Prep Work for ACROSS A STAR-SWEPT SEA

First of all — and I seriously cannot stress this enough — you DO NOT HAVE TO READ THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL FIRST. Much like with For Darkness Shows the Stars, I wrote this book to be understood an enjoyed both by people familiar with the inspiring material AND by people who are like “Jane Austen? Who is that?”

True story: one of my beta readers had never even heard of the Pimpernel when I gave him chapters to read. I said, “kinda like Bruce Wayne” and he was on board. (Then he wondered why her folks hadn’t been traumatically murdered in her youth, but that’s a whole other story.)

Additionally, and I say this with love and utmost respect for Baroness Orczy, there are elements of the novel I find… problematic. That I sort of read and cringe because she comes from a very different time and has a few ideas that don’t really sit well with me. At the same time, she also seriously plays on expectations and prejudice in an interesting way.

For instance, you can sit there and debate for hours if Orczy is on the side of anti-Semitism or if the most extreme example of it in the story belonging to the villain is actually a statement condemning it. I think it’s very telling that the films don’t tend to have “The Jew” of Chapter 26 around.

(I will also add that she famously wrote the novel version in five weeks to boost ticket sales for the play, so it possibly needed another polish.)

So if you try and get into the 1905 novel and can’t deal with the writing style or the classism or whichever way you fall on the anti-Semitism argument, I don’t blame you one bit, is what I’m saying. It’s not for everyone. And I made sure that you didn’t have to know word one about the Pimpernel before coming to Star-Swept.

Though I love “the scarlet pimpernel story” — the entire body of work of the series and the play and the character and what it’s meant to our concept of debonair spies and masked vigilantes and all that, I cannot say that the 1905 book, particularly, is my favorite piece of writing in the world. I will also add that many Pimpernel aficionados prefer later entries in the series, like I Will Repay or Eldorado.

In fact, my favorite film version of the story, the 1980s take with Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour, and Ian McKellan, is an adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel and Eldorado both. (And, um, loosely.) I may get in trouble for saying this (I don’t think authors are supposed to admit liking the movie version of things better, though I also feel this way about LOTR, to be honest), but it may even be my favorite version version of the story. (I haven’t seen the musical though, just heard the soundtrack.) I loved the focus on how Marguerite did end up marrying the foolish fop she thought was Percy, and obviously McKellan rocked it as Chauvelin.

Despite the title of the novel, the book does focus on the character of Marguerite and most scenes are even from her point of view. She’s such a vitally important character to the storyline that I loved the way the film (and Seymour, who is such an intelligent actress) took pains to make Marguerite’s choice to marry Percy understandable (though I will admit they did muck up her agency some in her betrayal).

Unlike a novel like Persuasion, The Scarlet Pimpernel has been remixed and reimagined, even by its creator, dozens of times. So I feel like this was always something Orczy herself was on board with. The important thing was the Pimpernel, not the particular plot of the story he was placed in. Like Batman or Bond.

And I think that’s actually why it’s a story that still works so well for adaptation and reinterpretation. There is such a rich vein from which to draw inspiration for your interpretation — a play, a book, a whole series of books! Different people can find in the Pimpernel a story that works for them. Like the 1980s movie version took the re-envisioned ending from the 1930s movie version and added a sword fight, which…. sword fights are cool. (The 1980s Percy is into swords a LOT.) And the 1999 version is very interested in torture. Plus they kill off Marguerite, which… weird. (I’m not a big fan of the miniseries.) And I haven’t even mentioned Daffy Duck’s take on the matter.

Star-swept is my take. A Pimpernel of the future.