Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
/Romance novels are a guilty pleasure of mine. I have very high standards for my romance novels, though. I think probably because the first one I ever read was Pride and Prejudice. There’s very little that can compete with the tale of Darcy and Elizabeth. I remember when I found the BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries on VHS in my public library during my college years. I watched the three half hour tapes that I could check out and raced back down to the library to return them and check out three more. So imagine my surprise, delight, and trepidation on learning of Curtis Sittenfeld’s modern retelling of my favorite romance novel.
That all being said, Eligible is fantastic. It takes what is a very period story and updates it in a suitable fashion. Nothing really feels forced about the update (besides Fitzwilliam remaining Darcy’s first name); Liz is a modern woman with normal problems and quirky sisters. If one wasn’t familiar with the original inspiration (God forbid), Eligible would just seem like a contemporary romance novel. Sittenfeld’s writing is masterful as Eligible reads just as deliciously as Austen’s own, similarly peppered with wonderful witticisms. The magic is there and reading Eligible was like getting a bear hug from a great friend you haven’t seen in years.
My digital copy courtesy of Edelweiss and Random House.