.jeri.

Wow, to think of all I did while listening to The Scarlet Pimpernel by Broness Orczy! I picked it up from the library the day before we moved. I painted our bedroom while listening to it, ran and walked many miles, and worked many hours on our kitchen cabinets as well. It feels both satisfying and a little like cheating to listen to a book rather than read it--satisfying because I can accomplish two things at once (reading + activity), but almost like cheating because someone is doing all the reading for me. But I process the same words, whether reading or listening, so I think I'll just be happy that books on tape exist and that I have found them incredibly useful and fulfilling.

This story takes place in England at the time of the French Revolution. French aristocrats are being captured and sent to the guillotine (or Madame Guillotine, as Orczy likes to call it so often), some simply because they are aristocrats and not because they have committed a crime. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a figure who has started an underground of sorts, smuggling several of the French to safety in England. His identity is unknown and his league of helpers are secretive as well. Marguerite is the French wife of Sir Percy Blakeney. Her brother is part of the Pimpernel's league, and French ambassador Chauvelin discovers this and blackmails her into helping him discover the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel in return for her brother's safety.

I had great fun listening to this one. It's extremely melodramatic and often stops to state the significance of its goings-on, and Marguerite is sometimes a bit slow to figure things out, but I'll have to admit that one of the plot twists actually did surprise me, and the way events unfolded provided plenty of excitement.

Well, since this one is mainly adventure, I don't have much more to say. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys this type of novel. I would compare it with something like The Count of Monte Cristo, only a bit lighter in theme.