The horrors of the French Revolution are in full swing and when the Pimpernel travels back to France for a duel, his wife follows, and they face their arch enemy. ( )

Just awful. Magnifies all the weaknesses of The Scarlet Pimpernel, to the point where the sequel has made me like the first book less than I did originally. The plot here is flimsy at best, the histrionics are neverending, and the aristocracy-worship is seriously out of hand.

The sad thing is that there's an interesting conflict buried deep beneath the swooning fits, between Percy's love of adventure and his love for Marguerite/her desire to keep him safe at home. But it isn't addressed in a meaningful way--it's just a reason for Percy to demonstrate his superhuman willpower and for Marguerite to cry and angst and pass out. I've never encountered a character who spends more time unconscious than Marguerite St. Just Blakeney.

Also, can we discuss that "cleverest woman in Europe" appellation? Who came up with that one? Because she is dumber than a doornail. As usual, Marguerite rushes blindly into every waiting trap and gets caught by Chauvelin in about two seconds. Heroine fail!

Finally, the relationship between Percy and Marguerite essentially sucks. Orczy wants us to believe in this deep, earth-shaking love between them, but we never see them share anything about their true selves with one another. They are the worst communicators ever, keeping all their plans and feelings secret, to the point where they endanger each other's lives. So does their bond really go deeper than the fact that she's gorgeous, and he's rich and handsome and fashionable, and they make an attractive power couple in London society?

...Am I overthinking this one? ( )

Pleasant fun, as all in the series. Like the others, it is a bit slow to get going. The ending could have stood to be a bit cleverer too; I had some cute ideas myself, but then, practically, simplest is always safest. ( )

whereas the scarlet pimpernal is an amusing enough read that one can easily overlook the anti-revolution sentiments, Orczy's anti-revolution vitriol really comes out in this book. it's really interesting to compare Orczy's obvious horror of the players in the french revolution, whom she paints as caricatures of evil, so closely after having spent many weeks with marge piercy's descriptions of them as more complex human beings in [b:City of Darkness, City of Light|862108|City of Darkness, City of Light|Marge Piercy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320479678s/862108.jpg|1230592]. ( )

It is a pity that the scarlet pimpernel does not appear in the story more often, as he is a charming, fun figure. Instead, the book focuses more on his wife, Marguerite, who once more, puts him into a difficult situation from which he has to save her... the final chapters are fun, the earlier ones a bit weak. ( )