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This Side of Married
This Side of Married
Author: Rachel Pastan
Rachel Pastan’s first novel is pure pleasure-a crisp and witty page-turner for smart women everywhere. The Rubin daughters are three eligible sisters from an affluent suburban Philadelphia family whose well-meaning but domineering mother is single-mindedly determined to see them all happily married. The book opens at a Sunday brunch where D...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780670033065
ISBN-10: 0670033065
Publication Date: 5/24/2004
Pages: 259
Rating:
  • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.
 40

3.2 stars, based on 40 ratings
Publisher: Viking Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

AshleyL avatar reviewed This Side of Married on + 35 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I think this had the potential to be a good book, but I just really couldn't stand it. I didn't care for the writing style, which to me seemed a little choppy and almost juvenile-sounding. The book was also full of strange similes and metaphors like "...his biceps taut under his skin like a mouse inside a snake," and "...a man who filled out his white coat nicely, like a sausage." What...? Not a complete waste of time, but I'm not eager to read more by this author.
reviewed This Side of Married on + 48 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Very good. Light reading. This is her first book and I will be watching for more by her.
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reviewed This Side of Married on + 40 more book reviews
Enjoyable read. Light yet a little complex.
dbs avatar reviewed This Side of Married on + 329 more book reviews
This book was a nice read on a cold, grey Saturday afternoon.
reviewed This Side of Married on + 6 more book reviews
Wonderful book. Quick and easy read!
reviewed This Side of Married on + 4 more book reviews
I loved listening to this audio CD so much that when I didn't finish it on my long car ride I had to finish listening to it at home! Great story with interesting characters, and well written. Any woman with a Jewish mother and sister(s) (or similar) will relate.
skywriter319 avatar reviewed This Side of Married on + 784 more book reviews
Honestly, Jane Austen spinoffs and retellings are hard to pull off, and I have yet to find one that matches the real Austen. Rachel Pastan's debut novel is no different: it's a rather bland walk-through of the beloved PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, only set in modern-day Philadelphia and without the mostly useless Mary and Kitty.

Out of Dr. Evelyn Rubin's three grown daughters, only the middle one, Isabel, is married, to a lawyer named Theo. Alice, at thirty-eight, is the eldest and never seems to have any luck when it comes to long-lasting, marriage-bound relationships. And Tina, twenty-nine, blissfully runs through men like shower water and has only two worries: herself, and her body.

All of a sudden, however, things begin to turn upside down. Alice gets together with a colleague of her mother's, Anthony Wolfe, who seems perfect and completely enchanted with Alice. Meanwhile, Isabel, struggling with her inability to conceive, begins to reevaluate her marriage to Theo and tries to figure out her identity, thanks to the goading of Anthony's smug friend, Simon Goldenstern, whom she takes an immediate dislike to once Simon pegs her as a "little missus" upon first meeting.

The ending is surprising and pleasant only to those who do not know how PRIDE AND PREJUDICE ends. The rest of us will simply be disappointed with how little Pastan's characters live up to who they're clearly based on.
reviewed This Side of Married on + 16 more book reviews
This book was really cute. A light read, nothing strenuous or anything I had to think hard about. I could just get caught up and enjoy!
reviewed This Side of Married on + 43 more book reviews
A mother's consuming wish--that her three daughters be happily married! Ah, but real life does not always go as mother had planned. This book was a quick, easy read with fun characters. If you have sisters, or daughters, you should especially like this book.


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