The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
In this sequel to her delightful debut novel, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig brings all the exuberance of a swashbuckler movie to the page -- action, romance, intrigue, swordplay, and history.

As modern-day graduate student Eloise Kelly goes through the Selwick archive, she uncovers the story of Lady Henrietta Selwick, who ultimate unmasks the identity of the Black Tulip, France's deadliest spy circa 1803. Henrietta had been angling to become involved in the war effort against Napoleon ever since her brother's exploits as the Purple Gentian; her cousin Jane spied most productively as the Pink Carnation. This left both Henrietta and Miles Dorrington, her brother's best friend, at home, on the shelf, and dying for action. How Henrietta deciphers secret messages and how she and Miles track down the notorious spy, all the while falling in love, makes for a wonderful romp through history. Ginger Curwen

From the Publisher

The author of The Secret History of the Pink Carnation continues the romantic adventures of England's greatest spy with a newly arrived adversary from France, the murderous Black Tulip.

The Pink Carnation, history's most elusive spy and England's only hope for preventing a Napoleonic invasion, returns in Lauren Willig's dazzling imaginative new historical romance. The Masque of the Black Tulip opens with the murder of a courier from the London War Office, his confidential dispatch for the Pink Carnation stolen. Meanwhile, the Black Tulip, France's deadliest spy, is in England with instructions to track down and kill the Pink Carnation. Only Henrietta Uppington and Miles Dorrington know where the Pink Carnation is stationed. Using a secret code book, Henrietta has deciphered a message detailing the threat of the Black Tulip. Meanwhile, the War Office has enlisted Miles to track down the notorious French spy before he (or she) can finish the deadly mission. But what Henrietta and Miles don't know is that while they are trying to find the Black Tulip (and possibly falling in love), the Black Tulip is watching them.

Publishers Weekly

Willig picks up where she left readers breathlessly hanging with 2005's The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. After discovering the identity of the Pink Carnation, one of England's most successful spies during the Napoleonic wars, modern-day graduate student Eloise Kelly is hot on the trail of the Black Tulip, the Pink Carnation's French counterpart. While researching the archives of dashing-but-grumpy Colin Selwick (a descendant of the Selwick spy family), Eloise learns that spy Purple Gentian (Richard Selwick) safely retired to the countryside; meanwhile, the Pink Carnation continues her mission with the help of Richard's younger sister. Spirited Henrietta Selwick discovers that the Black Tulip has resurfaced after a 10-year silence with the intent of eliminating the Pink Carnation. Miles Dorrington (Richard's best friend) works for the War Office and is directed to unearth the deadly spy. As he and Henrietta investigate, they try to deny their attraction for each other-and avoid becoming the Black Tulip's next victims. Hero and heroine can be quite silly, and there are overlong ballroom shenanigans aplenty; like last time, Eloise and Colin's will-they-won't-they dance isn't nearly as interesting as what takes place in 1803. No matter. Willig knows her audience; Regency purists may gnash their teeth in frustration, but many more will delight in this easy-to-read romp and line up for the next installment. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In this sequel to The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Harvard Ph.D. candidate Eloise Kelly travels to the Selwick home in England to look at the family's manuscript collection in hopes of learning more about the British spy the Pink Carnation. This time, the research and the story focus on Henrietta Selwick, the sister of Richard Selwick, the renowned (and fictional) Purple Gentian, and his best friend Miles Dorrington. Henrietta is currently serving as a courier for the Pink Carnation, and Miles continues to work at the War Office, trying to detect French spies and protect England from the wrath of Napoleon. Both want more adventure in their lives, and they find it when the War Office determines that the Black Tulip, one of France's most dangerous assassins, is out to kill the Pink Carnation and the Carnation's associates, including Miles and Henrietta. Though it has its moments, The Masque of the Black Tulip does not live up to the earlier book. There is another sequel planned, but the many loose ends and abrupt conclusion here will leave listeners frustrated. Kate Reading does her normal masterful job with a less-than-successful story. Libraries will want this title to meet demand. Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

After her pleasant debut chronicling England's most elusive spy (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, 2005), Willig is back with a second installment, this time featuring the Black Tulip, France's deadliest secret agent. Harvard graduate student Eloise Kelly is searching the archives in hopes of learning more about the Pink Carnation for her much delayed dissertation. Instead, she finds the Napoleonic-era correspondence between 20-year-old Lady Henrietta Selwick and the spy, which reveals that after a two-year silence, France's Black Tulip is planning murder. Unfortunately, no one knows the Black Tulip's identity. Lady Henrietta, who longs to be a spy, decides to unmask the secret agent before he or she strikes. Unbeknownst to Henrietta, the war office has asked Miles Dorrington, Henrietta's best friend and soon-to-be-beau, to solve the case. Is Lord Vaughn, the well known rake who favors masquerade balls, the Black Tulip? Or is it the beautiful Marquise de Montval, she of the immodest necklines? Or could it be the unlikely "Turnip" Fitzhugh, the foppish dandy? Willig's delightful plot takes Lady Henrietta to spy school, to the brink of a ruined reputation and on to romantic happiness. It's clear that alone or together, Henrietta and Miles are a force to be reckoned with. As for Eloise, the protagonist who sets off the novel within a novel, she is so little used that when she does appear, she seems to interrupt the espionage adventure. Perhaps in the third installment, the author will devote more time to this deserving 21st-century archivist. With such appealing characters and plots, one fears that Willig, currently a Harvard Law student and History Ph.D. candidate, will never getthose degrees.

Product Details

• Reading Group Guide
• Read an Excerpt

Reading Group Guide

2. How does Lauren Willig create an aura of mystery and suspensesurrounding "The Black Tulip"?

3. In chapters five and six, we are introduced to severalcharacters-Turnip, the Marquise de Montval and Lord Vaughn-who might be "The Black Tulip?" Who do you suspect?

4. How does the ironic tone and humor contribute to the novel?Week Two

5. At the beginning of each chapter, we are given the definition of aword taken from the Personal Codebook of the Pink Carnation. For example,chapter eleven begins with "Quadrille: a deadly dance of deceit." How do these quotations enhance the story?

6. How does Henrietta and Miles' story parallel Eloise and Colin'sstory?

7. In chapter twenty, we switch briefly to the Pink Carnation's point of view. Why does Lauren Willig choose to do this?

8. Were you surprised at The Black Tulip's real identity?

9. At the end of the novel, The Black Tulip escapes. Wheredoes Eloise believe the Black Tulip is headed and who might the Black Tulip meet?

10. Will Colin call Eloise?

11. In the Historical Note at the end of The Masque of the Black Tulip, Lauren Willig explains that "although the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation are all fictitious, there were flower-named spies romping across the Channel." What other historical details contribute to the story's authenticity?

Read an Excerpt

Miles rested one booted leg against the opposite knee, trying not to look disappointed. He had been hoping for something more along the lines of, "Bonaparte is poised to invade England, and we need you to stop him!" Ah, well, a man could dream.

"Surely, that's a matter for the Bow Street Runners?"

Wickham fished a worn scrap of paper from the debris on his desk. "Do you recognize this?"

Miles peered down at the tiny fragment. On closer inspection, it wasn't even anything so grand as a fragment; it was more of a fleck, a tiny triangle of paper with a jagged end on one side, where it had been torn from something larger.

"No," he said.

"Look again," said Wickham. "We found it snagged on a pin on the inside of the murdered man's coat."

It was no wonder the murderer had overlooked the lost portion; it was scarcely a centimeter long, and no writing remained. At least, no writing that was discernable as such. Along the tear, a thick black stroke swept down and then off to the side. It might be the lower half of an uppercase script "I", or a particularly elaborate "T."

Miles was just about to admit ignorance for a second time-in the hopes that Wickham wouldn't ask him a third-when recognition struck. Not the lower half of an "I", but the stem of a flower. A very particular, stylized flower. A flower Miles hadn't seen in a very long time, and had hoped never to see again.

"The Black Tulip." The name tasted like hemlock on Miles' tongue. He repeated it, testing it for weight after years of disuse. "It can't be the Black Tulip. I don't believe it. It's been too long."

"The Black Tulip," countered Wickham, "is always most deadly after a silence."

Miles couldn't argue with that. The English in France had been most on edge, not when the Black Tulip acted, but when he didn't. Like the grey calm before thunder, the Black Tulip's silence generally presaged some new and awful ill. Austrian operatives had been found dead, minor members of the royal family captured, English spies eliminated, all without fuss or fanfare. For the past two years, the Black Tulip had maintained a hermetic silence.

Miles grimaced.

"Precisely," said Wickham. He extricated the scrap of paper from Miles' grasp, returning it to its place of his desk. "The murdered man was one of our operatives. We had inserted him into the household of a gentleman known for his itinerant tendencies."

Miles rocked forward in his chair. "Who found him?"

Wickham dismissed the question with a shake of his head. "A scullery maid from the kitchen of a neighboring house; she had no part in it."

"Had she witnessed anything out of the ordinary?"

"Aside from a dead body?" Wickham smiled grimly. "No. Think of it, Dorrington. Ten houses-at one of which, by the way, a card party was in progress-several dozen servants coming and going, and not one of them heard anything out of the ordinary. What does that suggest to you?"

Miles thought hard. "There can't have been a struggle, or someone in one of the neighboring houses would have noticed. He can't have called out, or someone would have heard. I'd say our man knew his killer." A hideous possibility occurred to Miles. "Could our chap have been a double agent? If the French thought he had outlived his usefulness..."

The bags under Wickham's eyes seemed to grow deeper. "That," he said wearily, "is always a possibility. Anyone can turn traitor given the right circumstances-or the right price. Either way, we find ourselves with our old enemy in the heart of London. We need to know more. Which is where you come in, Dorrington."

"At your disposal."

Ah, the time had come. Now Wickham would ask him to find the footman's murderer, and he could make suave assurances about delivering the Black Tulip's head on a platter, and...