Summary of The Laughing Cavalier
“The Laughing Cavalier” is a historical adventure novel set in the Netherlands in the years 1623-1624. The story follows Gilda, who overhears a plot to assassinate the Prince of Orange. Her brother Nicolaes and Lord Stoutenburg, a Dutch nobleman, are key conspirators in this scheme. They order three men to abduct Gilda until the Prince has been killed. Among these men is Percy Blakeney, who poses for Frans Hals’ famous painting “The Laughing Cavalier” (a real artwork). Over time, Blakeney begins to develop deeper feelings for Gilda and starts to question his loyalties.
Reasons to read The Laughing CavalierÂ
“The Laughing Cavalier” is an engaging adventure story set in early 17th-century Holland. Baroness Orczy was a Hungarian-British novelist and playwright. She is best known for her novels and stage play about the “Scarlet Pimpernel”, the first fictional hero with a secret identity, a concept later embraced by other superhero stories. The Percy Blakeney in “The Laughing Cavalier” is an ancestor of the “Scarlet Pimpernel” of Orczy’s other works, which are mainly set during the French Revolution.
Setting: Haarlem (the Netherlands)
Original title: The Laughing Cavalier
Year of publication: 1913
Nr of pages: 367
