The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

Pinke Carnation Series

Great book....but please read them in the sequence written. It makes it much easier to follow along.

A very light entertaining read, with a little romance and intrigue. I would recommend this as a perfect beach book.

OK

This book was alright but I felt that it was VERY predictable and there were unnecessary hints in the book in parenthesis that anyone would have probably understood without. I am about 3/4 through the book and am quite excited to finish it. I saw a lot of good reviews about the book and that is why I bought it but frankly I am a bit disappointed.

"a bit of fluff"

(That's a line from the book, if you were wondering...)
Adding a modern touch to classic historical novels like Baroness von Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel that chronicled the histories of fictional English spies during the Napoleonic years, Willig crafts a light tale of suspense and intrigue. Light is the key word, though, because this book is most certainly not meant to be taken seriously as a historical work. It is much more like a romance novel with a few fancy trimmings.
The book opens in the modern age, following American graduate student Eloise's attempts to flee a failed romance while also researching the Regency spies like the Scarlet Pimpernel, Purple Gentian and Pink Carnation (who, in this book, are assumed to have truly existed.) She has luckily encountered a very sweet descendent of the Purple Gentian, Mrs. Selwick-Alderly, who kindly opens her families' document library to Eloise. In it, despite protests from Mrs. Selwick-Alderly's nephew Colin, Eloise is able to trace the history of the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation through letters written by a French refugee, Amy. Amy, who has long fantasized over the exploits of the Scarlet Pimpernel, is finally able to return to her homeland of France in hopes of becoming a part of the Purple Gentian's league and avenging her father's death. She crosses the Channel with her cousin, Jane; chaperone, Miss Gwen and an English gentleman, Richard Selwick, whom she immediately writes off as a traitor. Her own traitorious heart begins to warm towards Richard, though, and their relationship becomes quite interesting as Amy begins her adventures in France. Late-night encounters with the Purple Gentian, secret missions to explore Napolean's study, a daring plan to prevent Napolean's planned invasion of Brittain and a brave attempt at rescue all ensue.
The plot, though entertaining, is simple and the characters are somewhat one-dimensional. In addition, despite the author's post-script regarding the necessity of changing history to fit the novel, several key parts of the book are completely at odds with the time period. Really, it seems as if the author wrote a modern spy/romance story and then just tweaked the setting and language slightly to move it back in time. In addition, the truly modern portion of the novel, which intermittently reverts back to Eloise and her encounters with Mrs. Selwick-Alderly and Colin, are distracting at best and completely annoying at worst. Eloise isn't a very sympathetic character at all and her story doesn't add much to the book other than extra pages. She really should have only been used in the introduction and ending, if at all!
In summary, this is a quick and entertaining read but not much more. If that's all that you are looking for, I would recommend it. However, if you're looking for real historical fiction, look elsewhere! I definitely don't feel inspired to pick up the next book in the series although I have to believe it must have been at least a little better than this for there to have been several books published after this one.

Fluffy but ultimately draws you in

This is a playful book -- worth reading if you are looking for a diverting, non-taxing book. Having just had a baby, I'm not interested in reading anything too deep -- so this was the perfect book to keep me engaged yet not too involved. Honestly, it was enjoyable for the first ten chapters or so -- I could have taken it or left it up until then. But by the end, I was well into it and couldn't put it down -- the author cleverly ends the story at a point where you need to know more. I had to order the two other books in the series right away! My only complaint is that the framing story set in contemporary England is not given enough attention -- it feels uneven, considering the amount of time spent in Napoleonic France.