Land of Fear," the TARDIS lands in a forest. The First Doctor announces that they've reached Earth, but he doesn't know what country or year in which they've arrived.  So he, Ian, Barbara, and Susan step outside. 

Note: Ian, Barbara, and Susan look somewhat different in the TV show.

They travel to an abandoned farmhouse. While the Doctor searches upstairs, Ian, Barbara, and the Doctor's granddaughter Susan find a stock of clothes, food, and identity documents supposedly signed by Robespierre. Suddenly, they know exactly when and where on Earth they have arrived. The Doctor has brought them to France during the Reign of Terror!

Unbeknownst to them, they are not alone. Upstairs, someone knocks out the Doctor. 

Warning: Getting hit in the head by a hammer
can leave you with a nasty bump on the noggin.
Especially if it's Thor's hammer Mjolnir.

Then the Doctor's companions are surrounded by French aristocrats who use the farm house to smuggle people out of the country. By the time Ian, Barbara, and Susan convince them that they're not their enemies, a party of French guards show up. These patriots kill the French aristocrats, and decide that Ian, Barbara and Susan must also be aristocrats or sympathizers. So the Doctor's companions are marched them off to Paris, where they can expect a preemptory trial, a short stint in prison, and finally appointment with Madame Guillotine. 

"Come along captives, keep up the pace,
or we'll Exterminate, Exterminate, EXTERMINATE YOU before we reach Paris!"

Meanwhile, the fate of the Doctor remains uncertain, as the farmhouse in which he lay senseless was set ablaze by the French guards.

The Doctor Who story made me curious about the French Revolution, and the Reign of Terror in particular. The Scarlet Pimpernel built upon this interest, and made this period of history much more real to me. Orczy's short story, then play, and finally a novel about this Englishman who saves French aristocrats from certain death became a sensation in the early 20th century, and earned Baroness Emma Orczy lasting fame and fortune. Some even claim that her character served as a precursor for later heroes with secret identities such as Zorro and Batman. Dennis Spooner, who wrote the Doctor Who adventure "Reign Of Terror" is said to have been inspired by this classic story. Small wonder then that Orczy continued to write stories and novels about her famous hero throughout her career, and that I found this first installment had lost none of its page-turning enchantment in the hundred years since she wrote it.

Dragon Dave

P.S. You have to wonder what J.R.R. Tolkien would have thought of a last name like Orczy, don't you?

Baroness Emma Orczy on Knitting During the French Revolution

Due to personal interest raised by writing posts on my sister blog, Poirot and Friends, I decided to read The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy. So I found a free ebook version on Amazon.com, downloaded it to my kindle, and dived in. I found it a bracing novel packed with humor, interest, drama, and excitement. Unfortunately, any internet search of the novel immediately reveals the secret identity of the hero, which drains much of the suspense from the first half, during which the protagonist Marguerite neither respects nor loves her husband, and wonders at the identity of the daring, celebrated Scarlet Pimpernel. Still, Orczy's earthy and colorful prose flows well, and the first half helps us understand the characters, as well as the world in which they live. Once Orczy has made us care about Marguerite and her husband Lord Percy, the second half roars right along, with a daring venture across a storm-wracked sea to France, where Marguerite valiantly tries to save the Scarlet Pimpernel from capture.

Oops. By that last sentence, you've probably just guessed the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Sorry. Really though, the best part of the novel is Marguerite's backstory, the mistakes she makes in the first half of the novel, and her transformation into a valiant heroine. It'd be interesting to read more of the series, and see how she (and Percy) develop in later novels.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is set during a particularly bloody period of the French Revolution known as the Reign of Terror. During this time, anyone suspected of sympathizing with the aristocracy was put to death. Madame Guillotine embraced people from all walks of life, including the lowliest peasant. Ironically, this sometimes included people who believed in the ideals of their glorious new republic. The Executive branch of the France's revolutionary government (the equivalent of the President of the United States, or the Prime Minister in England), the so-called Committee of Public Safety, headed by Maximilien Robespierre, knew no mercy. If any French citizen allowed an aristocrat, any member of his family, or a sympathizer (such as a loyal servant) escape to another country, it didn't matter how vigilantly they tried to prevent their escape, or how faultless their lives were in other respects. They were simply dragged off to the loving arms (and blade) of Madame Guillotine.

Baroness Emma Orczy's novel also offered an insight into the popularity of knitting during the French Revolution.

The women who drove the carts usually spent their day on the Place de la Greve, beneath the platform of the guillotine, knitting and gossiping, whilst they watched the rows of tumbrils arriving with the victims the Reign of Terror claimed every day. It was great fun to see the aristos arriving for the reception of Madame la Guillotine, and the places close by the platform were very much sought after. Bibot, during the day, had been on duty on the Place. He recognized most of the old hats, "tricotteuses," as they were called, who sat there and knitted, whilst head after head fell beneath the knife, and they themselves got quite bespattered with the blood of those cursed aristos.

Pinky: Keep on knitting, you two.
Oh, and Captain Scarlet, I want that guillotine built by sunset,
or it's off with your dome!

Perhaps I can be forgiven for pointing out that this passage from Baroness Emma Orczy's novel gives an entirely different definition to the knitting term dye lot. Perhaps not. (Perhaps I'm fortunate that France no longer enlists Madame Guillotine to secure Public Safety). Still, doesn't it makes you wonder what types of hats, scarves, gloves, or clothes the women were knitting, and how they got the bloodstains out of their projects?

Dragon Dave