Customer Reviews

This Side of Married

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I would highly recommend This Side of Married by Rachel Pastan as an ideal book for any women's book group.
The story, set in Philadelphia, revolves around three sisters and their overbearing mother. The mother's goal is to see each of her daughters happily married and pregnant. The daughters, each in her own way, struggle to obtain the good life, which includes finding the ideal spouse. The book is fast-paced and very enjoyable. My book group had one of its livelier discussions about family dynamics and marriage.

I loved this book! When I finished it, I found myself missing the characters something awful. Pastan has successfully updated Austen's Pride & Prejudice by exploring the age-old issues of meddling mothers, jealous sisters, disappointing suitors and the drive to mate with humor, wit and intelligence. The story draws you in and deftly adds characters and plot twists that keep you engaged throughout.

What do these 3 whiny selfish sisters have to do with Austen's classis sparkling comedy of manners? Mrs. Bennett was neither cold nor bullying of her brood of British daughters? The characters in Pride and Prejudice are likable unlike this horror. I was delighted to pick this up, but it turned out to be so disappointing.

The sisters and their mother, "Doc". are so thinly drawn. The author labels each one and we never see beyond that. The mother was so exaggerated she could never garner any sympathy. The men from the father to the assorted husband/boyfriend/fiance types were also like paper dolls, nothing was there. I never cared about these people.

If you want a book about marriage and sister, reread Jane Austen!

I'm a sucker for just about any book that "adapts" a jane austen book or theme, and when this was described as "austenesque", i had to read it. am very glad i did. the characters are interesting and the book is very well-written, but for my money the best "pride & prejudice" adaptation is "Jane Austen in Boca" by paula marantz cohen. However, this book, although not as funny as the cohen book, still captures the family themes and sister characters nicely. i'm looking forward to rachel pastan's next book.

This Side of Married is about three sisters. Alice, the oldest is considered "The Princess." Isabel, the middle is "The little Missus/married one". Tina, the baby is "The Sex Kitten". The sisters grew up in Philadelphia raised by a Nanny while their Mother, a Doctor aka "Doc" and their Father who was a Judge worked to give their children the best of everything.

The story revolves around Isabel who has unsuccessfully tried to become pregnant with her husband, Theo. She is struggling with the dilemna of not knowing if she is only staying in the marriage in hopes of having a child, not wanting to dissapoint her parents or if she is truly in love.

Alice is a 38 year old single lawyer who quickly becomes engaged with a man (Anthony) who has two kids/divorced twice.

Tina is a single 29 year old who has always gotten her way. All the men love her and women hate her.

This Side of Marriage deals with the different relationships of three sisters and a Mother (Doc) who likes to meddle. Doc wants to make her girl's lives perfect when they are all in pieces.

To be honest, I didn't like the ending. My first thought was, "There has to be a sequel!!". You allow the characters to disappear inside your head for a few days hoping that there will be an ending. Only to discover that there isn't. There's many unanswered questions and you left wondering what lies ahead for Alice, Isabel and Tina.

Rachel Pastan - if you are reading this review ...I really enjoyed your first novel. Please give a thought to writing a sequel to let us know how the Rubin sisters turn out. :-)

I read the excellent review of "This Side of Married" in the Boston Globe and bought the book immediately. I love this novel--the intriguing characters, the unexpected situations, the humor, and the wisdom. I couldn't put it down and have recommended it to all my friends.

I couldn't even finish this slow-moving, drab, dull book. I tried to, really I did, but I realized I had already wasted way too much precious time on it already! Needless to say, I would NOT recommend this book to anyone.

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.

the sisters are so different yet in the end, much alike. I think that women who need to realize that "being married" isn't their sole purpose in life will find this book interesting. I didn't care for the way the younger sister basically gets away with something unforgiveable, perhaps that could have been dealt with more.....but really liked it.

This delightful book is Rachel Pastan's first novel. It gives us a fresh look into the hearts of three sisters trying to balance the expectations of their parents with the realities of modern love, betrayal and selfishness. The message in this book is, "you get what you pay for." We find true love by being true to ourselves and generous to others.