Pimpernel and Rosemary

The Scarlet Pimpernel (chronological order) #11.7

by Emmuska Orczy

Pimpernel and Rosemary is a novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, originally published in 1924. It is set after the First World War and features Peter Blakeney, a descendant of the Scarlet Pimpernel (Percy Blakeney).

The action is mainly set amongst the disaffected Hungarian nobility in Transylvania, allowing Orczy to draw on her knowledge of Hungarian history and politics.

Pimpernel and Rosemary is the final novel in the Scarlet Pimpernel Series .

Genres: Classics, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Romance, France

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

Full name: Emma ("Emmuska") Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orczi was a Hungarian-British novelist, best remembered as the author of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1905). Baroness Orczy's sequels to the novel were less successful. She was also an artist, and her works were exhibited at the Royal Academy, London. Her first venture into fiction was with crime stories. Among her most popular characters was The Old Man in the Corner, who was featured in a series of twelve British movies from 1924, starring Rolf Leslie.

Baroness Emmuska Orczy was born in Tarnaörs, Hungary, as the only daughter of Baron Felix Orczy, a noted composer and conductor, and his wife Emma. Her father was a friend of such composers as Wagner, Liszt, and Gounod. Orczy moved with her parents from Budapest to Brussels and then to London, learning to speak English at the age of fifteen. She was educated in convent schools in Brussels and Paris. In London she studied at the West London School of Art. Orczy married in 1894 Montague Barstow, whom she had met while studying at the Heatherby School of Art. Together they started to produce book and magazine illustrations and published an edition of Hungarian folktales.

Orczy's first detective stories appeared in magazines. As a writer she became famous in 1903 with the stage version of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Reviews

[rinabeana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that I've read ALL the Scarlet Pimpernel books (16 in total), what am I going to do with my life???

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg

I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.

[Alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in the 1920s, this book introduces us to the Scarlet Pimpernel's great-great-grandson, Peter Blakeney. He's in love with Rosemary, who has just gotten engaged to another man. There's spy stuff, mistreated aristocracy, and a daring rescue, but it did drag in the middle. Also, we don't get to see nearly enough of Peter. The story stays largely with Rosemary and her new husband, and it tries to build suspense and plant doubts as to the integrity of Peter Blakeney, but fails. There's also a REALLY long monologue by the villain at the end, which presents a rather pathetic view of how he basically can't help himself, and that all men have a wolfish nature (not intended by the author to be taken as truth, but still, too comic-book villain-y. I highly doubt that evildoers sit around at midnight psychoanalyzing themselves for you, starting with their CHILDHOOD.). Seriously, this is one self-aware bad guy!

[Rod Innis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good book. It was a bit slow getting started but soon made up for that by becoming a very interesting story. It had a great plot; it was a quite unusual plot in some ways. I won't give it away, but for me, it was really quite unexpected. I don't think that I have seen this particular part of the plot in any other book and I have read a lot of fiction. It was in part a love story and like most love stories, it had a somewhat predictable ending but there were lots of twists and turns to get there.

[Kristie Stauffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was concerned that this book wouldn't be as good as The Scarlet Pimpernel, but rather a wanna-be since it occurs a few generations into the future of the original books. But once I got into it, it was a great read as well. Loved it.

[Heather Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect with this one, but I ended up loving it. Orczy does such an amazing job of describing things. She keeps you in suspense really well!

[mairiachi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - It wasn't as good as the other ones in the series, and I guessed who the secret agent was when he says he'll get Rosemary to cough up the article, but I still really liked it. I had just finished the Scarlet Pimpernel series, which made it hard to jump into the 20's, because my mind was still set in the 1700-1800 something's of the Scarlet Pimpernel's time, but all in all I enjoyed it, a lot. I wish I could give it 4 1/2 stars, because I gave The King's Fifth four stars, and this isn't quite five stars, but it's really good -- better than King's Fifth. I really loved it, though. Just because it's interesting at the end...suspenseful, a little bit of romance, but not a whole lot, and a girl who's a little bit bewildered at the end. It's great.

[Thor The Redbeard · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

My opinion is that the Scarlet Pimpernel Series tends to be underrated. However, I did not enjoy this book nearly so much as the books about the original Scarlet Pimpernel.
We didn't see what was really all going on as the story followed Rosemary, who was in the dark most of the time. There was enough going on with the other characters that it wasn't just DRAGGING along, but not knowing what was happening really lessened the suspense.
But I must give it the credit of being the first book where I really hated a character.
In conclusion, my feelings about this book are quite mixed.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warning: a little bit of language and perhaps more "romance" than parents might want. I plan to read this again and create a Clean Guide. Check back again or message me to request this be bumped to the top of the list!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic novel and in a new setting for the Pimpernel. Hungarian life and country is wonderfully described. Interesting plot twist near the end! I have enjoyed all of Baroness Orczy's Pimpernel books.

[wanderer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because I'm presently living in Romania, and this book is set in Transylvania. However, it does not compare with the original.

[Diletta Nicastro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romanzo delizioso. Fa parte della celebre saga della Primula Rossa, ma coinvolgendo un discendente dell’inafferrabile eroe, si può leggere tranquillamente anche senza conoscere i testi precedenti.
Il libro viene relegato, erroneamente, tra i libri per signorinette, quando invece è un libro di un interesse storico straordinario, ricco di avventura più che di amore, e di sani principi e ferree decisioni. Potrebbe tranquillamente essere la trama di un moderno film di spionaggio.
La particolarità di questo romanzo è l’ambientazione, conosciutissima dalla Baronessa Orczy (inglese di origine ungherese) ma completamente sconosciuta ai più in Italia (e credo in Europa) ai giorni nostri: il disagio vissuto dagli ungheresi in Transilvania dopo la sconfitta nella Prima Guerra Mondiale. Cospirazioni, arresti, violenze, processi senza prove, assassinii mascherati come incidenti. Ogni pagina sembra una scena viva che riaffiora dal passato per raccontare gli eventi come sono realmente andati e non come la stampa, imbavagliata dal potere, ha tentato di mostrare.
Il tutto in un quadro in cui sono fortissimi i valori e i principi di Rosa Maria (la protagonista assoluta di questo romanzo), in cui è delineata perfettamente la sua indole indipendente, che si sposa allo stesso tempo al suo “vago desiderio di sottomissione, che è la soddisfazione più sublime dell’animo di una vera donna”. La sua forte spiritualità e la sua ricerca del conforto nella preghiera, e al tempo stesso il suo coraggio nell’affrontare gli avversari, con lo spirito indomito di una vera giornalista, che non riesce a scrivere cose false pur avendo favori in cambio (quanti giornalisti sono ancora così?). Una donna che non ha bisogno di lotte femministe rivoluzionarie per essere forte e ribaltare l’ordine sociale (come vorrebbero far crederci i romance moderni), ma che riesce ad essere di grandissimo peso usando armi totalmente femminili e seguendo sempre la sua educazione e la sua cultura.

Nota alla traduzione: il libro è tradotto nel 1935 e pur tuttavia ha un lessico estremamente moderno e veloce. Vi è l’utilizzo di alcune parole desuete (come iugero, aire, blandizia), ma la lettura scivola via con estrema semplicità. Curioso l’utilizzo del termine ‘Il Yank’ per dire ‘L’Americano’ (ora si scriverebbe ‘Lo Yankee’). Particolare attenzione alle piante e ai fiori, con l’esaltazione della profumatissima tuberosa, che inebria al tramonto.

[Ratratrat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un curioso libro, non della Primula rossa ma relativo ad un pronipote. la Orczy era ungherese e questo romanzo, incentrato più sulla figura di Rosemary che sul nipote della primula, è ambientato quasi tutto al confine di Ungheria e Romania, in Transilvania, con pretesto che la contessa Blakeney defunta fosse una contessa ungherese. la Orczy evidentemente non accetta la mutilazione della grande Ungheria e ci presenta gli Ungheresi nobili e colti e i Rumeni modesti arroganti e corrotti. Avesse visto il confine dopo la seconda guerra, quando davvero instaurarono il comunismo, ma anche in Ungheria! diciamo che questo è l’aspetto che più mi ha colpita del romanzo.
del resto.. Rosemary è contesa fra due uomini e ne sposa uno. Il libro continua per la maggior parte a farci intuire che uno dei due è una sporca figura ed uno un eroe, lasciandoci nel dubbio a lungo quale fino alle spiegazioni finali, ma chi conosce i Blakeney rimane fiducioso!

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

May have been one of my favorite Pimpernel books, probably because he isn't in it. Predictable story line but enjoyable read.

[Gregg Chamberlain · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, every writer has a "weak" or "clinker" of a work...and this qualifies as the Baroness Orczy's "weak" effort in her Scarlet Pimpernel series of novels and short-fiction collection. Pimpernel and Rosemary deals with the adventure of a descendent of Sir Percy Blakeney...and the book suffers from lacklustre scripting, a dearth of the hero's presence in general, and the featured lead character (the woman he loves) who comes across as a bit of a twit.

[Amie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this story more, after all it is about Percey Blakeney's descendant Peter Blakeney. The problem is we hardly see Peter in the story. Also, I learned that Transylvania really exists, it's not just the fictional land of Dracula.