Emmuska Orczy Books

Most of Orczy's other books in the Scarlet Pimpernel genre have struck me as being comparatively weak in character development and in being totally dependent upon their adventuresome plots to generate reader interest. LORD TONY'S WIFE is something of an exception in that its plot is more developed, its characters more rounded, and their motivations more complex than one sees in the earlier novels. Reading it, I thought that Orczy was finally developing into a rather decent novelist and was evolving beyond the pulp fiction style of her earlier works. Then I read THE LEAGUE OF THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL.

THE LEAGUE is not a novel. It is not even a collection of short stories. At best, it is a jumble of climatic episodes, most of which have no relation to any of the others, in which the Scarlet Pimpernel exercises his almost supernatural skill at disguise and impersonation to go unrecognized in the midst of his enemies and to spirit away the "aristos" before the Revolutionary government of late 18th century France can send them to the guillotine.

Why are these not short stories? An effective short story makes a point, delivers an observation, or offers a concept or an idea about human nature or society that transcends the literal action in the story. There is, in other words, a theme of broader application, something that enhances the reader's understanding of mankind and the universe in which we struggle. The story is merely the vehicle by which the author presents that theme to the reader. Orczy's episodes depicting various stratagems resulting in successful rescues have none of that; they are nothing more than brief adventures where the literal, superficial story is all there is. I even hesitate to ascribe the word "plot" to any of them, for they are too concentrated on one point in a larger scenario for any plot to be developed.

An effective piece of fiction will normally provide the reader enough background to identify with the place, the time, and the characters. Those characters will then encounter a conflict of some nature, either physical or mental or emotional. There will be rising action as the characters attempt to deal with that conflict until the situation reaches a climax. Some sort of resolution, which may be either positive and creative or negative and destructive, of that climax will follow. Finally, any loose ends will be wrapped up and the story effectively brought to a close in the denouement. LORD TONY'S WIFE comes very near to meeting all of these criteria, and the other Pimpernel novels at least flirt with several of these elements. Each episode in THE LEAGUE, however, begins and ends with the climax and resolution. It is as though Orczy picked the climaxes out of longer (and non-existent) novels and set them all down, one after another, in a book of their own.

As in several of her other Pimpernel novels, Orczy uses the darkness of night and often the obscuring nature of fog and heavy rain, as well as the art of disguise, to explain the Pimpernel's success in mingling with his enemies unrecognized. I fear that she carries this stratagem to extremes, so that the absolute blackness of French nights begins to tax the reader's credulity. At any rate, it is a stratagem that is used so often that it becomes both predictable and trite.

For a bit of light reading and fun adventure, start with the first novel, THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, and enjoy the sequels through LORD TONY'S WIFE. Then read THE LEAGUE OF THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL to complete the series but for absolutely no better reason. After even the poorer novels, this collection of instant conflicts and climaxes is not particularly satisfying. One can conclude only that Orczy had "run out of steam" in her Pimpernel adventure genre and was trying to eke out one final book before leaving her hero behind forever.

A horseman gallops out across a windswept moor, unworried by the oncoming dark. He is a highwayman: one of that rare breed of thieves and gentlemen. The hills are his home, and the horse his only companion. Who could fail with a story like that? Baroness Orczy knew how to spin a tale, as shown in the "Scarlet Pimpernel" series. The story line moves with speed and excitement, and is carried brilliantly to the end. The almost tragic novel of an outlaw and his lady overflows with color. Orczy sketched a rosy English landscape and filled it with a tale well told. This novel may be rare, but once found it is a story that won't be forgotten.