Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice
Curtis Sittenfeld, 2016
Random House
512 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781400068326
Summary
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 twenty-first 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 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.
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. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—August 23, 1975
• Where—Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
• Education—B.A., Stanford University; M.F.A., Iowa Writers' Workshop
• Currently—lives in St. Louis, Missouri
Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld is an American writer, the author of several novels and a collection of short stories.
Sittenfeld was the second of four children (three girls and a boy) of Paul G. Sittenfeld, an investment adviser, and Elizabeth (Curtis) Sittenfeld, an art history teacher and librarian at Seven Hills School, a private school in Cincinnati.
She attended Seven Hills School through the eighth grade, then attended high school at Groton School, a boarding school in Groton, Massachusetts, graduating in 1993. In 1992, the summer before her senior year, she won Seventeen magazine's fiction contest.
She attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, before transferring to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. At Stanford, she studied Creative Writing, wrote articles for the college newspaper, and edited that paper's weekly arts magazine. At the time, she was also chosen as one of Glamour magazine's College Women of the Year. She earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa.
Novels
• Prep
Her first novel Prep (2005) deals with coming of age, self-identity, and class distinctions in the preppy and competitive atmosphere of a private school.
• The Man of My Dreams
Sittenfeld's second novel, The Man of My Dreams (2006), follows a girl named Hannah from the end of her 8th grade year through her college years at Tufts and into her late twenties.
• American Wife
Sittenfeld's third novel, American Wife (2008), is the tale of Alice Blackwell, a fictional character who shares many similarities with former First Lady Laura Bush.
• Sisterland
Her fourth novel, Sisterland (2013), concerns a set of identical twins who have psychic powers, one of whom hides her strange gift while the other has become a professional psychic.
• Eligible
A 21st-century retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Eligible was released in 2016. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 6/12/2013.)
Book Reviews
If there exists a more perfect pairing than Curtis Sittenfeld and Jane Austen, we dare you to find it.... Sittenfeld makes an already irresistible story even more beguiling and charming.
Elle
Sittenfeld is an obvious choice to re-create Jane Austen’s comedy of manners. [She] is a master at dissecting social norms to reveal the truths of human nature underneath.
Millions
The further afield that Sittenfeld strays from Austen, the less compelling and less credible her story is, and the ending sags under the weight of a television-programmed finale. Overall...Sittenfeld’s latest offers amusing details and provocative choices but little of the penetrating insight into underlying values.
Publishers Weekly
In this charming modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Sittenfeld deftly brings Austen's classic into the 21st century.... Her take on Austen's iconic characters is skillful, her pacing excellent, and her dialog highly entertaining.... [A] wonderful addition to the genre. —Kristen Droesch
Library Journal
A delightful romp for not only Austen devotees but also lovers of romantic comedies and sly satire, as well.... Bestselling Sittenfeld plus Jane Austen? What more could mainstream fiction readers ask for?
Booklist
The modernization of this classic story allows for a greater and more humorous range of incompetency and quirks.... Delight in this tale for its hilarious and endearing family drama, but don’t expect to get the same level of romantics and Darcy-inflicted swoon that make the original untouchable.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Consider these LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Eligible...then take off on your own:
1. The most obvious place to start is with comparisons between Curtis Sittenfeld's homage and Jane Austen's original Pride and Prejudice. Consider the following—characters—plot points—dialogue—humor—setting. How closely does Sittenfeld adhere to Austen and where does she depart? Do the departures work?
2. Does this book hold up on its own as an independent novel, disregarding any comparisons with the original?
3. Consider reading (and viewing) other recent takes on Pride and Prejudice:
♦ Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. Read both book and film.
(Also listen to Screen Thoughts podcast movie review.)
♦ Austenland by Shannon Hale. Read both book and film.
4. Take up the question of why P&P has remained a perennial favorite for 200 years. What makes the book so timeless? The original takes place in an era with values, many of which we find repugnant today: tight restrictions on female freedom and a pernicious class system. So why do we love and admire Austen's most famous work?
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime, feel free to use these, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)