Eldorado
In the spirit of rosemaryinwheat's reviews of C. Guy Clayton's books, I thought I would open a dedication to my favourite Orczy Scarlet Pimpernel novel, Eldorado, which I am currently savouring again (this time on MP3 - I now know how to pronounce St Germain l'Auxerrois!)
For me, this SP adventure is sublime. It features all the main characters, most especially Marguerite, and has the romance, betrayal, atmosphere, introspection and tension of the first novel, yet it far surpasses TSP because it's darker; it's almost like a 'grown-up' Scarlet Pimpernel.
Percy and Marguerite are reunited, yet unlike Elusive, they are working together - he even has to rely on her to effect his escape from the Conciergerie. The chapter called 'The Caged Lion' is almost as passionate and romantic as 'Richmond', and I love the continuity - Percy telling Marguerite that he almost wishes they had continued to drift apart. There is also a beautiful line later on in the book, when Percy discovers that Chauvelin intends to use Marguerite as insurance: 'but what even the most astute, most deadly enemy could not see was that subtle message of understanding that passed at once between Marguerite and the man she loved; it was a magnetic current, intangible, invisible to all save to her and to him'. (*swoon*)
'Hostages? How noble you are!'
The best arched brow in film history!
Marguerite is also wonderfully self-possessed and determined throughout, depending on her strength of will and her love for her husband to maintain her courage and work with the League to effect Percy's rescue. The Baroness gets a little obvious when describing her, particularly during the visit to the Conciergerie, but otherwise Marguerite under intense emotional pressure is portrayed naturally and productively. She doesn't tuck her skirts into her knickers and charge at the National Guard with a sword, but neither does she collapse into a heap and wait for Sir Andrew to save Percy.
Armand falls in love with a carbon of his sister ('Think of Marguerite'), which is moderately worrying, but I admire how the Baroness lets the reader believe in his desperation and his blind passion and later remorse; I can never hate Armand (Jeanne is a different kettle of fish!), though I do wish Percy might have given into temptation and floored him during their confrontation in Percy's lodgings. Blakeney tries to ignore Armand, using his old tricks of tidying his clothes, or yawning excessively, but Armand keeps pushing - 'What have I done that you should treat me like a child, unworthy even of attention?' - until Percy has to acknowledge his selfish actions. Percy tells him again and again that Jeanne will be safe, and yet Armand can return only insults and accusations - by the time he got down to 'You do not know what is to love', I could have dog-whipped him myself! Percy's control is either incredible or far-fetched, in this chapter - here is one situation where he would have been all the more believable for smacking Armand one, as he has snapped with Chauvelin on occasions.
Yet Armand redeems himself, for me, in the most (unintentionally) comic scene of the books - his veil of red mist, when he hears the voices telling him to kill Chauvelin! 'It seemed to him as if in the silence and the hush of the night, above the feeble, flickering flame that threw weird shadows around, a group of devils were surrounding him, and were shouting, "Kill him! Kill him now! Rid the earth of this hellish brute!"' Oh, I love it!
The history upon which the Baroness based this romance is also fascinating, as there would originally have been a very real possibility that the Dauphin did escape - only a DNA test in the 1990s proved conclusively that he died in the Temple prison. And Blakeney sends the child to a man named Naundorff, who was a false pretender to the throne (one of many). The Baroness worked fact into fiction very well, I don't care what her detractors say! She brings historical figures to life, particularly women like Theresia Cabarrus, so that the reader is at least inspired to read up on their biographies.
Am I alone in absolutely adoring this story? Does half of the 1982 film do it justice? Do you have a favourite line, or chapter, or character? How often do you re-read the novel?
For me, this SP adventure is sublime. It features all the main characters, most especially Marguerite, and has the romance, betrayal, atmosphere, introspection and tension of the first novel, yet it far surpasses TSP because it's darker; it's almost like a 'grown-up' Scarlet Pimpernel.
Percy and Marguerite are reunited, yet unlike Elusive, they are working together - he even has to rely on her to effect his escape from the Conciergerie. The chapter called 'The Caged Lion' is almost as passionate and romantic as 'Richmond', and I love the continuity - Percy telling Marguerite that he almost wishes they had continued to drift apart. There is also a beautiful line later on in the book, when Percy discovers that Chauvelin intends to use Marguerite as insurance: 'but what even the most astute, most deadly enemy could not see was that subtle message of understanding that passed at once between Marguerite and the man she loved; it was a magnetic current, intangible, invisible to all save to her and to him'. (*swoon*)
'Hostages? How noble you are!'
The best arched brow in film history!
Marguerite is also wonderfully self-possessed and determined throughout, depending on her strength of will and her love for her husband to maintain her courage and work with the League to effect Percy's rescue. The Baroness gets a little obvious when describing her, particularly during the visit to the Conciergerie, but otherwise Marguerite under intense emotional pressure is portrayed naturally and productively. She doesn't tuck her skirts into her knickers and charge at the National Guard with a sword, but neither does she collapse into a heap and wait for Sir Andrew to save Percy.
Armand falls in love with a carbon of his sister ('Think of Marguerite'), which is moderately worrying, but I admire how the Baroness lets the reader believe in his desperation and his blind passion and later remorse; I can never hate Armand (Jeanne is a different kettle of fish!), though I do wish Percy might have given into temptation and floored him during their confrontation in Percy's lodgings. Blakeney tries to ignore Armand, using his old tricks of tidying his clothes, or yawning excessively, but Armand keeps pushing - 'What have I done that you should treat me like a child, unworthy even of attention?' - until Percy has to acknowledge his selfish actions. Percy tells him again and again that Jeanne will be safe, and yet Armand can return only insults and accusations - by the time he got down to 'You do not know what is to love', I could have dog-whipped him myself! Percy's control is either incredible or far-fetched, in this chapter - here is one situation where he would have been all the more believable for smacking Armand one, as he has snapped with Chauvelin on occasions.
Yet Armand redeems himself, for me, in the most (unintentionally) comic scene of the books - his veil of red mist, when he hears the voices telling him to kill Chauvelin! 'It seemed to him as if in the silence and the hush of the night, above the feeble, flickering flame that threw weird shadows around, a group of devils were surrounding him, and were shouting, "Kill him! Kill him now! Rid the earth of this hellish brute!"' Oh, I love it!
The history upon which the Baroness based this romance is also fascinating, as there would originally have been a very real possibility that the Dauphin did escape - only a DNA test in the 1990s proved conclusively that he died in the Temple prison. And Blakeney sends the child to a man named Naundorff, who was a false pretender to the throne (one of many). The Baroness worked fact into fiction very well, I don't care what her detractors say! She brings historical figures to life, particularly women like Theresia Cabarrus, so that the reader is at least inspired to read up on their biographies.
Am I alone in absolutely adoring this story? Does half of the 1982 film do it justice? Do you have a favourite line, or chapter, or character? How often do you re-read the novel?