The Scarlet Pimpernel

By: Baroness Orczy

Narrated by: David Thorn

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

A thrilling tale of mystery and suspense set during the French Revolution, where a dashing English aristocrat risks his life to enter France and save innocents from the guillotine. Baroness Orczy's marvelously romantic tale of an English bonvivant, Sir Percy Blakeney, and his secretive plots to secure the escape of beleaguered French aristocrats from the clutches of "Madame la Guillotine".

The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a secret society of English aristocrats who are determined to rescue their French counterparts from execution. Their leader is the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel, whose name comes from the drawing of a red flower he uses to sign his messages.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 01: Paris: September, 1792

Chapter 02: Dover: "The Fisherman's Rest"

Chapter 03: The Refugees

Chapter 04: The League Of The Scarlet Pimpernel

Chapter 05: Marguerite

Chapter 06: An Exquisite Of '92

Chapter 07: The Secret Orchard

Chapter 08: The Accredited Agent

Chapter 09: The Outrage

Chapter 10: In The Opera Box

Chapter 11: Lord Grenville's Ball

Chapter 12: The Scrap Of Paper

Chapter 13: Either

Chapter 14: One O'Clock Precisely!

Chapter 15: Doubt

Chapter 16: Richmond

Chapter 17: Farewell

Chapter 18: The Mysterious Device

Chapter 19: The Scarlet Pimpernel

Chapter 20: The Friend

Chapter 21: Suspense

Chapter 22: Calais

Chapter 23: Hope

Chapter 24: The Death

Chapter 25: The Eagle And The Fox

Chapter 26: The Jew

Chapter 27: On The Track

Chapter 28: The Pere Blanchard's Hut

Chapter 29: Trapped

Chapter 30: The Schooner

Chapter 31: The Escape

Baroness Orczy

Baroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála "Emmuska" Orczy de Orczi (1865–1947) was a Hungarian aristocrat, raised in Britain.

Baroness Orczy was a novelist and painter, famed for her Scarlett Pimpernel series about an English aristocrat who donned a disguise to rescue French aristocrats threatened by the guillotine.

©2008 Alcazar Audioworks (P)2008 Alcazar Audioworks

Really enjoyable and fun classic

Would you consider the audio edition of The Scarlet Pimpernel to be better than the print version?

No. The reader was great but the music was a little annoying to me.

What does David Thorn bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I enjoyed the well-done French and English accents.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed listening to this book even though I have read it twice and seen a couple of movie versions.

A classic

I got this book with my Audible coupon that was recently given to me by Audible. I remember we read this book in high school way back in the early 50’s along with Sherlock Holmes stories. This is a book about the French Revolution. It also illustrates that you cannot judge a person by their appearance. Lord Percy Blakeney is a fancy dresser often starting current fads and plays the general flakey fancy party boy who married a famous French actress Marguerite St. Just. It turns out that Lord Percy is the Scarlet Pimpernel who rescues French aristocrats from the guillotine. Percy is a master of disguises and he and is merry ban give the French agent Chauvelin the slip as they continue to escape from his clutches. The book has lots of humor, action, and romance written in the style of the 19th century. Over all it is an interesting story placed in the middle of the French revolution. The book was written by Hungarian Baroness Orczy who lived in England. David Thorn did a good job narrating the story.

A different take on history

This story is about the Scarlet Pimpernel the organization that worked to sneak rich aristocratic's out of the country. The story is great for kids to teach them to consider their actions before they take them. The story goes over how the actions taken by one person and how it endangers their loved ones. The story ends with them finally repairing the damage they caused. A great story for all ages.

One can see Errol Flynn playing the part.

Where does The Scarlet Pimpernel rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's not the best but it's pretty good.

What other book might you compare The Scarlet Pimpernel to and why?

Actually, I compared it with Jane Eyre and Pride & Prejudice. The book is clearly written by a woman, and told from her perspective. It's based on the relationship between a man and a woman, and how her needs move her to get over their mutual pride.

Which character – as performed by David Thorn – was your favorite?

His French accent was so thick that at times I had a lot of difficulty understanding what they were saying.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and no: I had to walk away a lot and upon return found the author was still waffling on about something completely superfluous.

Any additional comments?

I had watched the movie when I was a kid and although I don't remember the particulars, I did take away the memory of it being a swash-buckling moving, rife with swordplay etc. I was really disappointed to find that although there was a lot of build up, there was absolutely no climax. There was no confrontation, no sword play, no deaths (other than the reference to gory guillotine executions).

I was also surprised to learn it is considered Children's Fiction. I wouldn't have expected it to be any more so than Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre.

Great Story/ good teen book discussion

Our teens used this for a book club discussion and the story was well liked and fun. The performance is sometimes hard to understand.

A Classic Swashbuckler

Though The Scarlet Pimpernel is not great literature, it is well-written and loads of fun. The narrator did a terrific job with all the voices.

Always a winner

This is a constant winner. I have been reading this story since childhood, possibly over a hundred readings. You wont find a better audible reading than Thorn, he is fantastic.

love it

The performance is so very well done.
I enjoyed the performer's accents. This is a fun story to enjoy with your family.

Many of the voices sound too similar.

Many of the voices sound too similar. French accent was too thick at times. The British accent was fine, though

Let's get on with it !

Great performance of a overly fussy story. Too much detail , not enough action. Too much fleshing out of background images. Let's get on with the show !