Modern retelling of ‘Pride and Prejudice’? Written by Curtis Sittenfeld, author of the brilliant ‘Prep’ (amongst many other fab books)? Sign me up!
I was definitely intrigued about this book and it has been vaguely on my radar for a few years (it was published in 2016). When it popped up as an audiobook suggestion on BorrowBox, I thought I needed to give it a try.
How on earth could ‘Pride and Prejudice’, with its Georgian mores and sensibilities, be dragged into modern-day America? I had to find out.
The plot does follow the original novel to a surprising degree – central is the courtship between Elizabeth and Darcy, Jane and Bingley that plays out across the book. There’s also the impoverished Bennet family with five daughters, the disgrace of the youngest, the friend who settles for the boring man, the spiky Catherine de Bourgh…so far, so familiar.
Where this novel differs from the original are all the elements needed to bring it into the 21st century. We have reality TV (the ‘Eligible’ of the title), lots of pre-marital sex, IVF, a trans character, a black realtor and Catherine de Bourgh as a leading feminist (and much kinder than the original in her treatment of Liz Bennet, a journalist).
Some of these updates change the feel of the book so much that I could almost forget this was a ‘Pride and Prejudice’ retelling until things such as the hero being called Fitzwilliam brought me crashing back to the original – is that a popular name in modern America? I wasn’t sure!
However, the charm of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ also runs throughout ‘Eligible’ – this is a witty, funny book and a lot of the characters retain their appeal even in the 2010s. Liz is recognisably Lizzy Bennet with her dry humour, Jane is still the good one – now a chilled out yoga teacher – and Lydia is very much Lydia! The Bennet parents are funny and sparky (Mrs Bennet has a shopping addiction) and Mary comes into her own – her cynical voice at the end of this book genuinely made me laugh out loud after the romantic plots are concluded.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I can also understand why staunch Jane-ites might not. I did find the updating of the social mores challenging in places – I get that you can’t have Liz as a 38 year old virgin batting away suitors, but the early hate sex did kind of kill the tension a bit for me!
The audiobook narrator is very brash, very lively and very American – which I think really helped me to immerse myself in the modernisation of the novel. It also brought the humour to the fore for me – there are some brilliant lines in there and some cutting descriptions, just as in Jane Austen’s original (so I think she’d approve).
I’d recommend this to anyone who likes stories about the quirks of human nature – this book has a huge cast and the social observations are razor sharp. ‘Pride and Prejudice’ fans will of course enjoy spotting the connections with the original novel – as long as they can go with the flow and accept some of the more eye-opening modernisations. For me, it was a fun, funny and enjoyable read.
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Header photo by Elaine Howlin on Unsplash
I have read this one! It really interested me because it takes place in and around Cincinnati, Ohio which right by where I live. It’s fun to recognize places, etc. and I did enjoy the book.