Book Review: Unmarriageable

Jane Austen's classic novels have undergone numerous retellings, and Pride and Prejudice may be foremost in such attentions. In Unmarriageable, Soniah Kamal frames the familiar story of Pride and Prejudice in a present-day setting of Pakistan. This works exceptionally well. Other modern locales may feel stilted when trying to explain a mother's fierce interest in marrying off her daughters and growing anxious as the older girls fail to find matches, but in a culture of arranged marriages, it fits perfectly.

There's an interesting juxtaposition of some characters being aware of Pride and Prejudice while they also unknowingly play it out; the book opens with the familiar first sentence, rewritten as part of a homework assignment: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a girl can go from pauper to princess or princess to pauper in the mere seconds it takes for her to accept a proposal."

Alysba Binat is an English teacher at the local British school; she is adept at connecting with her students, but her position came about when her family fell on financial difficulties after an uncle charged with managing their money transferred their fortune to his own coffers. Alys uses her authority in the classroom to challenge girls to push against the status quo instead of following the expected trajectory to marry early and give up on education and any career aspirations.

Those familiar with Austen's story will find the names will ring familiar: Jena is Alys' older sister, and her younger sisters are Mari, Lady, and Qitty.  Instead of dancing at balls like the Bennett sisters, the Binat sisters find themselves invited to attend the coveted NadirFiede wedding celebrations. Slightly altered plot points take place as Jena and Fahad Bingla connect and Alys and Valentine Darsee spar.

I have no doubt this story is fully accessible for readers who have never encountered Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but having that framework made it enjoyable, and I'm impressed with how well it translated to a Pakistani setting, where a scandal late in the book causes reflections of the sort that are timeless when viewed from cultures where image is more important than truth: "Shame on their society, where maintaining unsoiled reputations was considered more vital than exposing scoundrels, for such secrets only allowed the scoundrels to continue causing harm."

Such treatment shows how timeless the original work is, since writers continue to revisit it to put their own spin on a classic story. Kamal's Unmarriageable is one of the best modernizations I've encountered.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Ballantine Books in exchange for my honest review. I've used Amazon Affiliate links here; should you purchase through these links, I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you.)