Saratoga Trunk

A good, old-fashioned "Novel" novel! A beautiful, headstrong young woman, Clio, orphaned and on her own, takes on the world, determined to make her own way in the world of late 19-century America, only as scrupulously as she can afford to be and not caring a bit about it. "Her own way" means marrying money for the security and prestige, but will true love foil her plan? The story plays out for the most part among the super-rich upper class at Saratoga, NY. And of course, in the hands of many of our modern pot-boiler writers, this whole exercise would be dreadful. But Ferber was a very good writer, or at least writes very well here. The characters are larger than life, to be sure, especially the tall, handsome Texan our heroine takes as show more her scheming partner as well as the somewhat grotesque but immensely strong and resourceful dwarf she has had as one of her two loyal servants since her childhood (spent in exile in Paris because of an illicit and tragic love affair that had gotten her mother chased from New Orleans society). You get the picture. The story is a little slow getting going, due to the less than fascinating exposition through which the mother's backstory is told. But once we get going, as the mother dies and Clio hits New Orleans to claim back her birthright, things heat up.

It's a pot-boiler, for the most part, although the high-quality writing and detailed look at the very rich of the era raise Saratoga Trunk above the turgid nonsense we'd expect this book to be today. Not great literature, but a fun book of its kind if one is in the mood. show less

First off, there were many small errors in this Kindle version. I didn't find them too annoying as they were easy to figure out and repetitive: i.e. lidte for little

Interesting how the novel starts off in the present and then without a break, it dives right into Clio Dulaine's past. Same thing at the end.

Ferber has a powerfully descriptive style of writing, enumerating all the details of food, dress and architecture extremely well. Perhaps a shade anachronistic, with mentions of well known early 20th century millionaires and other less well known society names. Sadly, I believe Ferber has been overlooked by modern day readers, even though she is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

The plot is not profound in any way, but the show more characterizations are meticulous and enjoyable. I was not offended in the least by various racial attributions or language which I viewed in the context of the era the novel was created in.

I enjoyed Saratoga Trunk and am interested in reading some of Ferber's other works, which I know from their film adaptations, such as Showboat, Cimmaron and Giant. I will certainly watch the movie version of Saratoga Trunk starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman.

If you like American tales of New Orleans, brawny Texans, high society in the early 1900's and satire, I think you like this book. show less

I could barely finish this. I've loved other Ferber books (Giant and So Big) but this was so much weaker. The dialogue is beyond repetitive and the story is really slow. I did enjoy the atmosphere she evokes in her descriptions of New Orleans and Saratoga but not enough to tolerate the characters.

Reading this book was like watching a black and white TCM movie from the 1940's

An exciting story about a young woman out to find wealth and position in society. Through a series of events and a variety of interesting predicaments she learns that perhaps money is not the only thing that matters to her after all.

Nice American Penguin edition. Inserted loosely in the book are three rent receipts dating from 1948.

Between pages 52 and 53, a card: "Happy Valentine's Day, All my Love, Gina"