The BBC did a much better mini series adaptation than the author did of writing it. I understand that she didn't finish and it was completed by a second author. Well that was the end of that. The delineation of character happened the same time as the new author started dabbling, if you will. Not great.

As is quite often the case, Wharton's later work doesn't quite measure up to her earlier masterpieces, such as Ethan Frome, which is what I would recommend to anyone new to this writer, and being her last (unfinished) novel it lacks the polish of her other books. Marion Mainwaring has done a pretty good job of completing it though.

Wharton has fun exposing the petty snobberies of New York society as well as the pointless traditions of the British class system, as when the Dowager Duchess of Tintagel says "What would happen next, as I said to her, in a house where the housekeeper DID take her meals with the upper servants?".

This is a story of the clash of the Old World and the New, of marriages of convenience, of infidelities and boredom. But the key character throughout this book, the person who holds the plot together, is Laura Testvalley (or Testavaglia which is her original name) who belongs in neither camp being the daughter of Italian immigrants. An unmarried governess with spirit and allure, she perhaps points to a more independent style of womanhood and provides a contrast to the other female characters in this novel.

The story ends on a note of hope and optimism in contrast to other novels by Wharton which end in sadness and despair. Is that the ending she envisaged, or was this tacked on to make the book more appealing to modern readers?

I was surprised by the racial comments given that Wharton writes of feminine independence and autonomy. Also, I did not realize this was an unfinished work. I had seen the 1995 serial and tried to watch the new Apple TV series but it is so far from the novel I couldn’t finish it. Annabel is an engaging character but I wish she could independently travel, perhaps to Italy? Her love of history and antiquity could lead her there, perhaps with her governess’ influence?

Ce roman riche et foisonnant reprend le thème très prisé par Henry James de la rencontre entre la nouvelle Amérique et la vieille Europe. Cette opposition est encore renforcée par le choix de personnages féminins pour les Américains et de personnages presque exclusivement masculins pour les Anglais. Edith Wharton ne s’intéresse d’ailleurs que peu aux hommes dans ce récit, excepté les Thwarte, père et fils, confidents et amis respectifs de Miss Testvalley et d’Annabelle. Le roman se divise en quatre parties, chacune distante des autres de quelques années. On suit donc l’évolution de ces cinq jeunes filles pendant une période assez longue, qui permet à l’auteur de nous décrire la suite de ces mariages.
La rigidité des règles de la vie sociale constituent cette fois encore le ciment de l’histoire. Qu’il s’agisse de faire son entrée dans le monde, d’être courtisée ou bien encore de son comportement avec son mari, les héroïnes sont sans cesse confrontées à ce qu’elles devraient faire ou à la façon dont elles devraient agir, en vertu de règles ancestrales établies par la bonne société. Leur nationalité leur confère un statut d’étrangères qui les rend très hermétiques à ce code de bonne conduite. Cette excuse permet à Edith Wharton de montrer combien ces règles peuvent s’avérer nocives pour l’épanouissement d’un caractère fragile et irréconciliables avec la violence des sentiments à laquelle nous pouvons tous être confrontés. Chez Edith Wharton, il semblerait bien que la complexité de la vie se reflète dans les destins souvent tragiques de ses héroïnes. Pourtant, le destin des Boucanières est bien moins dramatique que celui de Lily Bart dans Chez les heureux du monde. Toutes ne connaîtront pas la déception d’Annabelle et la fin du roman nous offre quelques beaux exemples d’entente conjugale.
Ce roman a été plus qu’un coup de cœur : il entre sans conteste dans la short-list de mes romans préférés. Bruissement de robes, propos frivoles et éclats de rire en cascade ne parviennent pas à masquer la révolte d’Edith Wharton face à un monde corseté dans lequel elle ne s’est jamais retrouvée. La richesse de ce roman, l’exubérance de ses personnages et la palette des émotions qui s’y déploient, sous la plume claire et élégante de l’auteur, en font un moment de lecture incomparable.

It's the 1870s, and the daughters of New York City's nouveau riche are being scorned by their social superiors. They are forced to vacation at Saratoga because they haven't gotten invitations to Newport. A clueless father humiliates his family by ensconcing them in a house on shlubby Madison Avenue rather than chic Fifth. Rejected at home, the four daughters set out for England to snare them some aristocratic husbands. They are the buccaneers.

Four stars for the portion Wharton wrote, which co-author Marion Mainwaring tells us is about 89,000 words. One star for the concluding chapters, written by Mainwaring. It just goes to show: Wharton is really, really difficult to copy, in every way: plotting, tone, style, idiom. Mainwaring's addendum was dull and clunky, like so much of random historical fiction. I don't know where the 89,000 word division came in the text, yet there was a point where I suddenly noticed that the Wharton magic was gone. Not coincidentally, it was accompanied by the types of romantic interactions between characters that Wharton would only hint at, but a modern writer would spell out for you.

I want to get hold of the 1938 edition, which doesn't contain Mainwaring's concluding chapters, and also contains the racial language Mainwaring removed for fear it would offend modern readers. The 1993 text is full of words like brown, and dusky, and someone sends a telegram inquiring about her future daughter-in-law: "Is she black?"

The bowdlerization left a bad taste in my mouth. Fear of offending should never cause words to be changed or passages to be excised.

n  Jottings:n
I'm a little alarmed. Yes, another author finished this uncompleted work by Wharton. But it would be nice to see where Wharton's work ends and Mainwaring's begins. Also, the text is bowdlerized: some nasty racial language has apparently been removed. Now I'm going to have to read the 1938 edition to find out what Wharton really wrote. Finally, there is no attribution of the cover art. Big no-no! It's the Acheson Sisters, by John Singer Sargent, hanging at Chatsworth House.

Having seen the BBC production, I can honestly say I liked the book so much better, and that it was a strong 5 stars for me. This is the last book Edith Wharton wrote before she died in 1938, and it was finished according to her detailed outline and republished in 1993. The story is centered around five rich American young women, four of whom end up marrying into British society when they find their prospects limited in the United States. The main character is Annabel. When we meet her, she is 16 and her mother has just hired a British governess for her. That is to become one of the most important relationships in her life. We also get to know Virginia (Jinny), her older sister, Lizzy Elmsworth and her younger sister Mabel, their friends, and Conchita Closson, their fascinating friend. One summer, they meet Sir Richard Marable, the third son of a Marquess, who is smitten with and then marries Conchita. When it becomes clear that, because they are not of the traditionally monied class, but, instead, of the new, Wall St., monied class, the prospects of the remaining friends to enter society are limited, they travel to Britain to visit Conchita. Virginia ends up marrying into the same family. Annabel also ends up marrying, but even "higher," to Duke Tintagel, but the marriage goes badly. Lizzy ends up marrying an up-and-coming member of Parliament, and Mabel eventually marries one of the richest men in America. Eventually, Annabel discovers her true love, and we are treated to a description of British aristocracy manners and mores in the 1870's.

Wharton creates engaging characters and writes with great descriptiveness that keeps the story lines moving. She is an astute student of human nature. It was hard to put this book down.

Decided to read after loving the Apple TV adaptation. This is very different in some ways, but I ended up thinking both the tv version and this are wonderful.

Odd to have such a tidy happy ending in a Wharton book, but I suspect that is the work if the author who finished The Buccaneers after Wharton’s death. Surprisingly progressive for the period in which it was written. Not House of Mirth or Age of Innocence but a good story of friendship and the transition from girlhood to womanhood.

First, the Romans had come. Then the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons. Then the Danes terrorized England for three centuries. Norman pirates took the country over in 1066. Five centuries later Turks raided the Thames and took prisoners to sell in the Libyan slave-market.... But never had there been any phenomenon to match this, this— he recalled an article this "invasion of England by American women and their chiefs of commissariat, the silent American men...* "What a gang of buccaneers you are!"

gracie abrams got me wanting to read this yay

This was my second Wharton and I think I’ve found a new favorite classic author to dig into.

For a long time I’ve need fascinated by the “dollar princesses” of the Gilded Age and The Buccaneers is THE novel about this phenomenon.

The book follows five young American women primarily Nan, who travel to England for their season in search of titled husbands. The novel is split between their time in America, their season, and about two years into their marriages. There’s plenty of scandal (affairs of the heart!divorces! Terrible husbands!) The plot is both entertaining and sentimental and Nan’s character growth is masterful.

Edith Wharton è uno dei capisaldi della narrativa americana, per argomenti e per stile di scrittura, e pertanto o la si ama, o la si odia.

Io appartengo alla prima categoria.

Avendo letto e adorato anni fa "L'età dell'innocenza", volevo cimentarmi con un nuovo scritto di questa autrice e la scelta è ricaduta su BUCANIERI, principalmente per via dell'uscita di un nuovo adattamento televisivo per Apple TV (ne era già stato fatto uno per BBC nel '95).

Benché l'abbia trovata piacevole, si è trattata di una lettura con diversi problemi; la maggior parte dei quali derivano dalla storia della stesura di quest'opera.
Bucanieri è infatti l'ultimo romanzo della Wharton, che però l'autrice non riuscì mai a completare (morì infatti nel 1933). Fu quindi Marion Mainwarning, amica e fedele collaboratrice di Wharton, a completare la stesura della storia, seguendo il "canovaccio", che l' autrice aveva inviato al suo editore.

E proprio qui stanno i principali guai.

Già dalle prime cento pagine del libro si capisce leggendo che l'autrice non è riuscita a revisionare al meglio e/o completamente il testo.
In alcuni passi abbiamo le descrizioni precise ed evocative tipiche dello stile della Wharton, in altri invece abbiamo caratteristiche abbozzate, alcuni personaggi figurano come principali all' inizio della storia per poi scomparire di netto o rimanendo indefiniti sullo sfondo della vicenda, soprattutto Jinny e Conchita, la prima molto affascinante, la seconda odiosa quanto un brufolo nel naso.

E anche il finale del libro, come la sua genitrice, non è scampato alla falce della morte. Affrettato, quasi abbozzato, chiude la vicenda principale in un modo facilmente intuibile, ma senza dare il giusto spazio anche a vicende minori, che nei capitoli precendenti mi avevano conquistata ed anche divertita.

Nel progetto originale della Wharton c'era quasi sicuramente l'idea di scrivere un romanzo grande e complesso, che avesse al centro della discussione le differenze sociali tra la nuova neonata società americana, fatta di banchieri e industriali, e quella inglese, rappresentante d'eccellenza per la vecchia mamma Europa.
In questo scontro l' America è rappresenta da Nan e Jinny e dovrebbe ergersi come promotrice di avanguardia, freschezza e innovazione, e tuttavia sono proprio gli americani ad essere guardati come bucanieri, selvaggi senza radici, pirati dai costumi licenziosi e dalla morale spregiudicata.
Invece personaggi come il duca di Tintagel o la Duchessa, per così dire i campioni per l' Inghilterra, risultano ancorati al passato e a vecchie tradizioni, incarnando gli stereotipi di una società ancora legata all'istituzione della monarchia e a ridicoli cerimoniali, e uscendone fuori come arrivisti dall'etica torbida.

Ma le cose stanno davvero così?

Bucanieri è un dramma gradevole, ma è sicuramente la bozza di un progetto monumentale, che avrebbe dovuto raccontare lo scontro culturale tra due giganti della Storia.
Lo consiglio per approfondire l'autrice.
P.S. ho shippato tantissimo Guy e Nan, adorabili