Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld ~ My Review

Hello, my friends! It's been a while since I posted a review. My goal this year is to post at least once a month. Having only written two last year, that's really upping my game!  I wrote most of this review last fall, and I'm finally getting around to posting it. 

Eligible
by Curtis Sittenfeld

Publication Date: April 19th, 2016
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Pages: 492
Received: Purchased myself.
Rating: 4 stars

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 thirties 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 fortieth 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.

My Review

I got a kick out of reading Eligible! This modern Pride and Prejudice retelling was entertaining to read! Just as Chip Bingley was on a reality TV show called “Eligible” (think The Bachelor), I felt the whole story was a little exaggerated like a reality TV show - in a fun way! 

First, I loved the quote by Mark Twain at the beginning of the book “When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it’s always twenty years behind the times.”  Now, I don’t know about Cincinnati, but this quote does set the stage for how behind-the-times Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are in their way of thinking.   

I was surprised how old the Bennett girls are - Jane is almost 40!! But I was super happy to see them all in this story. A lot of modern versions leave out a couple of sisters or make them cousins. Lydia, Kitty, and Mary are very selfish and mean-spirited. All three still live at home and don’t work. Although Mary is working on, I think, her third degree (studious as usual!). Liz and Jane live in NYC but are home because of Mr. Bennett’s health. 

Also, the very short chapters make for a quick read. The story carried me along! And the fact that I was reading along with my good friend, Meredith of Austenesque Reviews, made the story that much more entertaining! 

Altogether, I really enjoyed Eligible! It’s not a perfect retelling. There are a couple of things I would like to see played out differently, but I found it very amusing! And I’ll leave you with this little teaser - reality TV, hate sex*, and spiders, oh my! ;)

*not explicit, but PG-13

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About the Author

CURTIS SITTENFELD is the bestselling author of five novels: Prep, The Man of My Dreams, American Wife, Sisterland, and Eligible. Her first story collection, You Think It, I’ll Say It, was published in 2018 and picked for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. Her books have been selected by The New York Times, Time, Entertainment Weekly, and People for their “Ten Best Books of the Year” lists, optioned for television and film, and translated into thirty languages. Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Esquire, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Time, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Slate, and on “This American Life.” A graduate of Stanford University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Curtis has interviewed Michelle Obama for Time; appeared as a guest on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” CBS’s “Early Show,” and PBS’s Newshour; and twice been a strangely easy “Jeopardy!” answer. (taken from author's website)

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Have you read Eligible? I'd love to hear your thoughts!