Gene Tierney would have been ideal casting in any film version of this novel so its great to have her here as the American married to a dodgy Polish count whom all the men keep throwing themselves at. The chief one here is Arthur Kennedy, as the former soldier, lawyer and politician – which sounds butch, but when it comes to society he’s a whimp; despite loving Tierney he still finds himself engaged to his mousy, passive-aggressive fiancée (even after she breaks it off) and later he can’t find the courage to leave her.
Tierney would have been better going off with the married scoundrel, kind of the Rhett Butler role – at least he had the guts to help her out in Poland, and offer her what sounded like a really fun future (cruising the Caribbean). It’s striking how flawed these characters are: Kennedy pines after this girl but refuses to break it off; his wife is manipulative; even the Countess is a bit of a mystery.
I found myself getting more involved with the drama than I thought I would be, not caring that much for rich New Yorkers in the 19th century.
NB It’s been a while since I read the novel, but the structure of it seemed changed a bit from admittedly hazy memory – for instance, Kennedy declares love for Tierney very quickly, even breaks off the engagement, but his fiancée drags him back in – and he only sees her again because of the divorce case. Although like I say it's been a while - maybe I’m mistaken.
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