Pulitzer Prize winner Eugenides once again delivers a novel that is rich, engrossing and filled with enough literary references to please even the most dedicated book-lover. The novel follows Madeline Hanna, Leonard Bankhead and Mitchell Grammaticus as they navigate through their final year of Brown and the year following their graduation. Madeline, an English-major whose thesis gives us the title of the novel, meets Leonard, a brilliant and enigmatic student, in a Semiotics class and the two begin a relationship, one that is marred by Leonard’s diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Mitchell, a theology major, holds on to the hope that he is the one destined for Madeline.
Eugenides has denied reports that the novel is based on real life events, but it’s hard not to see Eugenides in Grammaticus, while much has been said of Bankhead’s similarity to David Wallace Foster, who was in a relationship with Mary Karr, the memoirist, in the early nineties. That said, I found these links enhanced my enjoyment of the novel.
The Marriage Plot has already garnered praise from many places including the New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus Review and Library Journal. Eugenides’ exploration of love and well-drawn characters make it the kind of book you find yourself thinking about long after you have read it.
Emma
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