Although this novel is unfinished and Wharton would have done a lot of revision, there is still a lot of her wonderful prose and it is very interesting to see her looking back at the 1870s from the 1930s, which in places allow her to be sexually franker than she could in her earlier works. The novel centres on a group of young American women who marry British men and struggle to fit into British high society, and there are some powerfully-drawn characters, including the heroine, Annabel ("Nan"), and her governess, Laura, who is related to the pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti and has a rebellious nature beneath her quiet surface.
When I picked up this copy of Edith Wharton's final unfinished novel, I didn't realise it had been completed by another writer, Marion Mainwaring. (Maybe I should have guessed this from the mention of it being a "complete edition" on the cover, but it might have been helpful if the publishers had added the second author's name!) I'll admit I didn't read very much of her continuation - there is no indication of where the break comes, but it is pretty obvious as her writing style is very different, and I didn't feel reading her section would add much to Wharton's subtle characterisation. I found Wharton's original text online with details of the outline she left of her plans for the rest of the novel, and that was enough for me. I would really like to give five stars for Wharton - or for her best passages - and one for the continuation.

Fun! I heard about this book in an interview with Julian Fellowes when Downton Abbey was on TV, and he said that this book was an inspiration for the series. I enjoyed the book, and loved the writing style. Long drawn out scenes were just rehashed later and that was clever. All of the characters were well defined and their speech patterns were different, and the mercenary motivations were interesting. Very readable and entertaining!

This is the first Edith Wharton book I have read. As other reviewers have noted, there is a distinct difference in writing after part III going into part IV of this book due to Ms. Wharton’s death.

I absolutely loved the first three sections of this book. The author was so subtle in her writing and leaving it to the reader to imagine what took place. In the last two sections, the writer was not as successful as Ms. Wharton, hence; my four star review.

I am eager to read her other books. It has been a very long time since I have read a book with such excellent character development.

Not my favorite setting or era, but a very engaging exploration of human nature - the nature of one young American girl in particular. Its fairytale-ish ending is flimsy and transparent, further commentary on the story as a whole. Disillusionment and fantasy exist side-by-side in Wharton's world, and they don't get along very smoothly. One can imagine that reality came crashing in just after the curtain fell.

How revolutionary, but how boring

im so curious what would have happened if Edith Wharton lived long enough to edit/deliberate on/finish this book..it could have been one of her best
it's such a shame nan st George was never afforded the opportunity to be fully formed because dare I say she had the potential to be up in the ranks of an Isabel archer/Elizabeth Bennet, see the following:

"It's rather lonely sometimes, when the only things that seem real are one's dreams."

"The angry child had been replaced by a sad but self-controlled woman."

"Poor Nan St. George--so tongue-tied and bewildered by the surge of her feelings; why had no one taught her the words for them?"

This seemed a bit lighter than others by Wharton that I've read. Perhaps that is because this was her last novel, and unfinished. She didn't live to revise, and I think this simply her first draft. It was completed by another author. Mainwaring did a good job of this as the transition was seamless, and it wasn't until I'd read the last page that I knew where Wharton left off and Mainwaring began.

That said, the ending is weaker than what I might expect from Wharton. As with other authors I've come to love, Wharton's endings tend toward the sadly ironic. I wasn't as invested in the character to whom that applies.

Even with that criticism, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I enjoyed it despite the fact that the synopsis on the back cover of this edition has a huge spoiler. However, an author only has one best novel, and, of course, for Wharton that is The Age of Innocence. She has some others that are close seconds, and this falls below them. A liberal 4-stars from me, but it probably sits toward the bottom of that group.

Non avevo alte aspettative per questo libro, che infatti non mi ha conquistata più di tanto. L'ho trovato noioso, con uno stile molto descrittivo e poetico che dice poco sui personaggi e sulla storia.
▪️ La cosa che mi ha dato più fastidio è stato un salto temporale in particolare (ci sono alcuni salti di tempo tra le varie parti), che ha reso troppo sbrigativa la storia di Nan. Non so se l'autrice avesse intenzione di aggiungere la parte mancante, ma avrei davvero voluto sapere di più su Nan e il duca e sul loro matrimonio. Avrei anche voluto avere qualche scena in più tra Nan e Guy, perché una conversazione non è proprio il massimo come base del loro grande amore

I decided to read this after watching (and becoming obsessed with) the series adaptation on AppleTV. While a lot of the plot is different, the spirit of the main characters is not. It was a slower read than I'm used to, but still really enjoyable.

Recommend to fans of regency romance, or TV shows like The Gilded Age and Bridgerton.

“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!” he breathed to his wife. “Buccaneers,” Lizzy reminded him gently, “were not notorious for paying fortunes for what they took.”

3.5. While I was not charmed over the secrets of the heart, nor sorry for the hopeless marriages I was very compelled by the history played out of rich American women being called on to save large English estates. It felt like everyone got what they deserved in the end. For the Americans, dashed hopes and unmet expectations of romance and glamour in nobility. The Englishmen, wives who refused to play the part assigned to them for traditions sake.

As someone privy to a running joke about how dull Edith Wharton is, I picked this up as another attempt to understand the hype, and bloody hell I'm glad I did. To say I'm surprised is an understatement, I bloody loved this! Did sometimes succumb to the Whartonesque dull waffling on but all in all what a delightful, fun, slightly campy insight into a wonderful female social circle. The characterisation was fabulous, how everyone tied together was brilliant, the scandal, the love affairs, the gossip, the social anxiety, all of it was everything I've always expected from a Wharton and never gotten. It either clicked for her here (which is a dire shame she never got to finish it) OR I never really got it - I fear I need to go back and try again with her others, but I'm scared to be disappointed again after this. Big shout out to Nan, what a lovely enamouring character, I adored her, I'm glad she let the romance get the best of her and ran away with Guy, even if Wharton never got to write it. And shout out to Conchita, I adored her dramatics and free emotion. Fabulous!

The story is interesting but starts out very slow. There is a clear distinction between the beginning writing of Edith Wharton and the finishing touches by Marion Mainwaring. I felt like the characters were not fully flushed out - they were almost there! - but just not quite enough. Nan was a wonderfully written draft of a true extroverted introvert. She had so much potential. Still, it was an interesting read about a poor time in English history that required explosive revival from the American buccaneers.

Favorite Quotes:

1. Everybody's in a hurry in America. (Page 62)

2. One side of her loved . . . dancing, dressing up, midnight romps, practical jokes played on the pompous and elderly; but the other side . . . was passionately in earnest and beset with vague dreams and ambitions, in which a desire to better the world alternated with a longing for solitude and poetry. (Page 201)

3. "There are so many people in me," she thought; but tonight the puzzling idea of her multiplicity cheered instead of bewildering her. (Page 283)

Rate Procedure:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I loved the book so much I would reread it again and would recommend to a friend.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Thoroughly enjoyed the book, could not put it down, would recommend to a friend, but do not need to read again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Probably a good book that I enjoyed but there was something about it I did not love (e.g. The writing style, the POV, etc.). I would only recommend to a friend if it was their "type" of book.
⭐️⭐️ - A book I have below average feelings for and it would not come with a recommendation from me but I would mention it in conversation if related to the book topic at issue.
⭐️ - I finished the book but I hated every second of it.