The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Scarlet Pimpernel is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905.

They seek him here, they seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere…
In the chaos of the French Revolution, when the guillotine’s blade spares no one, a mysterious Englishman dares to defy the bloodthirsty mobs. Known only as The Scarlet Pimpernel, he rescues aristocrats from certain death, leaving behind only his mocking emblem — a simple red flower. But who is the Scarlet Pimpernel? To the French revolutionaries, he is a cunning, elusive enemy. To the English nobility, a daring hero. And to Lady Marguerite Blakeney, the most celebrated beauty of London, he is both a torment and a riddle — especially when her own husband, the seemingly foolish Sir Percy Blakeney, becomes entangled in a deadly game of masks and deception.

Baroness Emma Orczy (1865–1947) was a Hungarian-born British novelist, playwright, and artist, best known for her iconic adventure novel The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905). Celebrated as a pioneer of the “hero with a secret identity,” Orczy’s daring English nobleman, Sir Percy Blakeney, became a timeless literary figure and inspired countless adaptations in theatre, film, and television. Her works, blending historical drama with thrilling adventure and romance, have secured her place as a classic of British popular literature.