Historical fiction book · Curated
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Baroness Orczy · historical fiction
Series: The Scarlet Pimpernel
In 1792, as the Terror’s guillotine claims French aristocrats, a foppish English baronet named Percy Blakeney leads a league that smuggles the condemned out of Paris under the sign of a small red flower. Baroness Orczy’s novel is French Revolution historical adventure: double identity, a Channel chase, and the template for the masked rescuer.
Why read it: A perennial title-search historical adventure of the Reign of Terror—the founding masked-hero novel readers still look up by name, and a swashbuckling counterpart to Dickens’s revolution already on the shelf.
About this historical novel
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy is historical fiction set around 1792 in the Regency / Napoleonic period with key settings including Paris, London, Calais, France. In 1792, as the Terror’s guillotine claims French aristocrats, a foppish English baronet named Percy Blakeney leads a league that smuggles the condemned out of Paris under the sign of a small red flower. Baroness Orczy’s novel is French Revolution historical adventure: double identity, a Channel chase, and the template for the masked rescuer.
On HisFic we tag it under 6. Adventure & epic and 2. Historical romance so you can pair it with similar story types. Recurring themes include revolution, disguise, rescue, loyalty, and terror. A perennial title-search historical adventure of the Reign of Terror—the founding masked-hero novel readers still look up by name, and a swashbuckling counterpart to Dickens’s revolution already on the shelf.
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Plot summary
In 1792, as the Terror’s guillotine claims French aristocrats, a foppish English baronet named Percy Blakeney leads a league that smuggles the condemned out of Paris under the sign of a small red flower. Baroness Orczy’s novel is French Revolution historical adventure: double identity, a Channel chase, and the template for the masked rescuer. A perennial title-search historical adventure of the Reign of Terror—the founding masked-hero novel readers still look up by name, and a swashbuckling counterpart to Dickens’s revolution already on the shelf.
Subgenres
Eras
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- Mr. Midshipman Hornblower · C. S. Forester
In 1793, seventeen-year-old Horatio Hornblower is dumped aboard HMS Justinian, seasick and untried, then wins his sea legs through prize crews, a duel, fire ships, and a stretch as a prisoner in Spain on the way to lieutenant. C. S. Forester’s novel is Napoleonic naval historical adventure: the first chronological Hornblower, and the making of a Royal Navy legend.
- Désirée · Annemarie Selinko
In 1794 a Marseille silk merchant’s daughter opens a diary the day her brother is arrested, and the pages follow an engagement to Napoleon Bonaparte, marriage to General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, and his election as Crown Prince of Sweden in 1810, through to her coronation as Queen Desideria in 1829. Annemarie Selinko’s 1951 novel (English 1953) is Regency romance historical fiction of the Napoleonic years as a merchant’s daughter lived them, from the Terror to a Stockholm crown.
- Pride and Prejudice · Jane Austen
When wealthy bachelor Mr. Bingley takes Netherfield, Mrs. Bennet is determined to marry off a daughter—but it is the proud Mr. Darcy, and Elizabeth Bennet’s first impression of him, that turns a Hertfordshire season into the most famous courtship in English fiction. Jane Austen’s 1813 novel is Regency historical romance of manners, money, and a woman who will not marry without respect.
- The Reluctant Countess · Eloisa James
Giles Renwick, Earl of Lilford, has never made a fool of himself over a woman until he meets Lady Yasmin Régnier—too French, too gossipy, and entirely ineligible—and still finds himself proposing. Eloisa James’s Would-Be Wallflowers novel is steamy Regency historical romance: enemies-to-lovers, a scandalous love affair, and a happily-ever-after.
- The Duchess Deal · Tessa Dare
The Duke of Ashbury comes home from war needing an heir, not a wife he has to look at in the light—until seamstress Emma Gladstone arrives in his library wearing a wedding gown and he decides on the spot that she will do. Tessa Dare’s Girl Meets Duke opener is steamy Regency historical romance: a marriage of convenience, unlimited teasing, and a happily-ever-after.
Regions & places
Europe · Britain & Ireland
Paris · London · Calais · France · England
Themes
- revolution
- disguise
- rescue
- loyalty
- terror
Tags
classic · adventure · series