3.5 stars. I didn’t go into this book expecting Jane Austen levels of genius so my experience reading Eligible was pretty enjoyable. As far as Austen adaptations go, it was pretty great, about on par with something like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Let’s be real, it’s unlikely that any adaptation is ever going to reach the heights of an Austen original, but I was surprised by how closely Sittenfeld’s version hewed to Pride and Prejudice. In Eligible, Liz and Jane are both in their late […]
Run away with us for the summer, let’s go upstate
I spent most of this book being bummed out or annoyed at the protagonist (which hasn’t happened since Atonement YEARS AGO, yaaaaaay), so I was as surprised as anyone when the ending snuck up on me and brought some tears with it, even though SURPRISE EMOTIONS ARE THE WORST. Longbourn focuses on those who were left out of Pride & Prejudice, the servants. Mr. and Mrs. Hill are in charge (well, Mrs. Hill is in charge), and Sarah and Polly, the two housemaids, round out […]
An Updated Pride and Prejudice (by a kid I used to babysit!)
I grew up in Cincinnati, as did author Curtis Sittenfeld. In fact, the Sittenfelds lived next door to us on Menlo Avenue when I was a teenager, and I babysat Curtis and her older sister when they were quite small. They were only there for a few years and Curtis was young enough that she probably wouldn’t remember me, but I have followed her career from afar over the past decade and have always been thrilled and impressed that a fellow Cincinnatian has become a […]
Dear Fake Character People: An Open Letter to (most of) the Characters in Pride and Prejudice
ETA 4/21/16: I messed up when I marked two reviews in a row as #46, so this review actually isn’t my Cannonball. That honor belongs to my dubious review of Captive Prince. Shame on many fronts. The mistake has now been noted on both reviews. This is the third in my series of reviews wherein I get weird and write them in the form of letters to the characters. I’m re-reading all of Jane Austen’s books in 2016, and it shall be glorious. One every two months […]