The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton, Marion Mainwaring

Final Rating: 4.3/5

"the novel experience of having every wish anticipated"...

   Well that was not quite the experience this reader had unfortunately. Having finished The House of Mirth in awe and finding myself a new classic to cherish at that moment Ms. Wharton became one of my favorite authors and when I finished The Custom of the Country and had unexpectedly fallen under the spell of the wicked Undine Spragg; I just had to seek out more by Ms. Wharton. Enter The Buccaneers, when I read the description I knew this was going to be my next reason to my local library.

   At first my every wish was anticipated and I fell into that familiar and welcoming voice of the eloquent styling of Ms. Wharton with her distinct society scenes, fluid mingling of topics with satire and witty dialogue. The characters were as captivating as always and the scenes painted so beautifully I could see the luster from the pearls at throats and on dainty ears, almost feel the tickling kiss of gentlemen's groomed moustaches, hear the swish of elegant gowns and of course taste the English tea. That's the sort of story I crave, to immerse myself in a forgotten time period and just let myself relax forgetting the current world. It was fascinating to learn as I read that characters were mirrored after real people and that events from history were pulled into this story. I also learned as I was reading that this was sadly Ms. Wharton's last novel and it was unfinished until the 1990's. I really didn't think that should matter to me, I thought I wouldn't notice. I was wrong.

   I'm sure Ms. Mainwaring meant no harm and only tried to recreate the elegance and thrumming of the storyline but I am so sorry to say it just didn't work. There is an abrupt crack of styling that just spoils the rest of the story and it became very hard to pay attention with the odd descriptions and metaphors, structure and path the story raced down with an ending that felt hurried and lacking. The dialogue also felt clunky and forced with no believability and it was obvious in the hands of another author the characters failed to rise again to the magnificence of the beginning of the novel. Perhaps it was just me that I didn't think the ending satisfying enough or not what I had anticipated and I would not blatantly discourage others from The Buccaneers, the beginning is simply fabulous and you just can't find writing like that anymore which is truly a shame. Oh well, onto The Age of Innocence for this reader.

-Reviewed in December 2014, review written December 2014/ copy of The Buccaneers borrowed from local library