The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (Pink Carnation, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Feb 24, 2010 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, historical-romance, napoleonic-wars-and-spies, womens-day

I picked this book up expecting it to be a fairly blase historical romance, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the first two chapters quite charming. And even more surprised to get home and see so many bad reviews on GoodReads! ;-) Maybe some people were expecting more than it is, based on the impressive cover? I don't usually find myself reading "chick lit" but I'd say that's what this is, combined w/ a healthy dose of "historical romance."

The basic premise is that a Harvard grad student i ...more

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Jun 17, 2009 Wanda rated it really liked it

The beginning of the series of the spies during the French Revolution. This is a book that goes from present with a doctoral student researching the identity of a woman spy to the actual time period. Very interesting and quite a read

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Aug 21, 2008 Kiri rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, fiction, z-read-2000-2009

What a fun (and anachronistic) romp!

Written in the vein and spirit of Possession by A.S. Byatt but given a humorous tongue-in-cheek aspect along with a decidedly will not take itself seriously bent and intent to illustrate the absurdities of current everyday life added into the mix it does a fine job of perhaps not being recognized as a similar novel pre-text.

I liked the characters (even if in reality Amy would have been a very badly brought up girl for her status from the English countryside What a fun (and anachronistic) romp!

Written in the vein and spirit of Possession by A.S. Byatt but given a humorous tongue-in-cheek aspect along with a decidedly will not take itself seriously bent and intent to illustrate the absurdities of current everyday life added into the mix it does a fine job of perhaps not being recognized as a similar novel pre-text.

I liked the characters (even if in reality Amy would have been a very badly brought up girl for her status from the English countryside - Jane [so far] is a much better example) Jane is a delight, Miss Gwen.. well what can one SAY about Miss Gwen other than to just utterly adore her? The other characters all have their points as well (mustn't spoil!) I was slightly surprised at how utterly graphic some of the "hot n steamy" interludes got. [image error] [image error] ok [image error] !! [oh and the boatman was a howl.] Definitely no discreet drawing of the curtain or any other veiled references and letting the reader imagine what they will! I'm not one for romance books but.. whoa.. that ain't harlequin folks!

The actual "Secret Of The Pink Carnation" I did guess shortly after we were introduced to the main cast of characters. But that didn't' lessen my enjoyment of the romp through Napoleonic France. Ms. Willig's portrayal of Joséphine de Beauharnais was also very well done in my opinion. I also liked her note at the end about taking serious liberties with history and highlighting some of what she'd done.

The modern storyline had just about as much to offer. We all have our Pammy's (although hopefully not turning up with red leather bustiers!) and other such things happening in our lives. It was a nice touch of an American in London and the differences in living life. Oh and her "anti-compass" loved that part!

Ms. Willig has confused actions, mores, and speech from the different periods, but it does not detract from what is a fun story. After-all it is "historical fiction" and written with a light humorous tongue-in-cheek touch that makes it all the more entertaining.

BCID: 666-6644964 ...more

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May 02, 2014 Heather-Lea rated it really liked it

There were two 'scenes' where it was flip-the-page and move on with the story, but other than those two it was a fun story with historical interests. ...more

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