Sonderbooks Book Review of The Laughing Cavalier

****The Laughing Cavalier*

The Story of the Ancestor of the Scarlet Pimpernel

by Baroness Orczy

Reviewed January 31, 2002.
Hodder and Stoughton, 284 pages. (No date listed: Early 1900s?)

My friend Leah found this book in a used book store in England. I will say that Baroness Orczy was hugely prolific, and any time you’re in a used book store, it’s worth looking for her books. I have found four different Scarlet Pimpernel books in used book stores myself, and Amazon.com also has some print-on-demand books of hers for sale. I believe the copyright has expired, so a company is printing them out and selling them. I got a few more that way.

For background, the Scarlet Pimpernel is a dashing English gentleman who rescues noblemen from the French Revolution in daringly clever ways. I reviewed the original book before as an Old Favorite. This book, The Laughing Cavalier, was about a supposed ancestor of the Scarlet Pimpernel. It is set in Holland in the 1600s. The Laughing Cavalier goes by the name Diogenes. He is an adventurer embroiled in a plot to assassinate a ruler. A lovely maiden in distress is also involved. As in the Scarlet Pimpernel books, things reach a state where you can’t imagine how he will escape. Also like those books, there is an intricate plot with clever twists. Yes, it’s very old-fashioned, but also a great deal of fun. If you can find these books, they are well worth reading.

Thanks for the loan, Leah!

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

***The Laughing Cavalier

The Story of the Ancestor of the Scarlet Pimpernel

by Baroness Orczy

****The Laughing Cavalier*