The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy [1905]

They seek him here, they seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere!
Is he in heaven, is he in hell?
That demmed elusive Pimpernel!

Sometimes, You've just got to read a fun book. I think that's how I could classify this book. Don't get me wrong, it's not frivolous or shallow. But it's not particularly concerned with the how's or why's, and just gets right down to business. TSP is kind of a simplistic book, in that the good guys are the good guys and the bad guys are the bad guys. I usually don't like that kind of thing, especially when the villain is constantly rubbing his hands together and laughing evilly. But I didn't mind it too much here, because it fit just fine with the overall tone of the book.
I also thought that for the 'cleverest woman in Europe', Marguerite was a little dense. But in all fairness, if I was married to this poof, I wouldn't suspect a thing either.
And now, for the fangirly gushing.
First off, this books is very fast paced and holds your attention. At least, it held mine. Your mileage may vary!
The book is short, and it shouldn't take that long to read. Unless you're reading it on your laptop's kindle app, and that hurts your eyeses, precious.
Sir Percy is (you could see this coming, yeah? ;) a really cool character, and I always found myself cracking up when he was talking in his slurred fop voice. Ahem. He's a very admirable character (though I wonder what gave him the idea to go off saving people from the guillotine!), and just the kind of hero that is getting hard to find. He's gallant, has a great sense of humor, and doesn't expect anything in return for what he does.  Oh, and he dresses well. ;)
Now, I know I kind of dissed Marguerite up there, but she's actually fine. You know, aside from the whole cleverest woman in Europe thing. I admire her determination, and she's very romantic at heart, but not in a silly or sappy way.
I love the finale of this book. It's very exciting, and I like the little twists thrown in!

The Verdict: A-
I hear that there are a lot of sequels to this book (and that they're actually pretty good), so I might just see if I can acquire one of them and give it a read, because this book left me quite hungry for more of their adventures! :D

Oh, and here are The Scarlet Pimpernel chibis.

 

Hope you like them! And um, any resemblance between Sir Andrew and Timothy from my silly comics is completely coincidental. There are only so many hair dos I can think of. XD