The Buccaneers tv series

"With its poppy soundtrack, headstrong heroines and endless galas, the comparisons to 'Bridgerton' are inevitable (...) but 'The Buccaneers' might be her worldlier cousin — more skeptical and more pragmatic, but with an intriguing sharpness that feels all her own" 

"Wharton wrote fiction, but her novels function as insider accounts of the late 19th and early 20th century upper classes (...) but the show never considers how all that wealth was accumulated, and the suffering it required from others (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)" 

"Fans of Wharton hoping to find some sense of her in Apple TV+’s wayward adaption of the novel may well be disappointed. And future fans of this series, unfamiliar with the author, may well be confused if they ever come to read her" 

"A frenzied, feminist and bold reimagining of London’s 19th Century marriage market" 

"An appealing costume drama that improves as it goes" 

"[It] knows how to be an intoxicating fantasy, but its real kick comes from its calibrated reality check" 

"It badly wants to be 'Bridgerton'—but not badly enough"