Book about a lawyer / traveling thespian in 15th? 16th? century Europe

May 26, 2019 10:17 PM

I'm trying to remember the title of this "classic literature" (maybe) book about a lawyer who ended up (hiding?) with a traveling theater. I'm pretty sure they had to travel by horses; it had a serious social justice angle (he ended up needing his law education, I think). I think it was set in England or France, maybe in the time of Shakespeare or before.

I thought it might be one of the Dover classics, but I didn't see the title in this list. I remember thinking it was a fabulous, action-packed, romantic story with really good ideas in its heart.

It seemed kind of swash-buckley and I keep misremembering the title as "The Scarlet Pimpernel", but it's not that.

I know this isn't much to go on... any thoughts? Thanks!

posted by amtho to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

Response by poster: I think the lawyer was the illegitimate son of a nobleman, also. Maybe his father set him up in law school?
posted by amtho at 10:34 PM on May 26, 2019

Best answer: Rafael Sabatini's Scaramouche -- full text at the Internet Archive, because Project Gutenberg seems to be down.
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:43 PM on May 26, 2019 [6 favorites]

Best answer: Agreed, that's Scaramouche. It's in France around the time of the Revolution.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:45 PM on May 26, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks - I think that's it!
posted by amtho at 1:45 PM on May 27, 2019 [1 favorite]