This Side of Married

by Rachel Pastan

The comedy of domestic manners gets a delightful update in this intoxicating novel that suggests a latter-day Pride and Prejudice transplanted to an affluent suburb of Philadelphia. Well-meaning but domineering Dr. Evelyn Rubin has one consuming wish, that her three daughters be happily married. Alice, the eldest, is about to tumble into a speedy engagement. Sensible Isabel is already married, and having second thoughts. Tina, the baby, remains blithely single, though always dreams of a perfect wedding down the line. As various men—some good, some fascinatingly bad—enter from the wings and the romantic complications mount, This Side of Married stands unveiled as a novel that’s as heady as good champagne and as rich as a genuine Sachertorte.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook, Beach Reads

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 24, 2004

Reviews

[Evie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This morning (after deciding to DNF the book I was reading 😢) I went to my nearest little free library and swapped it with a short book called This Side of Married by Rachel Pastan.

Turns out "This Side Of Married" is a very strange retelling of pride and prejudice in present day with several twists. 👁️👄👁️ It was okay. There was this one quote towards the end that I really liked:

"Sometimes I think he wants to take scissors and snip himself out of the fabric of life altogether."

14 year old Evie would have that quote all over her bedroom wall 👀

I didn't really learn anything or have too many thoughts on it, but sometimes books don't need to be groundbreaking. Sometimes all you need is a nice little story and a memorable quote ❤️

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even with Barbara Rosenblatt, not my cup of tea. I feel like lots of Pride & Prejudice remakes focus on too much of a superficial reading of the texts, and this is no exception. I don't expect every scene or character to have a parallel, but I do expect characters that can be liked and few plot points that shrivel off (like - the girls' "babysitter" - what was her role exactly? She could have disappeared and made the family seem less 1%ish and less racist, frankly.) I guess if I'd picked it up and not expected a P&P parallel I'd have liked it better. More rich people who've got all the options available to them, maybe that's what's wrong. And what exactly is the author's deal with love/hate of married women who don't work? Argh.

[Cara Hinton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes it's challenging to find a book that isn't political or educational. This book is just a good read. It's not outstanding, but it's an easy enjoyable book that takes you through the lives of three sisters who don't always get along. I felt like with the youngest sister the story wasn't finished, there certainly could have been more depth to the story, but as far as summer lazy reads go, this is a good one.

[Isla McKetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable little romp. I think I would have liked it better without Austen in the background, because the characters and writing were strong enough to stand on their own.

[eRin · Rating 2 out of 5]

How many modern-day Pride and Prejudices can there be? A lot apparently. This one takes place in Philidelphia with an overbearing doctor mother dead set on marrying off her two remaining single daughters and a judge fater who is less-than-involved in their lives. Things fall even further apart for Dr. Rubin when her married middle daughter, Isabel, announces that she and her husband are getting a divorce. Now there are three single daughters and though there are potential mates, not all of them are suitable.

At times I enjoyed this and at times I positively hated it. It wasn't exactly a carbon copy P&P, but it was close enough (and on purpose, as it is advertised as an updated P&P) that I wondered why the author didn't just go all the way and replicate the entire story. I mean, if you're going to dig up a distant cousin to be involved with one of the women, why not go all out? It was cute, but not fantastic, or original (clearly).

[Jennifer S. Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

My friend had this book on her Goodreads list, and it looked interesting so I promptly stole it for my own list. I can only say, don't waste your time. I love a good piece of chick lit, and this was not it. Supposedly a modern day Jane Austen tale, this novel is trite, one dimensional, and boring. The mother, a successful doctor, is trying to make sure her three daughters are all happily married. But the daughters are so single minded, I can't imagine who would want them. The twists are predictable, the writing flat, and the whole thing completely unfulfilling. Sorry!

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Touted as a modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Snooze. I hated it most of the time, the characters were awful, and the writing dull. Told by the perspective of the middle of three sisters one married (but about to get divorced) and two unmarried. Don't waste your time.

[Sue Kozlowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. Three sisters in Philly. Mother wants them married. One is married, younger sister has an affair with her husband!

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm so ashamed to have been manipulated by the reference to Jane Austen on the cover: "Jane Austen's honey and vinegar spirit is alive and well in Rachel Pastan's delightful novel." Ugggh. I'm such a sucker. It was well written, at least, but that's all I can say good about it. I can't believe I read this. What an affront to Jane Austen. And to The Help as well, since there's a plot line about the nanny raising children that are not her own. There is absolutely nothing delightful about this. At least it was short and I didn't waste too much time on it. I had to finish it because it was such a train wreck.

[CMG (Mac) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decided to go by “date added” on Libby for a road trip so came across this audio book. The black character narration was downright offensive. Think Gone with the wind movie.
It is a modern Jewish pride and prejudice.
I disliked all the characters. It was a tolerable book but I am giving it a low rating because my feeling is if I had never read it, I would not have missed a thing. Zero connection.
I don’t recommend.

[Chakla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great quick read for kicking off the Summer. Evaluates the lives of three sisters to realize that sometimes life doesn’t go as planned. You have to discover who you are first to know what you want. Living to society’s or others’ expectations doesn’t make you happy.

[joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this book, more than I thought I would. I liked the characters, apart from a couple of them, the end was not surprising, but every once in awhile it’s nice to read a sweet story.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant and much needed light and witty read.

[Barbara Cryer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly reasonable retelling of Pride and Prejudice.

[Jobiska (Cindy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. It did make me think about how much has changed in the world since 2004! There were a few distracting errors (pray tell, where is "Buck's County?") but overall I enjoyed it.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than I thought it’d be but that could be because of the narrator.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jane Austen like and Pride & Prejudice, this is not at all. What it is…is a light story of 3 sisters and their romantic relationships.

[TJ Blanch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, easy read.

[Janetxb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not read this with Jane Austen's work in mind. I found it drily hilarious and enjoyed it a lot.

[Leigh]

meh

[Madelyn Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5* Starts off strong, and then devolves into unpleasant characters. This book is NOT “a loving homage to Jane Austen” as the reviewer from the Boston Globe described. Not recommended.

[Barbara Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy beach read. Disappointing ending. Really more like 2.5 stars

[luna]

This quote stayed with me after I was done reading: "Sometimes I think he wants to take scissors and snip himself out of the fabric of life altogether."

[Genevieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this in audiobook - a great production, by the way. It's a modern take on Pride and Prejudice. I misunderstood at first (spoiler alert, not that the events are a surprise in any way - that's not the point!). At first I thought it was what happens ~10 years after the events of Pride and Prejudice (but set in modern times), after Elizabeth and Darcy's marriage is falling apart. I was a ways into the book before I realized I was wrong about who Darcy was - it's the actual events of Pride and Prejudice, but Elizabeth and Darcy are already married to other people (and in his case, divorced). Thus the title, "This Side of Married."

There are enough changes to the characters and plot to keep me busy trying to figure out what they are - some characters are split into two, others are combined into one, and some are gone entirely - but it's a close enough parallel that you can recognize individual events like Darcy's letter and him bullying Wickham. As in the original, Elizabeth's character is interesting, and Jane is a bit helpless but likeable, and Lydia is a pain in the *$%@. (Different names for everyone)

I think what intrigued me most was how the story plays out in a modern era with modern problems, which I thought was really well done. What disappointed me most were some parts of Isabel's character. She shares a lot of similarities with Elizabeth, as in how outspoken she is, but she's more waffly and hesitant about deciding what to do with her life. Elizabeth spent a lot of time waffling about Darcy, but if she lived in modern times, I wouldn't see her taking a long time deciding what kind of job to get or whether to go to work at all - she'd get a job.

Overall it was an interesting interpretation of P&P, but it's obviously derivative - that's what I was going for. I'm curious to read Pastan's original work.

[MBenzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that just doesn't seem deserving enough of 4 stars, but 3 is too low, so I guess it's in the middle. This book was enjoyable, a cute little read about the men/mother problems of three sisters.

There's Alice, the oldest, who is knocking on 40's door and has never been married, or even in a serious long-term relationship. Isabel, who after 12 years of marriage is second-guessing the whole arrangement, mostly due to the fact that they are seemingly unable to conceive. And Tina, the baby of the three who goes through men left and right. Then there's 'Doc', the girls' mother. She's constantly putting in her two cents about their love lives, when their gonna get married, or how to fix marital problems. She was kinda annoying.

I liked Alice for the most part. She was a little wishy-washy, and you could see a mile away where her relationship with Anthony (the Doctor who works with their mother) was going. Isabel is the narrator of the book, and she didn't really have any substance to her, no real issues (besides the ending). Everything with her was about trying to have a baby, not working but kinda wanting to, and her uncertainty about her marriage. Tina, I hated. Though we never learn much about her, what we do know I really didn't like.

In the end, it's a cute book. A quick read to pass the time on a miserably hot day. But don't pick this up expecting much more than that, you'll be disappointed.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 2004, this debut novel tells the story of three sisters, the daughters of two prominent, highly successful parents, with the “perfect marriage,” darting in and out of the themes of Jane Austen's “Pride and Prejudice.” Pastan soon takes the reader to the 21st century: are the challenges/choices facing women so much different than those facing Austen's characters?

The women are bright, yet so very different from one another, embracing their independence while acknowledging their desire and need for marriage and children. A variety of men are in and new to their lives, flinging their influence into unexpected corners.
The dialogue among women and men is clever, clearly reflecting the intellect of two of the sisters, Alice and Isabella. This delving into meaning and feeling goes beyond the repartee of the first awkward meetings to all those moments that explore what it means to be a family and define loyalty, trust, and love.

A bit uneven in places, taking a few giant steps forward with the plot, then a few umbrella steps back, this debut novel balances compassion, anger, humor, forgiveness, and love. In the end, following one's heart, writing one's own story is understood. Jane Austen would be proud.

[Jeannen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Side of Married reminded me a little bit of Laurie Colwin, although with a slightly bitter tinge to it that Colwin’s books never had. People in her books did things like have affairs, but the stories were about people’s deep attachments to each other, rather than about people being hurtful to each other. I’ve never felt entirely comfortable with those of Colwin’s books, actually, that had affairs at the heart of them – but I still find them satisfying to read. The books don’t entirely let the characters off the hook for their affairs – they do suffer for them – which I suppose is what makes it bearable. In this book, the people who do damaging things to other people are never the ones who suffer, and I suppose that is one reason I got irritated with some of the characters. Part of my motivation to keep reading was that I wanted to find out if one of the sisters got her comeuppance.

[Ellon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. I was drawn to it by the description which talked of similarities to Jane Austen's writing. So I guess what happened was I had too high expectations (this happens a lot in my life actually). Towards the end I thought "yea, I guess this was kind of like Austen's storyline but not as good."

I have a few friends that think marriage is stupid and that all men are awful and cheat and I really hope that they never read this book. Every marriage seems to be immensely flawed in some way. While some of the characters have redeeming relationships in the end, it just wasn't all that satisfying.

Also, Tina is a self-centered little bitch and I could not stand her character. It didnt help that I listened to the audio book and the voice that the reader did for Tina was annoyed.

So yea, it was an okay read but I had much higher expectations.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I had read this first novel by Ms. Pastan before reading Lady of the Snakes, I doubt I would have even tried the latter.

It is a good first novel, but nothing spectacular. Lady of the Snakes is amazing. Between the two, the author really narrowed down and fine-tuned her observations of relationships and marriage into perfect accuracy. This was a clumsy start, but the seeds of greatness are there.

This novel bored me, and I kept waiting for the wonderful storyline and writing to emerge that I saw in Lady of the Snakes. Unfortunately, it didn't. At least I only spent a night with this short novel.

I'm looking forward to Ms. Pastan's next novel. If she can pull off the incredible transformation between this novel and her second, I'm eager to see what her third is like.

[Natalie Shawver · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish I had something kind to say about this book, but it was just a major letdown. Three sisters: one is married, one who gets engaged, one who is single and pregnant. They have an interesting bond and a dramatic twist (SPOILER: it's almost so predictable it's not funny) brings them even closer...but in the fakest of ways. I was left scratching my head and wondering why there wasn't some sort of major blowout or argument. Instead, the book just kind of, well, ended. No clear conclusions drawn between the sisterly relationship; I was left to merely hope that one of them spoke her mind to the other. Just not a fan unfortunately.