The Buccaneers

Dana Ivey reads in a quiet, even voice providing an interesting taste of Wharton's literary style and genre. M.B.K. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

August 30, 1993
Aided by the gifted Mainwaring, Wharton delivers a posthumous gift to both the high and the low of brow with this novel, which was left unfinished at her death in 1937 and published in its incomplete state a year later. While filled with glamorous, class-obsessed characters and plot lines that Krantz and Sheldon might envy, it is a work of beauty--a grandly executed, full-scale counterpart to Wharton's classic story ``Roman Fever.'' Here, a Mrs. St. George, a matron of the 1870s whose husband has means but no social standing, schemes to advance her daughters' prospects; she hires a well-connected British governess, Laura Testvalley. The governess's taste and sensibilities make her the perfect commentator on the caste-consciousness of the other characters, both the parvenus and the British aristocrats whose sons are eventually conquered by the ``buccaneers,'' bold American daughters of rich fathers. The suggestion of cynicism, meanwhile, is elegantly balanced by an infusion of romance. Wharton's superb sophistication and literary virtues need no enumeration, and Mainwaring, who completed the novel in accordance with Wharton's notes and outlines, is also to be heartily commended. Her entrance, about three-fifths of the way through, goes unheralded by notes or typographical fanfare--and it is so smooth and so assured that it will likely go undetected by the reader. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; BOMC main selection; film rights to Twentieth Century-Fox.

Unfinished by Edith Wharton, The Buccaneers was completed by Marion Mainwaring. Wharton illuminates aristocratic society in turn-of-the-century America and England through a cast of memorable characters who unwaveringly carry out etiquette and tradition. Pristine images of character and countryside leap from the text with Cassidy's lyrical narration. She brilliantly renders each character with vocal versatility which discerns the personality, emotion, class and spirit of each. The audio quality awakens one's sensibilities to the depth, richness and honesty of the quintessential romance that embodies this novel. You'll feel disappointed when the story and the audio experience conclude. J.K.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

January 1, 1994
Wharton's final novel (completed by Marion Mainwaring after the author's death in 1937) revolves around American and British society in the 1870s. Told in large part through the eyes of American debutantes, the story portrays innocent, wide-eyed, almost ethereal girls who turn into socially conscious women with financial worries--unrecognizable even to themselves. The beginning sections quickly catch the listener's attention, with lush descriptions of rooms, clothes, and the heights of feminine beauty. We enter a world of intrigue: secrets, characters with past relationships that could prove fatal, and competition taken to its limits. Its literary value notwithstanding, this book might appeal to soap opera and romance fans. For more attentive listeners, it quickly becomes disconcerting as more and more characters with awkward British-sounding names are added. It's increasingly difficult to recall who's who without backing up the tape. Most libraries can pass on this one.-- Rochelle Ratner, formerly Poetry Editor, "Soho Weekly News," New York