Scarlet
By Genevieve Cogman
Historical fiction/Tor/Paperback/320 pages/$33.25/Books Kinokuniya
2 stars
If you are expecting a dose of historical fiction and gothic horror in the form of a vampire story here – a category where American author Anne Rice set a high bar – don’t.
Sadly, Interview With A Vampire this book is not.
British author Genevieve Cogman’s addition of vampires and magic into the story may be her attempt to retell a well-known moment in history.
But the supernatural creatures and magic play second fiddle to moral arguments about who was right or wrong in the French Revolution (1789-1799), as well as commentaries on class and gender divides during that time.
This story is based on another work of fiction, The Scarlet Pimpernel, originally a hugely popular play in the early 1900s by British Baroness Orczy.
Orczy’s popular novel series follows the wealthy English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney, who rescues his French peers from the guillotine during the revolution.
Cogman’s story picks up in 1793 in the middle of the revolution. Sir Blakeney, his wife and the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel are planning possibly the biggest rescue of their lives: saving doomed French queen Marie Antoinette.
This is where English maid Eleanor Dalton comes in useful. Her uncanny resemblance to the queen will be advantageous in the league’s plans to use her as a decoy while they help the queen and her children to safety.
Readers do not know exactly what the rescue plan is, because Sir Blakeney reveals only what is necessary to Eleanor along the way, which makes her feel like she is not really a part of the league.
The rescue itself is not thrilling – unless you count one exploding bomb and running through sewers the pinnacle of excitement.
Vampires and magic add much to the plot in this first instalment of a planned trilogy. Much of the French, as well as some of the English, aristocracy are vampires hell-bent on keeping their prestige and land. The French vampires plan to use the Dauphin as a figurehead to overthrow the revolution.
Nonetheless, being bloodsuckers does not give them much of an edge in this war, as they can still be killed by the guillotine and stopped by wooden bullets. They spend much of their time hiding in the shadows instead of actually doing anything.
As for magic? It appears about thrice and seems to be a rather convenient plot device.
The book is saved by a relatable main character. Eleanor is a witty and ambitious young woman who dreams of using her talent in embroidery to become a modiste in London, instead of resigning herself to a life of servitude at the whims of her master.
Still, she is realistic and all too aware of her station in life. Imposter syndrome threatens to overtake her when she finds herself being left out of the league’s detailed plans.
Eleanor diminishes her self-worth and role in the league’s plans more times than this reader cares to count, seeing herself as “just a tool for the current task” and fearing she “won’t be useful any more” once the rescue is done.
But she does stand up for herself and other women when the ignorance of her male companions shows up in offhand comments. As much as men know about business and politics, they are unaware of the hardship and struggles faced by women, much less those in the lower class.
This happens particularly often with Lord Charles Bathurst, the league’s scholar and, bafflingly enough, the object of Eleanor’s affections.
“You’ve spent your entire life on a quiet little estate where hardly anybody even reads the newspaper,” he says to Eleanor during one such conversation about written constitutions and rebellion. “How would you know?”
Her bravery, intelligence and loyalty ultimately win the league over, but it is not clear whether she just wants recognition from the league or if becoming a dressmaker is the bigger goal.
Eleanor holds much promise but, like the rest of the book, this is not fulfilled.
If you like this, read: Sabriel by Garth Nix (HarperCollins, 2021, $22.79, Books Kinokuniya). Eighteen-year-old Sabriel finds herself plunged into a world of magic and the undead in a race against time to save her father and the Old Kingdom from destruction.
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