In Sittenfeld's modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth (Liz) and Jane return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to be close to their father who's suffered a recent heart attack. Mary, Lydia and Kitty have never left home and while all of the sisters lead independent social lives, Liz is the only one with a full time job. Their ages have been skewed older (Liz is 38). The family lives off of their father's dwindling inheritance and this will be the catalyst for a host of problems going forward in the book. 
 I found a host of problems in my enjoyment of this book. First of all, all of the sisters loath each other (with the exception of Jane and Liz who like each other but loath the rest) and Mr. and Mrs. Bennet loath each other and haven't shared a bed for years. Lydia and Kitty, while being supremely immature are also wildly inappropriate and offensive (way past the point of being at all funny). In the orginal P&P, the only thing that made the Bennets' eccentricities and behavior bearable was that they genuinely cared for each other and stuck up for their family. That is pretty much non-existent in this retelling. 
 I admired Sittenfeld's contrivances to place these modern day characters into situations where they could interact with one another and realize their situational outcomes, but even these overshot the mark, attempting to include a host of diversity in one family (artificial insemination, gender identity, interracial relationships) without ever exploring any of it with any delicacy or thoughtfulness. 
 At one point I tried reading the book as just an original story and stopped comparing it to Pride and Prejudice in the hopes that I would enjoy it a bit more. Let's just say, that didn't work. It was still just a mediocre story. 
 I have not yet encountered a modern day retelling of P&P that was very good. Having enjoyed all of Sittenfeld's prior novels, I had high hopes for this one. It may just be that the original work doesn't lend itself to a modern day equivalent. The changes in custom, women's rights and social mores of today have created an environment where the stakes aren't nearly as high if none of the Bennet daughters were to ever marry. The fact that Liz and Jane make advantageous marriages in this book is lucky for them alone and does little to effect their other family members aside from shelling out money every now and then. Add to that my distaste for almost every character in the book and it leaves almost nothing for this reader to rave about, other than I finished the darn thing. 
 2.5 stars