The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Scarlet Pimpernel is a classic adventure novel, the storyline of which takes place in the early years of the French Revolution. It is also a precursor of spy novels, as the title character, the Scarlet Pimpernel, works undercover and in disguise to save French aristocrats from the guillotine.

In the novel, Marguerite Blakeney, a French actress, is married to a Sir Percy Blakeney, a seemingly vain and simple man. The French Ambassador to England, Citizen Chauvelin, blackmails Marguerite into giving him information that leads to his discovery of the Scarlet Pimpernels true identity. Marguerite only realizes once her husband has once again left for France that the man she betrayed, the Scarlet Pimpernel, is in fact none other but Sir Percy.

Baroness Orczy also wrote many sequels to the novel which was based on a classic play by her.