Baroness Orczy's first historical fiction book, The Scarlet Pimpernel, was released in 1905. It was written following a successful run in London of her theater play of the same name (co-written with Montague Barstow), which had premiered in Nottingham in 1903. The French Revolution had just begun when the book takes place, and it takes place during the Reign of Terror. The protagonist and hero of the novel, an honorable Englishman who spares nobility from execution, goes by the name in the title. Orczy frequently referenced historical persons and events while freely adapting them in her writing. Marguerite St. Just, a stunning French actress, marries affluent English fop Sir Percy Blakeney, baronet, in the early years of the French Revolution in 1792. Prior to their union, Marguerite exacted retribution on the Marquis de St. Cyr for having ordered her brother to be whipped for having feelings for the Marquis' daughter, which unintentionally led to the Marquis and his sons being executed by guillotine. When Percy learned the truth, he and his wife split up. Marguerite, on the other hand, grew tired of Percy's vapid, snobbish way of life.
