Publisher's Synopsis
The Scarlet Pimpernel was initially rejected by publishers, when Orczy finished it in 1903. Undeterred, she reinvented the book as a play, which went on to be successful, leading to the publication of the book in 1905. The book was an instant success with the public, relieving Orczy of her financial troubles, but critics found it superficial, classist, and ultimately little more than a disposable lark.And yet, the public took to the book, looking past its overt sympathies with the noble class, and their demand for more such adventure stories led Orczy to write a slew of Pimpernel sequels over the next forty years. These include The Laughing Cavalier (1914), The First Sir Percy (1921), Pimpernel and Rosemary (1924), and The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World (1933).
