Baroness Orczy's first historical fiction book, The Scarlet Pimpernel, was released in 1905. It was written following a successful run in London of her theater play of the same name (co-written with Montague Barstow), which had premiered in Nottingham in 1903. The French Revolution had just begun when the book takes place, and it takes place during the Reign of Terror. The protagonist and hero of the novel, an honorable Englishman who spares nobility from execution, goes by the name in the title. Orczy frequently referenced historical persons and events while freely adapting them in her writing. Marguerite St. Just, a stunning French actress, marries affluent English fop Sir Percy Blakeney, baronet, in the early years of the French Revolution in 1792. Prior to their union, Marguerite exacted retribution on the Marquis de St. Cyr for having ordered her brother to be whipped for having feelings for the Marquis' daughter, which unintentionally led to the Marquis and his sons being executed by guillotine. When Percy learned the truth, he and his wife split up. Marguerite, on the other hand, grew tired of Percy's vapid, snobbish way of life.
Baroness Emmuska Orczy was born in Tarnaors, Hungary in 1865. She was a notable artist, playwright and author. Her father Baron Felix Orczy was a composer and mother Countess Emma Orczy. Due to a peasant revolt her family fled to Brussels then Paris and lastly to London. With her sister Emma studied in convent schools in Brussels and Paris. She learned music and paintings but gained success in paintings at the West London School of Art and at Heartherley. In collaboration with her husband Montague Barstow, Baroness Hungarian fairy tales and began writing romance and fiction. She was appreciated for the translation of Old Hungarian Fairy Tales. Her first novel, The Emperor's Candlesticks faced rejection for being too short. But her second novel 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' proved a boon for him, she earned name and fame. As a prominent author she wrote dozens of romantic novels, plays and detective stories. Her memorable works-The Man in Grey, The Laughing Cavalier, Skin O' My Tooth, Eldorado- a sequel to the Scarlet Pimpernel, The Old Man in the Corner, The Divine Folly, The Old Scare Crow, Lady Molly of Scotland Yard etc. She was died in London in 1947.
