I read “The Marriage Plot” for my book club this month, and I found it a great read. It’s the first book I’ve read by Jeffrey Eugenides and now I’m eager to go out and get his two other novels. I’m not sure why I never read his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Middlesex,” maybe I wasn’t sure of the subject matter, but I do want to get to it in the near future. Eugenides seems to really inhabit his characters, making you feel you know them, and “The Marriage Plot” was so easy sink into, so readable, the story and pages just flew by.
It’s about the lives of three senior college students at Brown University in the early 1980s. Madeleine is an English major who’s honors thesis is on the traditional “marriage plot” — the suitors, proposals, and misunderstandings in such novels as those by Jane Austen, George Eliot and Henry James. Leonard is a smart, biology student from Oregon who comes to suffer manic depression. And Mitchell is a religious studies major who like Eugenides is from Detroit.
The book is a take on a modern marriage plot with Leonard and Mitchell both vying for the affections of Madeleine, who soon enough falls hard for Leonard. After graduation, Madeleine goes to live with him while he’s working an internship at a genetics lab, but all is not well. Madeleine spends most of her time helping Leonard cope with his mental illness. Meanwhile Mitchell is traveling around Europe and India, becoming more interested in religion and volunteering with Mother Theresa’s organization in Calcutta, all the while still dreaming of marrying Madeleine.
Later, all three lives intersect again in New York, where events transpire that lead to more uncertainty of whom Madeleine will end up with. Will she stay with Leonard, the manic depressive, or Mitchell, who’s trying to find himself through religion? Or will either one be the one for Madeleine as she pursues her graduate studies in the Victorian novel?
It’s a love triangle that’s up in the air till the very end. I found the lives of these idealistic young graduates to be quite engaging as they pursued their studies, passions, hardships and loves. It’s a book that delves deep and comes out on top.
I read this book a few years ago. I think it was one of the first I reviewed on my blog. I loved it. In fact I think I wrote 10 things I love about The Marriage Plot. Also Middlesex is amazing. You are in for a treat.
Yes I liked it a lot too! You have good taste Barbara! 🙂
I enjoyed this one too. Not as much as Middlesex but they are completely different books. If you like Middlesex, I recommend Annabel by Kathleen Winter after it!
Oh Great. Thanks Ti for the recommendation. I definitely need to get to Middlesex since I enjoyed this one.
Sounds like an interesting book. I’ve only read one book by Eugenides, but I LOVED his style. 🙂
My Sunday Salon
Yeah he’s great. Thanks for stopping by Rachel. Will stop by your post. cheers.
I really want to read this one soon – Middlesex is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I loved how epic it was, all while still getting to the heart of the characters.
Yeah I definitely need to read Middlesex. This one might not be as epic but it’s interesting.
Well I am suffering from reader’s blight, so you’ve inspired me to find new books to read. We read Middlesex in our book club years ago. It’s one of our all-time favourites. You will not be disappointed.
Thanks Marcia. Yeah I’ve heard Middlesex is a great read. I definitely plan to read it as I really like the author’s writing, after this one.