The Buccaneers: A Novel
Written by Edith Wharton and Marion Mainwaring
Narrated by Carol Monda
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
“Brave, lively, engaging...a fairy-tale novel, miraculouly returned to life.”—The New York Times Book Review
Set in the 1870s, the same period as Wharton's The Age of Innocence, The Buccaneers is about five wealthy American girls denied entry into New York Society because their parents' money is too new. At the suggestion of their clever governess, the girls sail to London, where they marry lords, earls, and dukes who find their beauty charming—and their wealth extremely useful.
After Wharton's death in 1937, The Christian Science Monitor said, "If it could have been completed, The Buccaneers would doubtless stand among the richest and most sophisticated of Wharton's novels." Now, with wit and imagination, Marion Mainwaring has finished the story, taking her cue from Wharton's own synopsis. It is a novel any Wharton fan will celebrate and any romantic reader will love. This is the richly engaging story of Nan St. George and Guy Thwarte, an American heiress and an English aristocrat, whose love breaks the rules of both their societies.
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was an American novelist—the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence in 1921—as well as a short story writer, playwright, designer, reporter, and poet. Her other works include Ethan Frome, The House of Mirth, and Roman Fever and Other Stories. Born into one of New York’s elite families, she drew upon her knowledge of upper-class aristocracy to realistically portray the lives and morals of the Gilded Age.
More audiobooks from Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton: The Short Stories: Masterful short stories by the Nobel Prize winning author and travel enthusiast Wharton Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Writing of Fiction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Timeless Classics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Timeless Love: Poems, Stories, and Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Maid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lady's Maid's Bell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Custom of the Country Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Short Stories About Trickery & Deception: Tales of manipulation, broken promises and tests of faith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Son At The Front Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHaunting Stories: 25 of the greatest classic ghost stories ever written Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Fifty Groundbreaking Stories by Women Writers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Top 10 Short Stories - Ghost Women: The top ten ghost stories written by female authors. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great American Short Story Collection: 40 Outstanding Tales by American Writers Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Eyes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ethan Frome Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stories About Affairs And Infidelity: Our lips are sealed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMiss Mary Pask Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBody of Horror, A - A Short Story Volume: Horror tales with bodyparts playing a supernatural role Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfterward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wonder Of Women - Love Stories: Celebrate the true pioneers of female literature Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Top 10 Short Stories - Born in New York: The top ten Short Stories of all time written by authors born in New York Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Victorian Women Writers Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Top 10 Short Stories - The Twist: The top ten short house stories with a twist of all time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Buccaneers
Related audiobooks
Scandalous Alchemy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHowards End Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Ideal Family (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Violinist of Venice: A Story of Vivaldi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Scarlet Letter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Room With a View Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pride and Prejudice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Making of a Marchioness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFar from the Madding Crowd Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEffi Briest (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Devil's Pool Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrankestein Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIndiana Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMiddlemarch Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLady Susan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lifted Veil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mansfield Park Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tess Of The D'ubervilles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. and Mrs. Dove (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Well of Loneliness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSense and Sensibility Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emma Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Professor Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wuthering Heights (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVictory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnn Veronica Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher - Unabridged Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Pamela Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Literary Fiction For You
Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Klara and the Sun: The Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dune Audio Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: The Sunday Times Bestseller Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Yellowface: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Kill a Mockingbird Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conversations with Friends: 'Brilliant, funny and startling.' GUARDIAN Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Normal People: One million copies sold Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Little Life: The Million-Copy Bestseller Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Demon Copperhead: Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Unbearable Lightness of Being: 'A dark and brilliant achievement' (Ian McEwan) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God of Small Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before the Coffee Gets Cold: The heart-warming million-copy sensation from Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Small Things Like These: Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Butter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stranger "International Edition" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trust: the dazzling twisty story of power, greed and love that begins in 1920s New York Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All The Light We Cannot See Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Intermezzo: The global #1 bestseller from the author of Normal People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bel Canto Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For Whom the Bell Tolls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Kill Your Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Scorched Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beautiful World, Where Are You: from the internationally bestselling author of Normal People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stardust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Days at the Morisaki Bookshop: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Buccaneers
268 ratings14 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Each time I read this novel I like it more than I did before.
Laura Testvalley is my favorite character; I just wish we could learn more about her and her life, as I think she is more interesting than any of her charges, including Nan. We're talking about Dante Rossetti's first cousin here........why does she not have fascinating stories about him? Because they would be inappropriate for the young lady characters who are the focus of this book? Well, yes, but as a huge fan of almost everything inappropriate I would have liked that better. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5An interesting look at male/female relations in US and England in late 19th century and the machinations of various ends of the marriage market. SInce Wharton did not live to complete it, it is not surprising that it has an unfinished feel to it, despite additions by Mainwaring.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Although unfinished at the time of the author's death, this novel has a way more satisfying ending than the previous Wharton I have read (The Age of Innocence). It was completed using notes Edith Wharton left behind. The protaganist in The Buccaneers has the courage to follow her heart despite knowing that society will ever after look down upon her. I find that sort of ending much more satisfying!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The rare case where a movie is better than the book. This book just drags on and on!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I couldn't put this down last night; review to come.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Excellent story with a wonderful strong female protagonist, actually two great female characters. Not something that you see often in older books. Unfortunately, there were a few simpering females to offset them (much as in life). Actually, now that I really think about it, there were a couple of minor female characters that were strong-willed if not always the wisest. There was one romantic scene that was a bit over the top, but I really enjoyed just about everything about the book ... plot, characters, pace. Very good read!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Although I enjoyed the book, the ending did not feel very Edith Wharton which in fact it was not. Still I always love the way Wharton observes and comments old and new money, the upper class and the want-to-be's.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton was her last novel and published after her death unfinished. Later, Marion Manwaring completed the novel based on notes and plot ideas Edith Wharton had made on the novel. This is my first novel by Edith Wharton, so I can not really compare this work to her others. I had no problems reading it, I thought it flowed really well and while reading I could hardly tell differences in authors. At the end of the book there is a note from Marion Manwaring letting readers know where she added things in and what chapters she wrote herself. I went back through the book and re-read these sections and I could tell where things were added or continued but, Marion Manwaring does an good job of keeping with the spirit and tone of the novel. Her writing style is similar, and the differences are subtle, though they are probably more noticeable to someone who is a true fan of Wharton's novels.
I picked this novel up to read because the story line caught me eye. Five American girls who travel to England in search of better society and husbands, because their parents money is "too new" to be accepted into New York society. I think the time period is so interesting, the times are really changing and WWI is on the horizon. Women's rights and issues are becoming more discussed. I found the book to be really witty, and very funny and tragic at the same time. The characters are original and they learn alot about life in the short span of the novel. I enjoyed the character of Nan St. George, I can actually imagine her in my mind as someone who was probably very accurately portrayed for the time period. Her innocence and naivety really sparkles and I admire the changes in her as she grows up.
I can wonder along with countless others what this novel would have been like if Edith Wharton had been able to finish it. There are some rough points in the story and sometimes it does read a little like a first draft, but despite this I think it is better than a lot of other books on the market in this category. I think that Marion Manwaring took on a enormous task by completing this book and I believe she did a decent job. I look forward to reading other works by Edith Wharton and comparing them to this one. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just when it starts to get juicy it ends! A fluffier read than some of her other work but classically Wharton in its social and character observations.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This tale is not nearly as compelling as The Age of Innocence, or The House of Mirth, but it is classic Wharton. I enjoyed the story of Jinny and Nan St George as they leave the prestige and arrogance of old New York to discover love abroad in England, but I was disappointed in the thread involving Nan. The beauty of the love between Nan and Guy was not nearly as heartwrenching and magnificent as the forbidden or socially incorrect loves in the aforementioned novels. I found myself having to plow through this one, instead of savoring each page.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is one of my favorites and I try to read it at least once a year. If reading Ethan Fromme turned you off to Edith Wharton, give this one a chance. It follows a group new-money young American women in their pursuits of happiness and love.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enjoyable tale of a group of American girls who go to England, find husbands, and have difficulties adjusting to the strict British way of life.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Well worth reading.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A friend lent this to me, and I liked it more than I thought I would. It was a biting, vicious depiction of the "marriage market" of (late-, in this instance) 19th-century England and America, and it's an excellent look at the collision of those two cultures during that time period. I could have done without the adultery, though.