Emma Orczy
Born 23 September 1865 · Died 12 November 1947
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).
Books by Emma Orczy in order
Books by Emma Orczy in the order they were published, from I Will Repay (1900) to The Elusive Pimpernel with a Child of the Revolution, Mam'zelle Guillotine, the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Adventures of the Scarlet Pimp (2012).
- 1I Will Repay
I Will Repay1900 - 2The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel1900 - 3In Mary's Reign
In Mary's Reign1907 - 4The Elusive Pimpernel
The Elusive Pimpernel1908 - 5The Old Man in the Corner
The Old Man in the Corner1908 - 6Petticoat Government
Petticoat Government1909 - 7Lady Molly of Scotland Yard
Lady Molly of Scotland Yard1910 - 8El Dorado
El Dorado1913 - 9The Laughing Cavalier
The Laughing Cavalier1914 - 10Lord Tony’s Wife
Lord Tony’s Wife1917 - 11The Man in Grey
The Man in Grey1918 - 12The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel
The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel1919 - 13Castles in the Air
Castles in the Air1922 - 14Nicolette
Nicolette1922 - 15The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel
The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel1922 - 16Sir Percy Hits Back
Sir Percy Hits Back1927 - 17The Adventures of The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Adventures of The Scarlet Pimpernel1929 - 18A Child of the Revolution
A Child of the Revolution1932 - 19The Scarlett Pimpernel
The Scarlett Pimpernel1934 - 20Sir Percy Leads the Band
Sir Percy Leads the Band1936 - 21Links in the Chain of LifeLinks in the Chain of Life1947
- 22Mam'Zelle Guillotine
Mam'Zelle Guillotine1950 - 23Old Hungarian Fairy Tales
Old Hungarian Fairy Tales1969 - 24The Elusive Pimpernel with a Child of the Revolution, Mam'ze
The Elusive Pimpernel with a Child of the Revolution, Mam'zelle Guillotine, the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Adventures of the Scarlet Pimp2012