This is an interesting novel set in the 1980s and featuring Madeleine, Leonard and Mitchell, who are college students when the story begins. Madeleine, an English major, is planning a thesis looking firstly at Jane Austen - "comedies, essentially, that ended with marriage" and then moving on to the darker Victorian novels which "began with the traditional moves of the marriage plot - the suitors, the proposals, the misunderstandings - but after the wedding ceremony they kept on going". This is also the theme of "The Marriage Plot" and I was expecting an updated darker Victorian novel. Indeed, for a while I was reminded of Hardy's "Far from the Madding Crowd". Madeleine falls in love with the charismatic but unstable Leonard and is loved in turn by the steadfast Mitchell who believes that he and Madeleine are meant to be together . Leonard and Mitchell reminded me of Troy and Gabriel Oak respectively. However, "The Marriage Plot" developed its own story. I found that there were parts of this novel which were totally absorbing and parts where I could easily have abandoned it. I found it difficult to stay with the section where Madeleine studies semiotics and wondered if I should consult wikipedia to get a better understanding of what was going on, or just tell myself that my confusion reflected Madeleine's. However, Madeleine finds that "reading a novel after reading semiotic theory was like jogging empty handed after jogging with hand weights" and this is pretty much how I felt once Madeleine left semiotics behind and I could carry on with the rest of the novel. In contrast, Leonard's struggle with his bi-polar disorder and his efforts to manipulate his medication to find the "sweet spot" where he is just high enough without side effects, seemed to me to be very authentic and beautifully written. Following Leonard's growing self delusion, knowing that he is headed for disaster, but understanding why he does not and cannot stop, I found absolutely gripping. Overall, I found this a very satisfying novel.

At its most basic, The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides is a love triangle involving three Ivy League students. Madeleine, Leonard and Mitchell are students at Brown and the story begins on their graduation day and carries on as they enter the real world. The book is not an easy read; as the characters seek to make sense of the world around them, we are treated to discourses on love and religion, all of which make for rather intense reading. But the characters, although I didn’t find them especially likeable, are very real and engaging, and I wanted to know how their lives would pan out. Previous to this novel, I had only read The Virgin Suicides, which I loved, by the same author; The Marriage Plot is very different in style and tone but the writing is just as good. In The Virgin Suicides, the author used the first person plural to tell the story, in this book the story is told from the point of view of the three main characters. This book is not a beach read but I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a thoughtful, insightful story about love.

Despite a very slow beginning I did end up enjoying this book. The beginning feels a little forced and the jumping backwards and forwards in time can be a little offputting. However, there is a good element of mystery and intrigue at the beginning which kept me reading. The plot was good; it picked up in the second half of the book. There is a good description of bipolar disorder (manic depression) which Jeffrey has clearly researched. I would recommend this book to people who like American romances. It is deeper than a ‘chick-flick’ and the ending is not predictable from the start (or even half way through); you are kept guessing until the end. Although all three characters have ‘annoying’ flaws it makes them more real and you feel more able to relate to them. One small annoying practical fact is that there were too few breaks in narrative which made it hard to read for short periods of time and left you wondering when you’d next be able to stop rather than focussing on the story. Overall a book which I would recommend.

The Marriage Plot centres on Madeleine, an English major student. The book title is taken from her final year thesis on marriage as the central plot in English literature. However, this story follows her own marriage plot… the ups and downs of her relationships with the popular Leonard, a Biology major, and self-deprecating Mitchell, a Religious Studies major. Someone beautiful and clever like Madeleine should find it easy to settle down with the right man. But of course, all is not quite as it seems and we’re taken on a dark journey of discovery for all the three main characters. The characters are well rounded and despite their impact on each other, it’s easy to feel for them all as they struggle through. Be ready for some very high brow text as each of them takes part in discussions around their chosen subject of study. This may make quite heavy reading for some but stick with it as the characters do grow beyond this. The three strands of the story are well handled. The reader often experiences the same event from each of the three perspectives. It’s interesting to see how the characters perceive the events differently and often thought-provoking to wonder how things might have turned out differently if only one of the characters had reacted in a different way. Not always the easiest of reading but definitely worth the effort for the reward when the final denouement unfolds.

My first Jeffrey Eugenides book and I must admit I did struggle with it at first (mainly to do with long intellectual debates which went over my head!), but I stuck with it and did find it a rather satisfying read. There is not much action, just a study of three graduates, linked together in some kind of love triangle, who are trying to find their place in the world, something most people can identify with. Madeleine is a ‘Victorianist’, a fan of English authors such as Jane Austen with a romanticised view of love. She is in a complex relationship with Leonard a scientist struggling with manic depression. Meanwhile travelling the world is Mitchell, studying religion and thinking non-stop about Madeleine who he is in love with. The main characters are all flawed, self-indulgent and a little bit annoying, but you can’t help but care about them. They are described so intimately, you feel like you know them well and although set in the 80’s, the novel’s themes are still so close to issues today, that it feels like a very contemporary story. Well worth reading!