Eligible: A Novel
Let’s start with the facts:
This is a family of Bennet’s you almost won’t recognize aside from their names. The two eldest Bennet’s, Jane and Liz, have spent the past 2 decades in New York City. Jane makes her living as a yoga instructor and Liz has been climbing the ladder as a successful magazine writer. They find themselves living with their family in their childhood Tudor in the suburbs of Cincinnati when their father has a sudden downfall in health. Their childhood home is in disarray, their family’s funds have depleted, their mother is a shop-a-holic/hoarder, and their sisters and mother are so self absorbed that they are blind to the chaos they attribute to.
Of course, Mrs. Bennet’s truest goal in life is still to see all of her children wed, especially her oldest, Jane, who is months away from turning 40 with a ticking biological clock. How fortunate that Chip Bingley, has just moved to Cincinnati to pursue his career as an ER doctor, he’s the new-man-in-town and everyone knows his name because he recently appeared on the TV dating show Eligible. His neurosurgeon, best friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy is also new in town and not quite so charmed with the local company.
And so our familiar tale begins to unfold.
Jane Austen created a timeless legacy, she wrote novels that can be enjoyed and adapted in any era. Timeless love stories, countless female heroines that were far ahead of their time and an uncanny ability to captivate readers. Cult classics like Clueless (Emma) and Bridget Jones’ Diary (Pride & Prejudice) have successfully thrived in modern society and inspired others to bring Austen’s classic stories into the 21st century. Curtis Sittenfield did so with Eligible, her modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice, but she missed something along the way. I found this tale lacking propriety, romance and chivalry, replaced instead with “hate sex”, dirty jokes and unnecessary vulgarity.
While the story lacked a level of innocence and charm that I desired, some problems hit uniquely close to home. The Bennet’s have fallen on hard times, Mrs. Bennet likes to spend money and Mr. Bennet has gone through extensive medical care without health insurance. The couple has multiple mortgages on their home and no real income to relinquish themselves of their debts, bringing Liz to the decision that the family’d tudor needs to be sold and her parents reluctantly acquiesce. The unending medical expenses, 2 mortgages, financial advisors, and the family’s ability to lump all of their woes and emotions on Liz as she takes on the burden of clearing and selling her parents home while trying to stay positive through the whole thing feel painfully familiar in my own life.
“I’d volunteer to have a hit man off me, but our life insurance policies have lapsed, so I’d be of no more use dead than I am living.” -Fred Bennett
Ouch.
The money troubles that the Bennett’s face feel like the only “real world problems” in this book. Jane Austen made the Bennett’s woes feel like life and death in her novel, their livelihoods and reputations were in a constant state of possible downfall until the very end. Curtis Sittenfield doesn’t capture those stakes, Mr. Bennett is too non-chalant about his families issues, the children are annoying and it reads too much like a bad reality tv show. Cue: The Bachelor.
I was, however, fully captivated throughout Liz’s visit to the Bay Area, where Darcy grew up and her best friend, Charlotte has just relocated. The girls make a quick trip to Pemberley. Fun fact! The address of Darcy’s family home is 1813 Pemberley Ln, Pride & Prejudice was first released in 1813. The home was described beautifully and it was the one time I felt a sense of magic in the story. Though Darcy’s sister, Georgie’s, story line mentioning her struggle with Anorexia was painful, I longed to know more about her pain and her journey towards healing rather than her obsessions with celebrities and the fashion magazine that Liz writes for.
Speaking of magic, Curtis Sittenfield’s, Darcy lacked the magical qualities we so love about Mr. Darcy. He always appeared “quizzical”. And his words weren’t romantically thoughtful, meaningful or enchanting.
Liz has self esteem issues evident in the way she handles relationships and speaks to people, this isn’t something I’m used to seeing in Lizzy Bennet, she’s supposed to be headstrong , she doesn’t care what others think, she doesn’t demean herself to please others. The Elizabeth Bennett that I know does what she believes is right, despite social norms. It bothers me that this Liz is bothered so much by other people’s opinions of herself and her family. She never made me feel empowered in the way Elizabeth Bennett should. I was embarrassed by her constant assumptions.
In the end, I didn’t love this book as much as I’d hoped. But I want to hear what you thought! The good, the bad, the funny…send it all my way!
What’s next for us??
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
You may recognize this title from the popular Amazon original series. What if the U.S. had lost WWII? What if we left the fate of our country in the hands of the Nazi’s and the Japanese. This chilling work of science fiction will answer all of these questions and more!
