I have read most of Edith Wharton’s novels, but not The Buccaneers, perhaps because of an unconscious—and rather unsophisticated, when I think about it—distaste for unfinished works of fiction. (Stevenson’s wonderful Weir of Hermiston recently cured me of that.)

The Buccaneers was Wharton’s last novel, left unfinished at her death in 1937. Curiously, it was completed by a Wharton biographer and novelist, Marion Mainwaring, in 1993 (more on that later), so you can now read it “whole.”

One issue about publishing work left unfinished by the author—I remember much discussion of this with Italo Calvino—is that books may be published that would never have made it through a writer’s rigorous quality controls. I felt that a little reading The Buccaneers, which is not a bad novel at all (at least the portion written by Wharton), but which didn’t seem to me to be up to Wharton’s usual meticulous standard of finish. I recently read her short story, “Roman Fever,” and I was very struck by her Austen-like minimalism and formal control. The Buccaneers is much looser and more diffuse.

In terms of themes, the novel is in the Jamesian vein of “New World meets Old.” Specifically, it explores the social comedy, and tragedy, resulting from five feisty, new money, New York heiresses hitting London and snaffling up husbands, in the form of a series of titled chinless wonders. It seems a strangely belated subject to be writing about in the 1930s, and Wharton here shows little of the relentless incisiveness she did examining similar themes in The Custom of the Country (1913). It has the feel of a nostalgia piece, almost Downton Abbey at points (the TV series, not the superb Altman film). Although that’s perhaps a little unfair—there’s a nice, show stealing Wilkie Collins-like governess figure, Laura Testvalley, aka Testavaglia, daughter of a line of Italian revolutionaries, who rather lit up the novel for me in every scene she was in.

As for Marion Mainwaring’s continuation...probably the less said the better. All it demonstrates is how much stronger even a lesser work by a great writer is than the best effort of a well-meaning but misguided hack. It’s crude, crass, and gushing. The Buccaneers would have been much better served by being left as an intriguing, if crumbling ruin.

I couldn't put this down last night; review to come.

2 stars. sorry not sorry

romance novels are either a hit or miss for me, and the hits tend to be queer ones. i couldn’t care any less for these characters they were just so boring to me. i watched the show before reading this and eventhough it wasn’t a masterpiece, at least it was way better than this. the povs were so messy, quite literally jumping from one to the other every 3 seconds. lizzy mabel and virginia were barely existent in the book too.

don’t tell me im not intellectual enough to appreciate classics. if that classic was about two gay guys falling in love and one joining the army for the other, i’d totally eat it up (def not talking about ‘in memoriam’

Wharton, you treasure. Unfortunately you can tell the book was just tied up in a bow by a different author at the end. The characters lost their dimension, but I am grateful nonetheless

I almost rated this book 5 stars. As I was closing in on the end of the story, my heart was racing with excitement and I was ridiculously happy for the characters I had grown to love and root for. I understand the book is technically unfinished, but I still felt a million unanswered questions. I wanted to know what happened beyond. It’s safe to make certain presumptions, but I still felt the ending was rushed and slightly unsatisfying. At least I know sweet Nan is finally happy (Spoiler. Sorry).

I do have to note that the entire theme of a woman breaking social norms and expectations to remain true to herself even at the risk of scandal and degradation, though obviously not an unheard of theme, was triumphantly successful through the main character. It creates a satisfying arc.

Side note: one of my favorite things about this novel was the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Robinson. The two of them cracked me the heck up with all of their gossipy, conniving asides. I loved the fact that they arguably had the most loving and successful relationship of all the “girls.” Their peanut-gallery-style interludes made this book that much better.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti jump scare

Une lecture agréable pour un roman qui présente une vision assez classique des relations amoureuses mais qui en appelle à une certaine libération des filles. Le roman combat en particulier les préjugés contre le divorce. Il traite des relations ambiguës entre l'aristocratie londonienne et newyorkaise, entre fascination et méfiance. Je recommande.

i just wonder what this would have been like had edith wharton been able to complete it. whilst semi-good, the novel missed her magic touch throughout entirely. while it did not wow like her other work, it was a pleasant read. definitely a must if you want to read her work to completion but not a must if you have not read her other (magnificent) work first.

I tried (not actually) to finish this by the end of 2023. Some of it is my fault and lack of discipline. But some of it is the book's fault.

I read this in an extreme out of order position in my current Edith Wharton project. I should have been reading her second novel, but skipped ahead to this posthumously published unfinished manuscript because I want to watch a television show inspired by it. It's fine to do that.

It starts off an absolute banger. At 2/3 of the way through...lords...that's when the second writer appears and things really go off the rails. I barely skimmed the last 15 pages because it was mostly exposition and snogging. Not very Wharton-like.

I'm going to need a serious palette cleanser now. Not an auspicious start to the new literary year, but I'm not worried. The odds favor things going up hill from here.

oh my gooooood i love it i love it i love it so much i actually want to bite a huge chunk of my physical copy with how much i want to consume this book until i can never be parted from it what the HELL

very funny that the reason guy doesnt take paquitas fortune was bc it was built off slave labor. to the person who finished the manuscript- cmon. also, idk. this finishing rang more of jane austen than wharton to me. not nearly hopeless enough.

The fact that I completed two years of AP English Literature and never had to read Edith Wharton is a colossal failing of the American education system. She slayed so hard, even though she literally died while writing this. I know something is high-class literature when I start relating Taylor Swift songs to it, so here they are: the last great american dynasty, ivy, and New Romantics.