Eligible
By
Curtis
Sittenfeld
The Bennet sisters have been summoned from New York City.
Liz and Jane are good daughters. They’ve come home to suburban Cincinnati
to get their mother to stop feeding their father steak as he recovers from
heart surgery, to tidy up the crumbling Tudor-style family home, and to wrench
their three sisters from their various states of arrested development.
Once they are under the same roof, old patterns return fast. Soon enough
they are being berated for their single status, their only respite the early
morning runs they escape on together. For two successful women in their late
thirties, it really is too much to bear. That is, until the Lucas family’s BBQ
throws them in the way of some eligible single men . . .
Chip Bingley is not only a charming doctor, he’s a reality TV star too.
But Chip's friend, haughty neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy, can barely stomach
Cincinnati or its inhabitants. Jane is entranced by Chip; Liz, sceptical of
Darcy. As Liz is consumed by her father’s mounting medical bills, her wayward
sisters and Cousin Willie trying to stick his tongue down her throat, it isn’t
only the local chilli that will leave a bad aftertaste.
But where there are hearts that beat and mothers that push, the
mysterious course of love will resolve itself in the most entertaining and
unlikely of ways. And from the hand of Curtis Sittenfeld, Pride & Prejudice
is catapulted into our modern world singing out with hilarity and truth.
What did I
think of the Book?
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession
of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
When Liz and Jane Bennet received a phone call
informing them of their father’s ill health, neither thought twice about
getting on the next plane to Cincinnati. If only they knew about the curveballs
that life was going to suddenly throw at them…!
Jane had not expected that her trip home would mean
she would meet the love of her life. Jane is instantly smitten with the
charming doctor/reality TV star, Chip Bingley and who could blame her? Chip is
charming, funny and nice. If only his best friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, had a
little more of his good humour.
Liz had never met such a disagreeable man as Darcy. He
was everything she hated —pretentious, rude and arrogant. So why does her heart
flutter just a little when he looks her way?
I am a big Jane Austen fan, and I was looking forward
to reading Curtis Sittenfeld’s modern take on Austen’s classic work, Pride and
Prejudice. I was not disappointed. Eligible is a fast paced read that follows
the plot of Pride and Prejudice quite closely, with a few very modern day twists.
I adored the characterisation of Liz. She is a very
strong-willed woman, in her late 30’s, who is very career oriented. Her love
life, however, resembles something of a train-wreck. She longs to be in a
caring relationship with a man she loves and who loves her in return, but
instead, she is in a relationship with a man who is married and, as it turns out, has a very questionable past.
When Liz returned to her families home to help care
for her sick father, she never expected to meet a man such as Darcy. Initially,
she finds him repulsive, but as she gets better acquainted with him, she begins
to wonder if maybe she had just found her soul mate.
Eligible is
such an enjoyable read, with many unexpected plot twists. Ms Sittenfeld’s has
successfully kept the spirit of Pride and Prejudice alive. All of the characters
were portrayed in the way I expected them to be depicted. Mr Bennet is the
long-suffering father, who will do anything for a quiet life. Mrs Bennet can
only think of social engagement and marrying her daughters (who are a lot older
in this book, then in Austen’s classic). Lydia and Kitty are just as I imagined
them to be — they are giggly, rude and very much into CrossFit! Mary is still
the studious one, but has swapped the piano for a PHD. Jane is sweet and
desperate for a family. Bingley has a gorgeous and lovable personality. Darcy
is portrayed just as he should be (I still picture Colin Firth when I think of him!) and
Mr Collins is a computer wiz!
I am not too sure what Jane Austen would have made of
this book, but I certainly enjoyed it.
Bravo, Ms Sittenfeld.
I Highly Recommend.
* I received a
copy of this book from the Publishers, via NetGalley, for review
consideration.*
Links for
Purchase
About the author
Curtis
Sittenfeld is the bestselling author of the novels Prep, The Man of My Dreams,
American Wife, and Sisterland, which have been translated into twenty-five
languages. Her nonfiction has been published widely, including in The New York
Times, The Atlantic, Time, and Glamour, and broadcast on public radio’s This
American Life. A native of Cincinnati, she currently lives with her family in
St. Louis.
