Eligible

February 15, 2016

In this charming modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Sittenfeld (Prep; American Wife) deftly brings Austen's classic into the 21st century. Set in 2013 Cincinnati, it features sisters Liz (a magazine editor) and Jane (a yoga instructor), who return from New York to tend to their recently hospitalized father. There they meet Dr. Chip Bingley, lately of the reality show Eligible, and Dr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. The women deal with a host of problems, such as a pair of younger sisters too obsessed with CrossFit to get actual jobs, and a mother with a shopping/hoarding problem who's desperate to see them married off before Jane hits 40. Interwoven into the Bennet family's issues is a fairly faithful adherence to the original plot. Sittenfeld's style is endlessly amusing and, at times, gut-wrenchingly painful. Her take on Austen's iconic characters is skillful, her pacing excellent, and her dialog highly entertaining. Liz, though not quite as sparkling and bright as the original, is still endearing, and Darcy is his usual slightly aloof, stand-up self. VERDICT Austen fans will adore this new offering, a wonderful addition to the genre.--Kristen Droesch, formerly with Library Journal

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2016
Sittenfeld (Sisterland, 2013) transplants the beloved characters of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice from nineteenth-century Regency England to contemporary Cincinnati, Ohio, in this fun, frothy modernization. The Bennet family has similarly fallen on hard times here, thanks to exorbitant medical bills, reckless spending, and the perpetual underemployment of four of the five Bennet daughters. Liz Bennet, the only one holding down a regular job, as a magazine writer, and her older sister, Jane, rush home from New York after their father has heart surgery. Jane is approaching 40 and has decided to have a child on her own, while Liz is pining for Jasper Wick, the feckless married man with whom she's been having an affair. But the two are soon embroiled in new romances. Jane falls for Chip Bingley, a dashing ER doctor who once searched for a wife on a reality show, while Liz fends off the affections of her step-cousin and finds a novel way to channel her feelings of loathing for the elitist but devastatingly handsome Fitzwilliam Darcy. Sittenfeld has updated some of the characters and story lines to better fit a contemporary setting, but her charming retelling is a delightful romp for not only Austen devotees but lovers of romantic comedies and sly satire, as well. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Sittenfeld plus Jane Austen? What more could mainstream fiction readers ask for? Eligible will be supported by a sweeping, many-faceted media campaign and an author tour.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

January 4, 2016
In Sittenfeld’s modern version of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet writes for a women’s magazine, Jane Bennet teaches yoga, Lydia and Kitty Bennet are Crossfit enthusiasts on paleo diets, heartthrob Chip Bingley is a reality-TV star, and Fitzwilliam Darcy a neurosurgeon. Approaching 40, and definitely not virgins, Liz and Jane leave their jobs in New York to return to the old family house in Cincinnati after their father suffers a heart attack. Their mother, having watched contestants compete for Bingley’s hand in marriage on Eligible, believes him to be a great catch for Jane. Her hopes for Liz rest with Silicon Valley tech doofus Willie Collins. Austen fans will recognize Liz and Darcy’s instant dislike for each other, their serial misunderstandings and sexual tension, and Jane’s quiet goodness, Bingley’s sister’s snobbishness, and Darcy’s sister’s vulnerability. Sittenfeld adeptly updates and channels Austen’s narrative voice—the book is full of smart observations on gender and money. She contrasts contemporary crassness with Austenesque gentility, as when Liz and Darcy indulge in hate sex and Willie tries to French kiss Liz. No wonder Mr. Bennet laments the death of manners and the rise of overly familiar discourse. 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 a clever retelling of an old-fashioned favorite, Sittenfeld’s latest offers amusing details and provocative choices but little of the penetrating insight into underlying values and personalities that makes the original inimitable. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, WME Entertainment.

July 4, 2016
In Sittenfeld’s amusing modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bennet writes for a women’s magazine, Jane Bennet teaches yoga, Lydia and Kitty Bennet are CrossFit enthusiasts on paleo diets, heartthrob Chip Bingley is a reality-TV star, and Fitzwilliam Darcy is a neurosurgeon. Austen fans will recognize Liz and Darcy’s instant dislike for each other, their serial misunderstandings and sexual tension, and Jane’s quiet goodness, Bingley’s sister’s snobbishness, and Darcy’s sister’s vulnerability. Sittenfeld adeptly updates and channels Austen’s narrative voice—the book is full of smart observations on gender and money. Reader Campbell handles the large cast of characters with ease, deftly portraying different personalities with different voices, most memorably the catty Caroline Bingley, the dryly sardonic Darcy, and the flustered, melodramatic Mrs. Bennet. This audiobook is a fun addition to the growing canon of P&P-inspired fiction, perfect for summer beach listening. A Random House hardcover.

September 1, 2016

With her latest, Sittenfeld has crafted an entertaining modern update of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, though one that at times strains credulity. Like their Regency counterparts, the 21st-century Bennets are approaching crisis-potential financial ruin as a result of Mr. Bennet's heart attack-but are blissfully oblivious. To put things right, Liz, a successful magazine writer, and Jane, a yoga teacher contemplating artificial insemination, return from New York City to the family home in Ohio. When Chip Bingley, the former star of a Bachelor-esque show and still single, enters the scene with his arrogant sister Caroline and the seemingly pompous Fitzwilliam Darcy in tow, it's clear that romance is on the horizon. While the story is compulsively readable, the pop culture references make it unwieldy at times. As always, Sittenfeld soars when it comes to portraying relationships, and teens will particularly enjoy the witty barbs that fly between Caroline and Liz. Often, however, the author's attempts to hew closely to Austen's plot result in some odd choices. Where in the original, Mrs. Bennet's desire to marry Lizzy off to the unctuous Mr. Collins stemmed from understandable motives, here, her insistence that Liz become involved with her cousin, a socially inept dotcom millionaire, is downright bizarre. Nevertheless, this is an overall breezy read that will have savvy teens laughing. VERDICT Although this work doesn't hold up under close scrutiny, it's an utterly engrossing, hilariously over-the-top send-up that will appeal to Sittenfeld fans, Janeites, and lovers of chick lit.-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2016
Sittenfeld takes on the challenge of modernizing Pride and Prejudice as part of the Austen Project in her fifth novel (Sisterland, 2013, etc.). Gone are the rolling hills of the English countryside. In Sittenfeld's latest, Longbourn has been transformed into an oversized and neglected Tudor in the upscale Hyde Park neighborhood of Cincinnati. The Bennet sisters range in age from 23 to pushing 40, all unwed but certainly not inexperienced. Kitty and Lydia are politically incorrect CrossFit fanatics; Mary cares little about the crumbling state of her family's affairs as she collects online degrees; Jane is an ethereal beauty of a yoga instructor who wants very badly to become a mother; and Liz, well, Liz is a New York-based magazine writer who fixes everyone else's problems as the Bennets find themselves together again after a health scare (and Mr. Bennet casually reveals he has no health insurance, oh, and two mortgages...). The modernization of this classic story allows for a greater and more humorous range of incompetency and quirks; for example, Mrs. Bennet now has Valium and online shopping to distract her from constant anxiety. These familiar characters must deal with issues far beyond class and the all-important institution of marriage; everything from sexuality to racism to eating disorders and single parenthood factor in. And it's all written in a giddily charming blend of 19th-century novel-meets-21st-century casual swearing: Liz finds her enemy, Caroline Bingley, "looking bitchily gorgeous in an expensive frock." Oh, it's about time we get to the Bingleys and our man of the hour, pensive neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy. As the Bennets deal with financial ruin, Cincinnati welcomes a new doctor, Chip Bingley (and friends), to town; he's recently starred on the Bachelor-like reality show Eligible...which (surprise) did not end in love. In the end, it takes an exceedingly long time, with Liz busy being the "voice of reason amid a cacophony of foolishness," for Darcy to feel significant to the story. 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.

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