The Scarlet Pimpernel

Digital

This illustration is part of a series of covers for classic novels written by women. “The Scarlet Pimpernel” is credited with originating the “masked vigilante” trope (think Batman or Zorro). The novel follows Marguerite St. Just, a woman in 1792 who unwillingly becomes tangled in the plot to catch the Scarlet Pimpernel, a master of disguise who is smuggling French aristocrats into England before they can get caught in the guillotine.