Eligible, by Curtis Sittenfeld

My first book of the year is a modern retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice:

Liz is a magazine writer in New York who wants to be taken seriously as a journalist and is the responsible, practical daughter. She's in her late 30s and is sort of seeing her on-again-off-again boyfriend Jasper, who is married with a kid, by the way.

Jane is a yoga-instructor who wants a baby asap.

Mary is a shut-in and oddly isn't in the picture much.

Kitty and Lydia are gorgeous and young and fit (specifically CrossFit), but also hot messes with no life skills.

Mrs. Bennet is incredibly desperate to marry her children off (so nothing has really changed here).

There's also a "Bachelor" knock-off show called "Eligible", whose recent contestant is the handsome Chip Bingley. Chip and his less charming neurosurgeon friend Fitzwilliam Darcy drop into Cincinnati life after Chip's show wraps up.

Meanwhile, Liz comes back to Cincinnati to take care of her ailing father and their estate (called "The Tudor")... so if you've read Pride and Prejudice, you know how the rest sort of goes.

Despite the modern-day setting, Mrs. Bennet is still back in the 19th century with her bigotry/ignorance about black and trans people, which makes for some cringeworthy moments of prejudice. Darcy is perfect with his dry, deadpan persona and Liz is just as feisty and charming... but she was overly ditzy, which I couldn't stand. It's a fairly quick read and borderline trashy (somehow in a good way??) but it doesn't do Pride and Prejudice justice.

3 out of 5 stars