A really enjoyable read. Fun, silly in parts, and overall an easy book to read.

In this glorious Pride and Prejudice update, Curtis Sittenfeld passes comment on contemporary society just as Jane Austen passed comment on her social milieu. The characters and plot are clearly recognisable, but they’ve been deftly modernised. The result is funny, thought-provoking and immensely enjoyable. True to the spirit of Austen, yet wonderful and witty in its own way, I would warmly recommend Eligible, whether you’ve read the original or not.

I have always loved Jane Austen,s Pride and Prejudice but this is even better.
I love the way Curtis Sittenfield has updated the story to encounter social situations which in this century engender pride and prejudice.
Very clever and very funny
Five stars all the way

Thanks go to net galley and the publishers for the copy in return for an honest review.

I adored this retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Infact, I want to go and read it again to see what I didn't pick up on the first time around.

The characters are all faithful to the originals, but brought bang up to date. Mrs Bennet is as odious and self-deluded as ever, and Mr Bennet still makes me want to give him a good shake.
The fact that Chip Bingley is a reality tv star is just delicious, and incredibly entertaining towards the end of the book as the wedding between Jane and Chip becomes part of the tv series.

The book is witty and sharp, but with the underlying love of and for the characters. Liz and Darcy will always have a place in my heart for most beloved fictional characters and this edition complete with "hate sex" made my heart skip a beat.

I would urge anyone to give this book a go.

Mr and Mrs Bennet of Cincinnati have been blessed with five daughters. Now ranging in ages from mid-twenties to late thirties Mrs Bennet feels it's time they settled down and got married, preferably to someone wealthy. The two eldest, Jane and Liz, have returned home temporarily due to their father's ill-health, and Mrs Bennet sees this as an ideal time to pursue her plans, especially when they're introduced to two doctors newly-arrived in town, and by all criteria eminently eligible.
In some on line listings, this book is sub-titled A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice, so if you hadn't guessed already, you know now where this story is taking us - into familiar territory with Jane and Liz Bennet, Chip Bingley and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Obviously the Bennet sister's lives are different in the 21st century, (though the younger three are still trying their best to live off Mom and Dad, rather than strike out on their own as independent women) but some things don't change so, although a rich husband is no longer a necessity, everyone is looking for a lasting, loving relationship.

I'm not a purist so I've no problem with re-workings of Austen's work, from books such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to films like Bride and Prejudice or Clueless, and really rather liked Eligible. transporting the Bennet sisters to present day America worked better than I thought it would, and although there's less of Austen's cutting satire, I felt overall the book really captured her style.


I'm not sure though that I'd say it's what Austen would write if she were around today. In her time she was innovative, exploring what could be achieved in a relatively new art form, so today I'd don't think she'd be in the 'romantic fiction' section of the book shop. Instead I imagine her writing graphic novels, feminist stand-up comedy, or The Thick of It style political satire - and if the Bennet sisters have a place there, it's a very different one.

Very disappointed with this one, and I actually didn't finish it (which is so so rare for me). Really feel like the author missed the mark here, and I didn't find it inventive, refreshing, or funny. Mostly like mediocre fan-fiction of Pride & Prejudice. The most compelling part of the story was all the drama and engagements of the original Austen storyline, and instead of being a bit more adventurous in the story telling (i.e. like Bridget Jones), it was like a find and replace of modern terminology and jobs into the Austen plot. Not to mention that Austen's Lizzie Bennett - who in a society when women are lauded for their meekness Lizzie's candour is a welcome and refreshing change - here, modern Lizzie is a judgemental bitch.

I stopped reading after one of the characters was "outed" as transgender. It was hinted that this character had a 'big secret' and it turned out this was it. Someone's transgender identity is not a secret to be found out or sensationalised. I found it in very poor taste that this was chosen as the big scandal that forces Liz back home during the second half of the book. And this was on top of earlier racist and homophobic remarks in the book, brushed off as the foibles of an older generation. I realise it's meant to be an update of prejudices in modern society, but it missed the mark in my opinion. I didn't care to read any more after that; I know how it ends - Liz ends up with Darcy I'm sure.

Despite having enjoyed Sittenfeld's previous work, I couldn't engage with this and never made it through the first handful of pages despite multiple attempts.

I have mixed feelings about this book. At times it entertained me but at others it frustrated me. I considered putting it down quite a few times and I'm really not sure the ending was worth it. the amount of chapters freaked me out a little, 181! Some were only a paragraph however.

I loved how well hidden in plain sight some of the characters were!
Jasper Wick was a Wickham replacement and Kathy de Bourgh was obviously Catherine de Bourgh but it took me WAY too long to realise this....

The story was full of diverse characters which was lovely. Not all of them were prominent but that they were there was good.

I also liked how some of the storylines were changed, I didn't like the others however.
Jasper Wick was a bit of an eh character. He was in the story a lot even if he wasn't physically there.
Kathy de Bourgh was fantastic however. I agree whole heartedly with her sentiment that there's nothing wrong with looking after someone and being looked after by someone in return especially if the levels of devotion are somewhat similar. This is, in my opinion, end game and books that have female characters turning down the men they love because they "don't need a man!" frustrate and annoy me because this is not strong or feminist, it's isolating. If she didn't love him or if he didn't love her (as much) or if he was horrid or abusive then that's different of course, but so far my experience has just been simply because.

I also didn't like how different some of the characters were to their original counterparts.
Mr Darcy was almost exactly the same, slightly less socially awkward which took a little of his charm away for me.
Lizzie was called Liz which I just found odd, I think it made it harder for me to quite get into it though I'm not exactly sure why that would be. Maybe because it made her almost seem like someone else? She was also more disagreeable I thought! They had more interaction, understandably as there are fewer restrictions in today's society, but this extra time together didn't speed up her realisation like I feel it should have but just gave her more time to make him dislike her - which he obviously didn't. (she also stole some of his lines!)
I'm not sure why Bingley kept crying, but ok and Lydia was almost 90% different. Almost. Not nearly as oblivious to everything.
Mrs Bennet also seemed sillier. Originally she was well aware of the financial situation she was in, while her modern day counterpart was quite unaware. Her habits seemed realistic however, having seen programmes where women do that sort of thing!

A few other things I liked though were how it was noted that as Mary was plain she was allowed to be intelligent in a way her sister wasn't I'm not sure if it was meant to be noted in a similar way but it seemed as cassually prominant that Mrs Bennet cared for Mr Collins (a man) feelings of those of her daughter (a woman). how often do is women hear "Just give him a chance, you never know!". I'm horrified to admit that I'm likely guilty of not only succumbing to that phrase but also saying it myself.
And a toxic relationship, once recognised was terminated forever, with the general attitude of, I don't care if you miss me you should have treated me better. YES. Now you behave better too!

I've changed my rating of this book up while writing this as I've realised just how much good stuff there was in here. As for the rest, I think my main problem with it is that it's a Pride and Prejudice retelling and I love Pride and Prejudice. The heart of it wasn't really where I felt it ort to be.
This is the first Pride and Prejudice retelling I've actually completed so perhaps that's something.

Having read the classic Pride and Prejudice, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Eligible. It was a completely different take on the story, adding new ideas and themes to resonate with this generation. A wonderful and enjoyable read - would recommend to both lovers of the classic and those that have never read this book!

Really enjoyed this book. I'm not a great fan of Pride and Prejudice and much preferred this 'remake' of it.

Held my interest and didn't want to put it down.

A book of two halves I was so enthusiastic about this book when I first picked it up, it was fun and silly but really enjoyable - I really enjoyed reading a modern interpretation of the much loved novel. Lizzy being Liz, Jane being a 40 year old yoga enthusiast, Lydia and Kitty being in to cross fit, Mary being a nerdy reclusive, however about half way through it went a bit too far - Ham's big reveal in particular being a bit too much. Towards the end of the book I felt it got a little too silly, that said it was still a really enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins and Curtis Sittenfeld for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this charming book! A modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, Sittenfield's fun, engaging and faithful adaptation is the perfect lightish summer read for a holiday or long train ride. I loved the flawed likability of Liz and Darcy, and the pacing was exactly right - a real page turner. The prejudices in question have been neatly updated to modern day America, and the foibles of the characters have been sympathetically and hilariously updated! This is perfectly fine for people not familiar with the original, and requires no prior knowledge.
My only criticism, which is not text based, is the cover. It's not representative at all and led me to believe it was a historical retelling when I glanced at it in the bookshop, so I passed over it. Don't make my mistake!

Eligible: A Modern Retellling of Pride and Prejudice does exactly what the title promises to do. Austen's Pride and Prejudice has been retold in a modern day setting. As in the original, Mrs Bennett is intent on her daughters marrying well and her snobbery has been updated to explore modern-day political correctness. Mr Bennett remains long-suffering and provides many moments of humour in the book. Each of the girls retain much of the character that Austen intended for them, but the setting and their behaviour reflects the modern times.

This was a very enjoyable, at times humorous (providing laugh-out-loud moments), quick summer read.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Received a copy courtesy of NetGalley

First off I’m a huge fan of Jane Austen and anything related to Austen, and I’m always on the lookout for a new ways to experience these enduring stories.
I was really looking forward to reading this updated version of Jane Austen's most famous and beloved book - Pride and Prejudice (although my personal favourite is Persuasion!).
You will find all the characters and their idiosyncrasies that we are familiar with but now in Cincinnati and living in the modern world.


For me this book was a bit of a disappointment, one of the biggest was that I didn’t find any of the humour or wit that you normally associate with Elizabeth Bennett.
In this re-telling she wasn’t a likable character and came across a bit insipid, also I felt there was a severe lack of chemistry between Darcy and Elizabeth. Which ruined my enjoyment of the book and at times really struggled to carry one reading.

However I like the how contemporary this book is, it included issues from the LGBT community, race, fertility, which made a refreshing change from other adaptions.
There was also a few moments from Mr Bennett that made me laugh as he had retained his usual sarcasm and I loved what she did with Catherine De Bourgh’s character, very fitting for this day and age.


Overall, this book was not for me, with more misses then hits.

I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this as I'm not (whisper it) a great fan of Pride and Prejudice. But maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much - the irreverent banter, Liz's choice one-liners, the less than prissy dialogue. This is a laugh out loud romp, with the odd tear shed for seasoning.
The many misunderstandings were actually believable, and although a lot of the story was daft, I enjoyed every second! Great!

Eligible is a modern take on Pride and Prejudice. Quirky, fun and brilliantly portrayed,

A rewrite of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, re-imagined to a contemporary setting in Cincinnati.

Now there’s a book that could have gone either way, and if you look at the reviews from critics and readers you would not be helped – this book was loved and loathed in roughly equal measure. I don’t think anyone can predict how they will react to it: you have to read it.

I absolutely loved it: a five-star book, and one I’m sure I will read again. I like Curtis Sittenfeld very much – her American Wife is one of the best books I’ve read this century. But on the whole I don’t particularly like rewrites and continuations. So I was open, and was completely converted. (In this particular case -  this doesn’t make me any more likely to read anyone else’s remakes.)

The book is completely hilarious, beautifully imagined, tells a compelling and very entertaining story, and skewers modern life with a light touch. And at the same time there is tremendous fun to be had in pairing off the characters with Austen’s originals, and watching and admiring the way she finds a 21st century equivalent of the original moments, social events and problems.

Mrs Bennet is a wonderful modern equivalent of the original:
“He’s a lawyer in Atlanta, and he’s very active in his church,” Mrs Bennet said. “If that’s not the description of a man looking for a wife, I don’t know what is.”
Amid the jokes there are often great perceptions, or just moments of life.
Even before Willie replied, Liz felt the loneliness of having confided something true to a person who didn’t care. 

Liz remembered… the three or four times they’d crossed paths in their twenties, when their classmates had gathered at bars the night before Thanksgiving.
[In the UK that would be Christmas Eve. When 20+ singles got back to their parents’ house for the festive season, they'd expect a message to have been left about meeting at a certain bar…]
“It’s a master’s in psychology, right?” Liz said, and Mary nodded. “Would you like to be a therapist?” Liz asked,. The notion seemed at best ill-advised and at worst harmful to others. To her relief, Mary shook her head.
My favourite matchup with the original book was the scene where 19th Century Lizzie walks through the mud to visit her unwell sister: Bingley’s sisters are horrified and comment on her torn and dirty petticoat. In 2013 Liz can’t get a ride to the hospital, so runs there in her athletic gear. Perfect.

I can’t guarantee that anyone else will like this book – always true, of course, but this is an extreme case. While it would be more than usually pointless to argue with someone about it, a lot of the negative reviews criticize the vulgarity, bitchiness and silliness that Sittenfeld features. You do wonder if those people have actually read Jane Austen? To say that dear dear Jane was above such things is simply not true – quite the reverse, she seems to have made it her role in life to point them out.

I thought it was the perfect book, clever and well-written, and not just a light read either – I kept thinking about it after I finished it. Of course many of the situations are slightly unreal, but Sittenfeld has a lot to say about modern life that makes sense. 

I had one problem with the book: the younger sisters use a slang phrase, in a context making it clear it is quite rude. I had not come across the phrase, so I looked it up - and am SO sorry that I did, I would rather not have known. I am not going to tell you what it was.

I enjoyed this story, it was a great read. I would definitely recommend

Eligible is the fourth retelling of a Jane Austen novel in the Austen Project series and arguably the hardest to do because of how well known and loved Pride and Prejudice, the source novel, is but I think Curtis Sittenfeld has pulled it off with aplomb.

If you’re going to carry off a successful modern retelling, you can’t simply transplant a 200-year-old story to a modern-day setting. There will of necessity have to be changes, compromises and tweaks to the original and these all work for me here. The author transfers the action to modern-day Cincinnati, with brief excursions to New York and the San Francisco Bay Area, and really makes that work for her characters and the story. I could understand why Curtis Sittenfeld told the story the way she did, and in doing so, I think she creates something which is a clever retelling of the story with attention paid to how it would play out in a contemporary setting but also something which could stand on its own as a novel and quite happily be read for its own sake and enjoyment.

At over 500 pages, this never felt like a long novel: its short chapters and the way the prose zips along made this a sheer pleasure to read, and I absolutely loved its energy which captures some of the pace and wit which Jane Austen injected into her original. If you know and love Pride and Prejudice, as I do, I hope you’ll give this retelling a chance. I think you’ll find much to like about it and it’s a joy to read an author who writes with such wit and assurance. If you don’t know Pride and Prejudice, then I’d recommend this novel to you as a fast-paced, sharp-witted take on a particular section of modern American family life.

I’ve been meaning to read Curtis Sittenfeld for some time. (I have all four of her previous novels waiting on my TBR shelf.) Now I know I have some treats lined up, as this is indeed a most excellent Eligible.

I was really intrigued by this book, having been paying attention to the other Austen Project novels. I haven't read any others because I'm not familiar with the source work, and thought that I probably ought to read the original first in order to understand the nuances. Therefore, when I saw you were publishing a Pride and Prejudice rewrite, I was excited (albeit a little put off by the price/length). I am not a die-hard fan of the original, but like it enough and read Prep many moons ago so was open-minded. Having finished the book, I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it. I thought it was relatively fast paced and appreciated the short chapters on my tube journeys... and I was overlooking the fact that I felt quite a large disconnect because the characters had been made so much older because they didn't feel significantly out of reach... I was intrigued when I realised that Jasper was Wick, although a little confused because I didn't understand how it connected with Lydia - it took me rather a long time to work out the whole Wick / Ham split... but then you made Ham a transgender character and whilst a really interesting take, and I loved Mrs. Bennett's reaction to this revelation, it just felt like it had gone too far. You lost me at that point. I also really wanted Bing and Georgie to be more present. Really mixed feelings about this now. Felt sorry for Liz as she seemed to be taking on everyone else's burdens for no real gain, and I'm not sure that that is how it came across in the original. I understand why lots of it was done, but it felt like the book was trying to achieve too much for too many people and lost its origins in the process. Hoping to read Emma soon, so will see if I fare any better with that one going forward! Thank you for the galley - I am pleased to have read it even if I didn't get on with it as much as I had hoped!