"An entertaiing Bridget Jones meets adventurous historical romance."

American Eloise Kelly arrives in England to unmask the Pink Carnation, a contemporary of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian, for her Harvard dissertation. Contacting descendants of the Pimpernel and Gentian, Eloise receives a reply from relatives of the Gentian, who give her letters regarding the adventures of the Purple Gentian and Pink Carnation. Finding the story of a lifetime, Eloise quickly is submersed in the life of Amy Balcourt, an exiled French woman, who was seeking the identity of the Purple Gentian. The only obstacle is Colin Selwick, a descendent of the Purple Gentian, who tries to end Eloise's research.

Colin Selwick has no patience with historians digging up ancient history that could land his family in the tabloids. He tries intimidating the latest snoop, an irritating American, using his best upper-crust English demeanor. However, Colin meets his match. Eloise's head might be in the clouds with historical adventures and romances, but down to her Jimmy Choo boots, Eloise will not budge on continuing her research.

While Eloise and Colin clash, she continues reading and gaining further clues on the Pink Carnation's identity. Her excitement rises as she reads Amy's letters regarding Amy's race against time with a certain handsome peer to uncover a French plot to invade England.

Ms. Willig's debut novel is Bridget Jones meets an adventurous historical romance. Filled with historical details, THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE PINK CARNATION is a book within a book. Both stories will keep readers laughing and turning pages in suspense until the last tidbit is exposed.

Reviewed by Suan Wilson
Posted January 14, 2005

Summary

Deciding that true romantic heroes are a thing of the past, Eloise Kelly, an intelligent American who always manages to wear her Jimmy Choo suede boots on the day it rains, leaves Harvard's Widener Library bound for England to finish her dissertation on the dashing pair of spies the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian. What she discovers is something the finest historians have missed: a secret history that begins with a letter dated 1803. Eloise has found the secret history of the Pink Carnation—the most elusive spy of all time, the spy who single-handedly saved England from Napoleon's invasion. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, a wildly imaginative and highly adventurous debut, opens with the story of a modern-day heroine but soon becomes a book within a book. Eloise Kelly settles in to read the secret history hoping to unmask the Pink Carnation's identity, but before she can make this discovery, she uncovers a passionate romance within the pages of the secret history that almost threw off the course of world events. How did the Pink Carnation save England? What became of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian? And will Eloise Kelly find a hero of her own?