Eligible

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rewrites are tricky. Especially for a novel as beloved as Pride and Prejudice. Sittenfeld does a passable job updating the plot. Perhaps the things I found most dismaying about the updated version was how some things don't change (wealth=desirable) and what did change ("running away together" is no longer sensational of course, so the scandals had to be ramped up). This is not really a reflection of the choice of the author, but rather of the world we live in now. Though that is partly why I love Austen so much--the charm of a more genteel time. So I can't fault the author for society's morality these days, and I thought she did a fair job of translating the plot into a modern setting. But it is hard to be objective when one is reading the rewriting a beloved classic. I missed Austen's wit and elegant style. I missed the chemistry of Elizabeth and Darcy. It was fun escapism but can't really hold a candle to the original. I will say that I did appreciate the dignity Sittenfeld gives to Mary in the epilogue...

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