On the Shelf book review
Dalene Hawthorne, Special to The Gazette
Originally published 09:17 a.m., June 28, 2008
Updated 09:17 a.m., June 28, 2008
007 move aside! The Pink Carnation is prettier, better dressed, has a classier accent, and uses fewer gadgets to accomplish her (that’s right, her) mission. She rides in sedan chairs and chariots instead of flashy Aston Martins or BMWs. She wears corsets and long curls, and carries a reticule rather than a Rolex Submariner. The pace may be a little slower, but the plots are just as thick as in a Bond film.
“The Seduction of the Crimson Rose” is the fourth in a series of bodice ripper/historical fiction/spy novels written by Lauren Willig, and they’re all a hoot. If you’re looking for some light, lively, and downright fun reading this summer, start with “The Secret History of the Pink Carnation” and read all four. If you visit Willig’s Web site, http://www.laurenwillig.com, you’ll see that she’s working on number six, so book five is coming. Someday, I plan to re-read the entire series to get a more continuous reading of the back stories that tie the books together. These are very clever books that play on the Scarlet Pimpernel series written by Baroness Orczy in the early twentieth century (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Pimpernel).
So, for what cause does the Pink Carnation risk her reputation and her life? Why, simply to keep Napoleon from invading England. How does she manage this? She thwarts the Black Tulip and all of the other Napoleonic spies and operatives with her great intelligence, beauty, strategic abilities, and with help from her lovely fellow floral operatives and their male friends — including the Purple Gentian.
All of this is discovered by Eloise Kelly, a modern-day student who is a doctoral student researching the Pink Carnation for her dissertation. She manages to get access to the Selwick family archives, much to the dismay of Colin Selwick, who is a descendant of the Pink Carnation spies. Despite his initial enmity toward Eloise and her interest in his family history, Colin asks Eloise to dinner in “The Seduction of the Crimson Rose.” Why is Colin so averse to having anyone look at the family archives? Is he a spy too? Will his identity or his mission somehow be revealed if the past is investigated too closely? Stay tuned, I think we’ll have to wait for another book or two in the series to find out.