I may spoil some of the story in this, but probably not too much.
Anyway, starting out, I wasn't sure who the focus character was going to be. However, I'm going to spoil it for you here and say that it is the Lady Blakeney. There are a ton of characters at first, and she doesn't come in right away. I don't know that I've read a book that integrates the focus character so late on before, but I'm not terribly disappointed in its effect; it was actually kind of intriguing that way.
Perhaps I shouldn't put this in the off-genre section, since the heroine of the story really does evince supernatural powers (however small and infrequent—and meant to seem real)—i.e. her occasional ability to know that people are doing things without looking (although one could argue that this
knowledge is rather educated assumptions).
It's quite an interesting story, actually. You may find the theme a little familiar, as it is a fairly well-known book in some circles. It's more of a romance than I had thought after the first few chapters, though.
The language and sentiments expressed by the people are quite interesting. You'll probably be able to guess what's going on a fair portion of the time, but still, you'll likely enjoy it. I hear they've made a good movie of the story, but I'm not sure which one it is.
Anyway, the book is about the Scarlet Pimpernel and his band saving the nobles of France from being sent to the guillotine (which almost described as if it were a living entity, at times), and saving them in quite witty ways. It takes place during the Reign of Terror after the French Revolution. There are themes of betrayal, romance, love for her (Lady Blakeney's) brother, and regret with the focus character. The Scarlet Pimpernel and his band hide out in England. It is unknown who the Scarlet Pimpernel is until later on in the book, and I shan't spoil that here; you'll know well enough, as the hints are eventually quite strong. Oh yes, there's this French guy who is after the Scarlet Pimpernel, trying to catch him in the act, and he tries to use Lady Blakeney in the process.
I listened to the book. It's pretty short. Here's a link for a free audiobook:
http://librivox.org/the-scarlet-pimpernel-by-baroness-emmuska-orczy/
