Currently reading a series of books by Lauren Willig and enjoying myself waaaaay too freaking much. They're set in Regency England, during the Napoleonic Wars- and best of all, Willig takes the Scarlet Pimpernel concept and just runs with it. The first book is The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, and it snatched me right from the first page about a grad student named Eloise, geekily delighted with history and with an alarming propensity for wearing the wrong shoes. In short, a little too much like me not to immediately cling to her in adoration.
The novels are framed narratives, following the trials and tribulations of Eloise as she attempts to find out the secret identity of the Pink Carnation (an English spy in France after the Revolution) for her dissertation. The only thing in her way? Colin Selwick, a descendant of the Purple Genetian, whose determination to block her attempts at research only matches her own determination to cling to the antique letters that hold the mystery of the Pink Carnation's name and story. Attractive, charming, and decidedly infuriating Colin Selwick.
But Eloise's story quickly gives way to Amy Balcourt's story- a half-English, half-French girl who desperately wants to go back to France to avenge her father's guillotine-assisted death and also to help the Purple Genetian in his spying; she's even taught herself the tricks of espionage to this end. So, enlisting the aid of her cousin Jane and their chaperone, Miss Gwen, she travels to France- only to be beleagured by the attentions of Richard Selwick, who is charms her with talk of Homer and Egyptology, and then is decided abhorrent for his ostensible French-supporting career. The plot takes off- adventurous and quirky, as if Jane Austen, Baroness Orczy, and Alan Bennett all got together and decided to write a novel.
Basically, the books seem to be romance novels, but with enough humor and suspense and adventure that it isn't cloying. I've finished the second book by this point, and found it just as delightful as the first. I may skip a class or two to read the third! :P
Basically, the books seem to be romance novels, but with enough humor and suspense and adventure that it isn't cloying. I've finished the second book by this point, and found it just as delightful as the first. I may skip a class or two to read the third! :P
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