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A review by holtfan
Lord Tony's Wife by Baroness Orczy
4.0
I have been looking forward to reading this particular Scarlet Pimpernel book for some time. Lord Tony’s Wife, for heaven’s sake its very title is exciting! Lord Anthony Dewhurst is one of my favorite characters and any adventure that involves his youthful excitement is worth it.
Plot
At the beginning of the revolution, a young man named Pierre Adet leads a mob against his lord, the Duc de Kernogan in Nantes. His plan fails and he is forced to flee, but the Duc, determined to have justice, hangs Pierre’s innocent Father for the crime. Pierre, bent on revenge, turns himself into Martin-Roget, a wealthy French immigrant, and begins courting the Duc de Kernogan’s daughter, Yvonne. Among Yvonne’s other suitors is the boyish and charming Lord Anthony Dewhurst, peer of the realm, favorite of society, and close friend of that famed fob of society, Sir Percy Blackney . Lord Tony convinces Yvonne to elope with him, but she is later kidnapped by Martin-Roget (Pierre) and taken to France to be disgraced and guillotined. Will the Scarlet Pimpernel be able to save her from the mostly deadly trap lade yet? Will Chauvelin finally get the revenge he seeks? Will Lord Tony ever hold his bride in his arms again?
Thoughts
As another reviewer said, there is really nothing “new” in this book. In fact, for most of it I felt like it was more simplistic than your average Scarlet Pimpernel novel. I was almost disappointed with it, right up until the end. Yvonne’s rescue is predictable to anyone who has read enough of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but it is daring and fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Once again, it was the adventure at the end that made the book for me.
I am starting to get tired of the typical Pimpernel bad-guy, though. They are always ugly and gnashing their teeth and leering evilly. The chapters were also longer then they needed to be. I want more Percy!! More Tony! More Andrew! They are the characters I read these books for. The daring-do-gooders. Monologues about honor and love bore me. Extensive bad-guy creation where the evil-looking cowardly creep rants against the Scarlet Pimpernel is interesting…at first. After five chapters it gets slow.
But the intimate glances into the workings of the Scarlet Pimpernel’s gang are wonderful. I love reading about it, and I will continue reading about it. Even if all the women in these stories seem to do nothing but go about and faint, even if Chauvelin clenches his fist and smothers his anger a thousand times, still I will read on! Because Sir Percy is timeless. Honor, virtue, courage…unadulterated goodness. He embodies it and sometimes, it is just fun to read about a character that fights for no other benefit then that of the weak. Good is good and bad is bad and love triumphs over all. Sometimes, though, that good-good, evil-evil, black and white can be a bit tiring.
I don’t recommend to many Scarlet Pimpernel books in a row.
Plot
At the beginning of the revolution, a young man named Pierre Adet leads a mob against his lord, the Duc de Kernogan in Nantes. His plan fails and he is forced to flee, but the Duc, determined to have justice, hangs Pierre’s innocent Father for the crime. Pierre, bent on revenge, turns himself into Martin-Roget, a wealthy French immigrant, and begins courting the Duc de Kernogan’s daughter, Yvonne. Among Yvonne’s other suitors is the boyish and charming Lord Anthony Dewhurst, peer of the realm, favorite of society, and close friend of that famed fob of society, Sir Percy Blackney . Lord Tony convinces Yvonne to elope with him, but she is later kidnapped by Martin-Roget (Pierre) and taken to France to be disgraced and guillotined. Will the Scarlet Pimpernel be able to save her from the mostly deadly trap lade yet? Will Chauvelin finally get the revenge he seeks? Will Lord Tony ever hold his bride in his arms again?
Thoughts
As another reviewer said, there is really nothing “new” in this book. In fact, for most of it I felt like it was more simplistic than your average Scarlet Pimpernel novel. I was almost disappointed with it, right up until the end. Yvonne’s rescue is predictable to anyone who has read enough of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but it is daring and fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Once again, it was the adventure at the end that made the book for me.
I am starting to get tired of the typical Pimpernel bad-guy, though. They are always ugly and gnashing their teeth and leering evilly. The chapters were also longer then they needed to be. I want more Percy!! More Tony! More Andrew! They are the characters I read these books for. The daring-do-gooders. Monologues about honor and love bore me. Extensive bad-guy creation where the evil-looking cowardly creep rants against the Scarlet Pimpernel is interesting…at first. After five chapters it gets slow.
But the intimate glances into the workings of the Scarlet Pimpernel’s gang are wonderful. I love reading about it, and I will continue reading about it. Even if all the women in these stories seem to do nothing but go about and faint, even if Chauvelin clenches his fist and smothers his anger a thousand times, still I will read on! Because Sir Percy is timeless. Honor, virtue, courage…unadulterated goodness. He embodies it and sometimes, it is just fun to read about a character that fights for no other benefit then that of the weak. Good is good and bad is bad and love triumphs over all. Sometimes, though, that good-good, evil-evil, black and white can be a bit tiring.
I don’t recommend to many Scarlet Pimpernel books in a row.