Secret History of the Pink Carnation, The

Rating:
Summary: ROMANCE, ADVENTURE, SUSPENSE - WHAT ELSE IS THERE?
Review:
Currently a law student and PhD candidate at Harvard, Lauren Willig has penned a fun, imaginative, totally charming historical novel. It has everything we expect in that genre - romance, adventure, suspense, and the unexpected - rib tickling laughs.

The member of an acclaimed London theatrical family, Kate Reading gives a bravura performance in the telling of this tale. Listeners may remember her from some of Patricia Cornwell's audios - Blow Fly, Trace, The Last Precinct. Her enjoyment of this story is infectious as we are introduced to the most mysterious spy of all time - the Pink Carnation.

Heroine Eloise Kelly is a scholar at Harvard (a bit of autobiography here?). Having exhausted available material in the Widener Library Eloise departs for England to complete her dissertation on the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian. Another reason for the trip is to put an ocean between herself and a double dealing former boyfriend. To her amazement and delight what she comes upon in London is the secret history of the Pink Carnation. Forget the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Genetian, this is the spy who saved England from the grasp of Napoleon.

As she pores over this history Eloise find the story of another young woman, Amy Balcourt, who once met Lord Selwick who was in reality the Purple Genetian. There was an immediate attraction. While immersed in their love story Eloise is faced with a distraction of her own - one Colin Selwick who tries to stop her from reading further.

Heroes and heroines both past and present abound in this tale of 19th century life. Listen - you'll thoroughly enjoy.

- Gail Cooke


Rating:
Summary: fine Regency era gender battle
Review: Harvard graduate student Eloise Kelly is writing her thesis on the early nineteenth century dashingly romantic English spies the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Purple Gentian, and especially the Pink Carnation. The first two were unmasked by Napoleon's agents as Sir Percy Blakeney and Lord Richard Selwick, but the identity of the Pink Carnation never was revealed. Eloise receives a grant to research her dissertation in England, so she ends her relationship with her boyfriend made easier when she caught him in the cloakroom with an art historian major.

Eloise believes that the Pink Carnation is somehow related to the Selwick family of the Purple Gentian fame. She visits Mrs. Arabella Selwick-Alderly at Selwick Hall, who provides her with access to a large trunk filled with family letters from the Napoleonic era. Arabella suggests that Eloise start with the intriguing account of Amy Balcourt on a trip to Paris in 1803 where she meets Richard Selwick. As Amy and Richard play spy counter spy they share in common efforts to keep Napoleon from invading England and a growing attraction. Meanwhile in the present, Eloise plays historical spy counterspy with Colin Selwick, but where this romance will go only time will tell.

This enticing tale occurs in two time periods with the brunt of the story line happening in the early nineteenth century. Readers will enjoy the Regency era gender battle between two fine protagonists yet also appreciate that this is being fed to the audience via present day characters in a chick lit setting. Though how easily she attains the letters seem odd as no outsider had access before, the dual themes merge into a finely blended fabulous romance.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Delightful Adventure!
Review: I was fortunate enough to snag an advance copy of this wonderful novel. Willig is truly a gifted writer, masterfully weaving her own historical expertise into a gripping and romantic storyline that will appeal to anyone craving adventure. This is a fabulously entertaining read, and one of the most delightful novels I have come across in some time.

Rating:
Summary: a wonderful read
Review: Warning: make sure that you have staked out enough of time to finish this novel before you begin this wonderful novel. It's another one of those unputdownables. Not because the books is tensely plotted, full of riveting twists and turns, but because it is one of those absolutely fun books that are a joy to read.

After a dating debacle with her latest boy friend, graduate student Eliose Kelly applies for a grant to go to England do some research. Eliose is doing her doctoral thesis on British spies of the Regency period, spies like the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation. And while everyone knows the identities of Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian, the identity of the Pink Carnation has always been a mystery. And Eliose cannot find mention of him anywhere (not even the Public Records Office in Kew) except for in the tabloid-like newspapers. And so, quite desperate, she writes to the descendants of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian, asking them for access to their records. She is rudely rebuffed by all except one: Mrs. Selwick-Alderly, a descendent of the Purple Gentian, invites her to tea, and obligingly enough gives her access to some letters in her possession. The letters are written by a young half-French lady, Aimee (Amy) Balcourt, a refugee of the French Revolution, who dreams of returning to France, and of helping her hero, the Purple Gentian, rout the despicable republicans who have taken over her country. Now, at lastin 1803, Amy's brother invites her to return home and to live with him. And for Amy, who has lived in rural Shropshire all these years dreaming of such an opportunity, it is a dream come true. And so, together with her favourite cousin and confidant, Jane, and a daunting chaperone, Miss Gwen, the three women cross the channel. Amy is sure that once she is in Paris, she will be able to quickly identify the English gentleman who is the Purple Gentian, and that he will gratefully accept her offer of help. But Amy is about to discover that dreams and reality are two different things, and that it might not be so easy to identify the Purple Gentian after all. And in the meantime, one must contend with that awful man, Richard Selwick, who, traitorously, seems to have no qualm about associating with the much despised republicans...

I shall always be thankful that Lauren Willig took up writing! "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" was a delightful read -- witty, humorous and loads of fun. The book is split into two subplots, one that takes place in 1803 and focuses Amy, and the other one in modern times that focuses on Eliose. Both are well done and cleverly juxtaposed so that you're left desperately wanting to know more at once -- will Amy finally realise who the Purple Gentian is? And how will Eliose's relationship with Colin Selwick ever progress beyond sniping? Engaging and deeply engrossing, I enjoyed the book thoroughly from start to finish -- there were no false notes. And I'm avidly waiting for the next Pink Carnation installment, which will, I hope, feature quiet, efficient and intelligent Jane (my favourite character). And while I hate to sound like a gushing nitwick, thank you, again Lauren Willig, for this fabulous read!