Emma Orczy
Personal Information
Description
Baroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála "Emmuska" Orczy de Orczi was born in Tarnaörs, Heves County, Hungary, the daughter of composer Baron Felix Orczy and Countess Emma Wass. In 1868, fearing a potential peasant revolution, her parents left Hungary. They lived in Budapest, Brussels, and Paris before settling in London in 1880. Orczy attended West London School of Art and then Heatherley's School of Fine Art. In 1894, she married illustrator Montague MacLean Barstow, whom she had met at art school. The couple had very little money, and Orczy started to work with her husband as a translator and an illustrator. In 1899, she had a child, and published her first novel, The Emperor's Candlesticks. In 1903, she and her husband coauthored her most famous work, The Scarlet Pimpernel. She went on to write over a dozen sequels to the novel. She also created a number of memorable detectives: Lady Molly Robertson-Kirk of Scotland Yard, who heads the "Female Department" (her cases are collected in Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, 1910); Monsieur Fernand, a Napoleonic-era secret agent (The Man in Grey, 1918); and Patrick Mulligan, a shady attorney (Skin o' My Tooth, 1928). Her greatest detective was the Old Man in the Corner, probably the first of the "armchair" detectives. He sits in a chair in a London tea shop, unraveling knots and intricate cases brought to him by Polly Burton, a young reporter. Many of these were later collected in The Old Man in the Corner (1909). [Leslie S. Klinger, In the Shadow of Sherlock Holmes (2011)]
Books
Lady Molly of Scotland Yard
Well, you know, some say she is the daughter of a duke, others that she was born in the gutter, and that the handle has been soldered on to her name in order to give her style and influence.
A child of the Revolution
During one return home, Sir Percy tells the story of André Vallon, a young Jacobin, to the Prince of Wales. André, wishing to revenge himself on a despotic seigneur, uses the Jacobins' rise to force the seigneur's daughter to marry him. Once wed, they come to love each other, only to have the old seigneur denounce André in an attempt to free his daughter.
The Adventures of The Scarlet Pimpernel
The collection of short stories featuring Sir Percy Blakeney, The Scarlet Pimpernel. Set in revolutionary France in 1793, these further adventures will thrill the first time reader as much as those who are familiar with the Pimpernel and the League. Their arch enemy Chauvelin and the Committee of Public Safety are never far behind, whilst back in England the beautiful Marguerite maintains her devotion.
The man in grey
In fact and name, a Regency romance, and a most accomplished piece of story telling, with color, passion and high drama. From the gay, gaudy, glamorous world of Whig fashionables, a descendant unearths the story of Clarissa -- Lady Rohan -- who epitomized all the charm of a gracious era and became a legend of the times. Beautiful, affectionate and generous, her innocence made her unequal foil to Hesther, her closest friend and nemesis, who bore her some love but greater hate. At 17, Clarissa is married to the dour Lord Rohan, the 'man in gray', who finds her youth and beauty tedious and whose indifference is pierced only when Hesther becomes the children's governess and he falls in love with her. Almost simultaneously, Clarissa finds -- and loses -- her first real love; and Hesther stoops to murder. Dramatic entertainment and good!--KIRKUS**
A sheaf of bluebells
A romance between a royalist and a republican in France during the reign of Napoleon. Happy ending.
Lord Tony's Wife
In the midst of the French Revolution, Pierre, a young firebrand, convinces a group of rabble to rise up against the local duc. Coming across the carriage of the duc’s daughter on their march, Pierre assaults her, is run over by the carriage, and disappears. Looking to punish someone for the uprising, the duc has Pierre’s father hanged. Years later, Pierre has changed his name, gathered some wealth, and ingratiated himself with the duc (who does not know him). Pierre has plans to avenge his father’s death against both the duc and his daughter, and he has enlisted the aid of Chauvelin, the Scarlet Pimpernel’s avowed enemy. The Pimpernel will have all he can handle if he is to foil Pierre’s plans. Although published a few years after El Dorado, this sixth book in the series is set prior to it in the timeline.
The After House
The After House is a gripping whodunit that revolves around a series of grisly axe murders. Set on board a ship, this murder mystery is sure to leave you on the edge of your seat.
Unto Caesar
A romance between a princess of the imperial house of Rome and a Christian officer of the imperial guard during the reign of Caligula. Happy ending
The Old Man in the Corner
The Old Man (Bill Owen) sits in a cheap restaurant frequented by journalists and plays with a bit of string, which he ties into elaborate knots as he talks. Addressing himself to Polly Burton, a young newspaperwoman with whom he has struck up a slight acquaintance, he focuses upon crimes mentioned in the newspapers. He summarizes the circumstances, describes the personalities, and then sneeringly provides the correct solution which has evaded the police.
I Will Repay
Juliette Marny has sworn to ruin the man who killed her brother. When, ten years later, she finally meets him, she finds out the truth about her brother's death - and must decide between honouring her oath and protecting a good man.
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) is a play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution.
Detection by Gaslight
[Adventure of the Copper Beeches]( Case of the lost foreigner / Arthur Morrison -- Ghost of Fountain Lane / Catherine L. Pirkis -- Return of Imray / Rudyard Kipling -- Divination of the Zagury Capsules / Headon Hill -- York mystery / Baroness Orczy -- Haverstock Hill murder / George R. Sims -- Dead hand / R. Austin Freeman -- Mr. Bovey's unexpected will / L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace -- Perverted genius / Silas K. Hocking -- Eye of Apollo / G.K. Chesterton -- Purple emperor / Robert W. Chambers -- Tragedy of the life raft / Jacques Futrelle -- Story of Baelbrow / E. and H. Heron.
Castles in the Air
The Emperor's candlesticks
The Emperor's Candlesticks (1899) is a historical novel by Baroness Orczy and was her first book as an author.