Saratoga Trunk Audiobook By Edna Ferber cover art

Saratoga Trunk

A Novel

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Saratoga Trunk

By: Edna Ferber
Narrated by: Robin Miles
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.29

Buy for $24.29

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

The basis for the classic film starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, Saratoga Trunk is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber's enthralling saga of love, greed, and power set in New Orleans and Saratoga during the late 19th century.

Saratoga Trunk unfolds the story of Clio Dulaine, an ambitious Creole beauty who more than meets her match in Clint Maroon, a handsome Texan with a head for business - and an eye for beautiful young women. Together they do battle with Southern gentry and Eastern society, but in their obsession to acquire all they've ever wanted, they fail to realize they already have all they'll ever need - each other.

A novel by one of the 20th century's most accomplished and admired writers, Saratoga Trunk is a lively tale of ambition and love that celebrates the triumph of outsiders against the powerful and corrupt.

©1941 Edna Ferber (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Sagas Inspiring
All stars
Most relevant  
This is my favorite Edna Ferber book -
highlighting the practice of Placage, a colonial tradition that leaves more generational trauma than you can find elsewhere.

One of the best

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have only recently discovered how incredible Edna Ferber is, and I don't understand why she isn't still more widely read.

Saratoga Trunk is set in the late 1800s, and tells the story of Clio Dulaine. She was born in New Orleans, the illegitimate daughter of a French Creole man and light-skinned Creole woman of color. She was schooled in Paris, and only recently returned to the United States. Her hope is to avenge her mother who was treated horribly by her father's family, after she accidentally killed Clio's father.

Clio brings along her maid and manservant. She soon meets a tall Texan named Clint, and they soon begin courting. Unfortunately she is obsessed with revenge and he with gambling. Neither is looking for real commitment. Clint becomes frustrated with Clio's focus on revenge and leaves for Saratoga Springs, New York.

What follows is an interesting tale of miscommunication, machinations, and eventual reconciliation.

I enjoyed this book for all of its unique and extremely flawed characters. The dialogue was filled with wit and sarcasm, and was at times quite funny. I enjoyed the drama, and the histrionics of these characters. I found the story entertaining, but once again my favorite part of a Ferber book is the facility she has with description. She uses language in a delicious way, painting the image in my mind. It was beautiful.

I followed the book by watching the movie which starred Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper, which certainly reflects the time in which it was filmed, but is wonderful nonetheless.

Edna Ferber should be more widely read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Nice bit of Saratoga History with colorful characters. Overall the style feels dated, but the plot was interesting. Narrator was good.

Glad I revisited this novel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.