The Buccaneers

A Novel

By: Edith Wharton, Marion Mainwaring

Narrated by: Carol Monda

Edith Wharton's spellbinding final novel tells a story of love in the gilded age that crosses the boundaries of society—now an original series on AppleTV+!

“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.

Critic reviews

Praise for The Buccaneers

“Brave, lively, engaging...a fairy-tale novel, miraculouly returned to life.”—The New York Times Book Review

“The Buccaneers brilliantly showcases Wharton near the top of her form.”—Chicago Tribune

“Mainwaring has added gloss to the story's original elegance and wit, and the novel emerges like a master's painting from the hands of a highly skilled restorer.”—Leon Edel, author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Henry James: A Life

“Mainwaring's version of The Buccaneers is a tour de force....[She] deserves high marks for her ingenuity, novelistic skill, and critical intelligence.”—USA Today

“A sense of unobtrusive accuracy of tone and detail prevails throughout Ms. Mainwaring's [writing]....It's hard to imagine a better writer equipped to take on Edith Wharton.”—The Wall Street Journal

Really? Well read, but the story has massive holes

Decided to read this after watching the Apple+ series based on the book... some parallels between the book and the series but a lot of changes as well. I'll try to avoid spoilers the TV version is more Apple's response to Brigerton. Ironically, the character in the TV show who is black is in fact of Spanish extraction in the book, a very rich girl from South America, and described as having "dusky" skin and the narrator always has her speak with a very fake spanish accent. Other than that there are no psychotic or abusive husbands (although almost none of the girls end up happily married -- which I think was kind of Wharton's point; Marry some guy who only really wants you for your money and it's not reasonable to expect love.) and no lesbian couples. That said one character does ultimately abandon her husband and elope with the man she's genuinely in love with... but you'll have to read the book to find out who.

smooth, quick listen.

Very enjoyable, especially if you are fond of HBO's The Gilded Age. Marion Mainwaring's additions finish the story well.

A good listen in spite of the reader’s shortcomings

It’s a great shame that the reader appeared to fail to take the time to learn how to pronounce a surprising number of the names and words in this book. Jarring mispronunciations and a truly atrocious attempt at English accents completely break the spell but fortunately Edith Wharton’s writing saves the day.

Great story but did not enjoy the narrator

Great story with interesting historical context and cute romance but the narrator was not good at the characters

Wonderful book. So insightful, so believable and so observant. Loved it.

I understand what all the fuss is about now and am do glad I saw an article about the adaptation of this work. Great book and beautifully narrated.