Category: Classics

Lifespan: (September 23, 1865 – November 12, 1947)

Interesting & Unique Facts: Baroness Orczy's full name was Baroness Emma ("Emmuska") Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orczi.

Orczy was born in Hungray to the composer Baron Felix Orczy and Countess Emma Wass.
She married a young illustrator, Montague MacLean Barstow who was the son of an English clergyman. It was a very happy marriage.

In 1903, she and her husband wrote a play based on one of her short stories about an English aristocrat, Sir Percy Blakeney, who rescued French aristocrats from the French revolution: The Scarlet Pimpernel. She submitted her novelization of the story under the same title to 12 publishers. While waiting the decision of these publishers, Fred Terry and Julia Neilson accepted the play for production in the West End.

Orczy would go on to write over a dozen sequels featuring Sir Percy Blakeney, his family, and the other members of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. She also wrote popular mystery fiction. Lady Molly of Scotland Yard was an early example of a female detective as the main character.

Author's work in order (with publication dates):

Scarlet Pimpernel Novels (Publication Order)

• The Scarlet Pimpernel (play 1903, novel 1905)
• I will Repay (1906)
• The Elusive Pimpernel (1908)
• Eldorado (1913)
• Lord Tony's Wife (1917)
• The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1922)
• Pimpernel and Rosemary (1924)
  
• Sir Percy Hits Back (1927)
• A Child of the Revolution (1932)
• The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1933)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World (1933)
• Sir Percy Leads the Band (1936)
• Mam'zelle Guillotine (1940)

• List of the the nine original League or founding members who formed the party on August 2nd, 1792

• Sir Andrew Ffoulkes (second in command)
• Lord Anthony Dewhurst
• Lord Edward Hastings
• Lord John Bathurst
• Lord Stowmarries
• Sir Edward Mackenzie
• Sir Philip Glynde
• Lord Saint Denys
• Sir Richard Galveston

Non-Series Novels

• The Emperor's Candlesticks (1899)
• In Mary's Reign (1901) later The Tangled Skein (1907)
• By the Gods Beloved (1905) later released in the US as The Gates of Kamt
  
• A Son of the People (1906)
• Beau Brocade (1907)
• The Nest of the Sparrowhawk (1909)
• Petticoat Government (1910)
• A True Woman (1911)
• The Traitor (1912)
• The Good Patriots (1912)
• Fire in Stubble (1912)
• Meadowsweet (1912)
• Unto Caesar (1914)
  
• The Laughing Cavalier (1914)
• A Bride of the Plains (1915)
• The Bronze Eagle (1915)
• Leatherface (1916)
• A Sheaf of Bluebells (1917)
• Flower o' the Lily (1918)
• His Majesty's Well-beloved (1919)
• The First Sir Percy (1921)
• Nicolette: A Tale of Old Provence (1922)
• The Honourable Jim (1924)
• Les Beaux et les Dandys de Grand Siècles en Angleterre (1924)
• The Miser of Maida Vale (1925)
• A Question of Temptation (1925)
• The Celestial City (1926)
• Blue Eyes and Grey (1929)
• Marivosa (1930)
• In the Rue Monge (1931)
• A Joyous Adventure (1932)
• A Spy of Napoleon (1934)
• The Uncrowned King (1935)
• The Turbulent Duchess (1935)
• The Divine Folly (1937)
• No Greater Love (1938)
• Pride of Race (1942)
• The Will-O'-The-Wisp (1947)

Short Story Collections

• The Case of Miss Elliot (1905)
• The Old Man In the Corner (1909)
• Lady Molly of Scotland Yard (1910)
• The Man in Grey (1918)
• The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1919)
• Castles in the Air (1921)
• Unravelled Knots (1926)
• Skin o' My Tooth (1928)
• Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1929)