One of the publicity quotes on the back of the The Masque of the Black Tulip reads “A Delightful Romp” – and this series (which starts with The Secret History of the Pink Carnation) totally is! They are ridiculous, and thoroughly awesome for light entertainment value, and a little deliciously smutty.
The series is comprised of five books; Mom had read them and loaned me a copy of the third book, The Deception of the Emerald Ring, last year. I loved it (stands alone) and received the first two for Christmas (which led to swiping book three permanently from Mom’s shelves). I’m disappointed that book three is the only one without a flowery title. There are two more books in the series The Seduction of the Crimson Rose and The Temptation of the Jasmine Night (Hardcover) that I will need to add to my collection.
Since the titles aren’t a give-away, the books are a “delightful romp” that imagines what would happen if other people carried on The Scarlet Pimpernel‘s work after he was de-masked. Tongue-in-cheek they fall into the same pattern where falling in love gets in the way of ones ability to spy, much as the novel of inspiration did. They are not meant to be mystery novels, although there is some mystery involved. They are fun romantic fluff, a good snowy day entertainment.
The dialogue is witty and humorous, there are lots of references to writings and fashion that were popular at the time (Richard Lovelace, Homer, Beau Brummel, Fanny Burney), and Willig nails a lot of the internal neroticism people get from not communicating well about their feelings. I really had a good time reading the books and recommended them to a coworker who went out and purchased all four paperbacks. True, the females are too independently modern, but who cares? This isn’t a book set out to be 100% accurate, that’s not its purpose. Even as a bodice-ripper, it’s more fun than erotic (still scintillating though!).
These are the kind of books, baring the occasional foray’s into the narrator’s contemporary world, that would make a fantastic madcap romantic comedy movie that I would definitely see.
Side note, since I always have one. A lot of the comments on Amazon refer to this as HistoricalFiction, Mystery, or Romance. It is none of these things. A passing mention of real events or people from past times does not a historical novel make. Taking real events and novelizing them based on real documentation for the purpose of understanding what probably took place off the pages of letters is historical fiction (see Jeff Shaara’s Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause). A better term would be Period Fiction.
Also, although the books aren’t filled with education in mind – Willig did her research on fashion and tastes of the time and some descriptions inspired me to do a little searching the web for clarification. I don’t know how people got by before Google came along. I’ve learned so much by researching minor bits of stories that catch my eye. In this series it was Quizzing Glasses and what significance they had to the action while being a fashionable accessory of the time and mentioned in passing. I totally want my own now!
Outside driving me to Google, Willig also includes historical notes at the end of each book talking about various “characters” and events that she’s included that are factual. In book one she has a scene where Napoleon busts into Josephine’s salon, something that did regularly occur. She also talks about modifying fact to suit the book, such as having Fouche still in charge of the French police even though her timeline is off by a few months but feeling Fouche made a stronger impression than his successor. I like having that as a guide to what was really happening and knowing that things are not factual due to creative license rather than then author having not done research.
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Favorite quotes from The Masque of the Black Tulip:
“Sir Percy Blakeny was running the most daring intelligence effort since Odysseus asked Agamemnon whether he thought the Trojans might like a large wooden horse.”
“They were dressed all in green – to blend in with the scenery Penelope had explained with relish – and resembled nothing so much as a troupe of lost leprechauns, or a bunch of frogs who had misplaced their lily pad.”
Related posts:
- The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig Two of my earliest reviews on Stacked (here & here)...
- The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig Well, here we are again, talking about the Pink Carnation...
- A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander Last year my mother passed along the first two books...
- A Royal Pain & A Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen A few months ago, I mentioned having a copy of...
- A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking The problem with a book that has the word “brief”...
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I’m glad you enjoyed the books so much! Once we get the 4th one I will have to borrow them all from you so I can read them in the correct order all at once.
Excellent Review! Hope Jackie enjoys them too.
I like how you distinguish between historical fiction and period fiction!
Wow enjoyed reading your blogpost. I added your rss to my google reader.