From the “wickedly entertaining” (USA Today) Curtis Sittenfeld, New York Times best-selling author of Prep and American Wife, comes a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Equal parts homage to Jane Austen and bold literary experiment, Eligible is a brilliant, playful, and delicious saga for the 21st century.
This version of the Bennet family – and Mr. Darcy – is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late 30s who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help – and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling, and the family is in disarray.
Youngest sisters Kitty and Lydia are too busy with their CrossFit workouts and paleo diets to get jobs. Mary, the middle sister, is earning her third online master’s degree and barely leaves her room except for those mysterious Tuesday-night outings she won’t discuss. And Mrs. Bennet has one thing on her mind: how to marry off her daughters, especially as Jane’s 40th birthday fast approaches.
Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-in-town doctor who recently appeared on the juggernaut reality TV dating show Eligible. At a Fourth of July barbecue, Chip takes an immediate interest in Jane, but Chip’s friend, neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy, reveals himself to Liz to be much less charming….
And yet, first impressions can be deceiving.
Wonderfully tender and hilariously funny, Eligible both honors and updates Austen’s beloved tale. Tackling gender, class, courtship, and family, Sittenfeld reaffirms herself as one of the most dazzling authors writing today.
Lacks depth, subtlety and romance I love Jane Austen, but I’m not a rabid purist. I’ve enjoyed plenty of follow-ons to her various novels and I like lots of the different film and TV dramatizations. I was a little dubious about the announcement of The Austen Project, in which six contemporary authors would reimagine the Austen novels in the present day. So much of Austen depends on the exploration of the social conventions and class structure of its time, none of which can be readily translated to the modern day…
Don’t read this if you really love Pride & Prejudice I love Pride & Prejudice and thought a modern retelling of the story could be quite fun. For me, this book fell flat.Â
One Of The Better Austen Updates/Adaptations I’ve Encountered I’ve been a fan of Pride & Prejudice for many years, and along the way I’ve encountered many books, movies, and other forms of media that claim to be “based on” or “inspired by” the Austen work, but lack sufficient resemblance… they’re either too dark, or they’re bland (or just carbon copies), or they’re just not Austenesque.Â