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The Secret History of the Pink Carnation | 
 enlarge | Author: Lauren Willig
Publisher: NAL Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $13.99 (100%)
New (60) Used (182) Collectible (4) from $0.01
Rating:  130 reviews
Sales Rank: 67848
Media: Paperback
Pages: 464
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 045121742X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781863254786
ASIN: 045121742X
Publication Date: December 27, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read - Recycle - Reuse!
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Product Description
Nothing ever goes right for Eloise. The day she wears her new suede boots, it rains. When the subway stops short, she's the one thrown into some stranger's lap. And she's had her share of misfortune in the way of love. So, after deciding that romantic heroes must be a thing of the past, Eloise is ready for a fresh start. brbr Setting off for England, Eloise is determined to finish her dissertation on two spies, the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian. But what she discovers is something historians have missed: the secret history of the Pink Carnation-the most elusive spy of all time. As she works to unmask this obscure spy, Eloise has more and more questions. Like, how did the Pink Carnation save England from Napoleon? What became of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian? And will Eloise Kelly escape her bad luck and find a living, breathing hero of her own?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 125 more reviews...
 Suffers a bit from an identity crisis, but still a fun read... October 16, 2008
Holly R (Las Vegas, NV)
Eloise is an intrepid American who is trying to uncover the identity of the Pink Carnation, a notorious spy who operated throughout the Napoleonic Wars. She's planning her dissertation on the elusive Pink Carnation and the secrets lie within the Selwick family archives. Nothing is going to stand in her way, least of all the current guard dog of the family secrets. Standing bastion against nosy Americans who have a deadline to meet, Mr. Colin Selwick is not pleased when the matriarch of his family allows Eloise to read all their family's historical letters and journals but there's nothing he can do except glare and growl. Within those letters a fabulous world of dashing heroes and brave young heroines comes to life and Eloise comes one step closer to uncovering the identity of the Pink Carnation, as well as finding a hero of her own. br / br /I'm reviewing this book well after I read it the first time. If I had reviewed it when I read it the first time, I probably would have gushed about it much more than I'm going to now. That's not to say that this book is bad, it just suffers after that first magical read. br / br /This books suffers from an identity crisis. Is it trying to be an authentic historical romance or simple chick lite? Is it Young Adult or a romance novel with enough steam to unwrinkle your shirt when you finish reading? Who knows. I know I enjoyed the book but now that I've had time to step back I feel like this is just the first knot in a loooong string that has no discernible end in sight. br / br /Lauren Willig has created some wonderful and quirky characters in Amy, Jane and Richard. Jane is the stalwart, unflinching maiden that I could easily imagine starring in a medieval romance, or off battling dragons and Richard is a devil-may-care, laughing fool of a spy. Amy is cute at times, crossing over into childish on several occasions, but her naivety and earnestness makes her somewhat bearable. By far my favorite character is Jane. She's rock solid and a fabulously intriguing young lady. She's as straightforward as Amy is flighty but they were a nice combination. br / br /I didn't believe (or is it understand?) Amy and Richard's great romance. They were complete opposites yet at the same time, cut from the same cloth. They were the type I could see laughing their way into the poor house, never letting the good times end. There was also a ridiculously overblown character in Amy's brother, Edouard, who I thought charming despite his feminine flutters. br / br /While this book was amusing, it at times delved into weird territory. One moment I'm thinking this is YA, especially with Amy's naivety and the next she and Richard are rolling around with enough foreplay going on to make me think perhaps this book had been written by two different authors. The ending was also extremely far fetched. So far fetched that it took far fetchedness to a whole new level. It became a silly, over the top adventure that again, didn't meet the historical accuracy that Lauren Willig seemed to be striving for. br / br /Eloise's musing throughout the book chopped the book up too much. Even though this is her story, she intrudes upon the flow of the book and I wished Lauren Willig would have left anything she had to say until the end of the book. Eloise and Colin will start the beginnings of a romance later on, but here is where the sparks first fly. It's cute and certainly interesting but now that I've had time to step back a little, I can see that here's the hook that Lauren Willig is using and suddenly their relationship became tiring. br / br /But before I became a jaded romance reader, I gotta admit, this was a fun, simply sweet romance with some wonderful quirky characters. Later books will only get better and the history and sweeping locations that Lauren Willig used was a delight to read and immerse myself in. I highly recommend The Secret History of the Pink Carnation as a fun, interesting read. Enjoy!
 Not impressed August 4, 2008
T. M. Wheaton (Syracuse, NY USA)
I was bitterly disappointed in this book. Given the quality hard cover, the lovely cover art and the blurb, I was expecting something that strives to be Heyer or Austen. I would have been happy with something that fell along the lines of Tasha Alexander or Deanna Raybourne. Heck, I would counted myself lucky if the book had been vaguely reminiscent of Mary Balogh or Julia Quinn. Instead I got something that fell short of all of those. br / br /Instead of sparkling wit of Heyer and the mannered prose of Austen, I got a by the numbers, derivative, cliche historical romance novel that (weirdly) also wanted to be modern chick lit and a spy adventure as well. br / br /The heroine Amy is a firm and permanent resident of the too stupid to live club. Seriously. This girl did one dumb thing after the other. And had to be repeatedly rescued. And for a woman who was looking for a spy whose life depended on things like secrets and discretion, she was terribly indiscreet. br / br /But Amy is not the only dull knife in the drawer. For a super spy who has eluded capture for years, Richard is also remarkably inept. First he has pretty much told his entire family his secret identity. Isn't that like rule number 1 in the spy handbook? You don't tell anyone your identity especially not your mother and your younger sister. And then there are the scenes where he and Amy are so overcome with lust for each other that they can't resist making out. Only problem is, they are usually in public and in one case in a precarious situation where they could be discovered by the secret police any moment. br / br /There was also a very modern feel to the language that struck me as out of place. While not overtly anachronistic in word usage, the tone was just off. I got the impression that author was doing this on purpose and trying to let us in on the joke. But imo, it failed miserably. br / br /Also, I could pretty much predict how the H/h were going to act and react to each other. Not one character did anything surprising or unpredictable. br / br /Actually, I retract that last statement a bit. This book was not a total waste. Jane, the heroine's cousin was actually an excellent character. She had all the brains, wit and composure the heroine should have had. Had Jane been the heroine of this novel and been allowed to retain her character this would have been a much different story. br / br /And I do have to admit the book was funny in some places. The last scene where Richard's family shows up and wants to meet Amy was a entertaining. br / br /But even with those one or two positive things, the book overall was still a huge disappointment for me.
A fun read! June 20, 2008
Book Girl (Santa Ana, CA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was a fast paced read. The heroine is very likable and you are rooting for her the whole time.
My Return to "Chick Lit" May 9, 2008
Audrey (Oakland University)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I haven't been this excited about a books since I was eight, when I first read Anne of Green Gables. Willig's first novel in her series of historical fiction/chick lit works has become one of my favorites, of all time. After years of devouring the stereotypical chick lit novels, I thought I had exhausted the genre, and myself. Willig continually surprised me, with unexpected plot twists, charmingly crafted characters, and the academic requirements needed to write a really good and believable historical fiction. Plus, with the framing of the historical story within the subplot of a modern-day history grad from Harvard, readers are presented with two inspiring heroines with which to fall in love. I can't wait to read the next one!
 A laughable parody May 8, 2008
K. Huff (New York, NY)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's 1803, and the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian have wowed Europe with their daring exploits. Amy Balcourt is a twenty-year-old, adventurous English girl who, in joining the League of the Purple Gentian, wishes to become a spy herself. She, along with her cousin Jane and their escort Miss Gwen, go to France, where they meet Lord Richard Selwick, also known as the Purple Gentian. A case of confused identities ensues in a bad parody of good spy fiction. br / br /The Secret History of the Pink Carnation is, first and foremost, chick lit, with historical accuracy taking a backseat. For someone who was supposed to be so smart, Amy behaved like a twit sometimes--for example, thinking that another character (a well-known rake) is the Purple Gentian, she makes an assignation with him in a dark, secluded space. I thought it was also rather ridiculous that she really didn't know who the Purple Gentian was until the last minute. The prose of this book is also laughable: when talking about her "feelings" for the Purple Gentian (who she's only met twice at the time this passage occurs, and both times when his face was covered), Amy thinks: "Oh, but she had been so sure of her feelings for the Gentian! And of his for her. His promise of a necklace of stars had seemed to be a sort of divine seal of approval, marking him out as her official, one and only true love." (yes, sadly I actually made it page 293). Please. Like anyone could be so naive. I only continued reading to find out if Amy would learn from her mistakes. She never did. br / br /The spies don't seem to sneak around all that much; at one point Lord Richard emerges from the front door of his house in his disguise. He also seems to spend an inordinate amount of time staring at Amy's behind; in one part, the book literally becomes a bodice-ripper, heavy panting and bad sexual innuendoes included. The politics of the period, and the court of Napoleon, seem like a trip to Disney World. The characters all have modern day behavior and speech patterns. For example, at that time a man would never call a woman by her first name if she wasn't related to him. br / br /With regards to Eloise, the graduate student who writes her thesis on the Pink Carnation, I found it hard to believe that she couldn't figure out who the Pink Carnation was sooner. For an Ivy Leage grad student, she was incredibly dumb. Her "thesis" idea seemed like something a reader of bad romance novels and watcher of The Bachelor would put together. Also, how can a grad student afford Manolo Blahniks and Marc Jacobs? Oh yes, that's right--her parents probably foot the bill--Eloise went to Chapin, a private girls' school in New York City. Eloise's story seemed like a rude, unwelcome interruption into the main narrative. br /
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