I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


“Just remember,” Alys said quietly, “there is more to life than getting married and having children.”

Set in Pakistan in 2000-01, Unmarriageable, was a fun, thoughtful retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Alys is our Elizabeth Bennet, the Binat family name is old and respected but when Alys' father is swindled by his brother, they fall to genteel poverty. Alys and her older sister Jena become teachers to help the family out and when readers enter the story, Alys is teaching Pride and Prejudice to her 9th grade all girls class. This led to a great beginning where the author was able to show the similarities between English Pride and Prejudice culture and the current Pakistani culture Alys and her sisters were experiencing.

“You can afford to be undiplomatic,”Alys said. “People let people like you get away with anything.”
“You know what your glaring fault is?” Darsee said.
Alys glared at him. “Do tell.”
“You take great pride in hearing only what you want to hear, and then you're smug about your interpretation.”

All the hallmarks of Pride and Prejudice is known and enjoyed for are reworked into this book, Alys overhearing Valentine Darsee speak ill of her sets off the contentious but can't quite leave each other alone sparking relationship reader's will enjoy. Alys and Darsee have meaningful engagements that don't waste their time on the page as they travail through interacting and learning about each other.

“O'Connor, Austen, Alcott, Wharton. Characters' emotions and situations are universally applicable across cultures, whether you're wearing an empire dress, shalwar kurta, or kimono.”

This follows very closely to the outline of its inspiration, the Binat (Bennet) sisters and mother just about steal the show with their family antics and relationship. Wickaam makes his dastardly appearance and Alys' bestfriend Sherry (Charlotte) has a strong showing, I thought this author gave the character an even stronger performance and reworked her into someone who will have the reader more empathetic and understanding towards. There were also some references and Easter eggs of Austen's other works that were delightful to find.

“[...] Never in my life had I thought anyone would refuse to marry me. Never had I imagined that what I was bringing to the table would not outweigh my flaws. Time had turned me into that person, but that is not who I want to be. Sometimes we lose sight of ourselves, but you see me, Alys, and you force me to see myself.”

I thought the first half flowed a bit better than the second, until more towards the ending; there were some time gaps and more Binat family than Darsee and Alys. What the star of the novel was though, how people no matter their religion or culture just want to live, love, be happy, and get our mothers off our backs. This was also great for individuals to have some introduction to Pakistani culture and recommend some books that might have missed more Western focused readers. Alys thinks in the book: It was a truth universally acknowledged, Alys suddenly thought with a smile, that people enter our lives in order to recommend reads. Let me recommend this one to you all.

"I believe," Alys said to Darsee, "a book and an author can belong to more than one country or culture. English came with the colonizers, but its literature is part of our heritage too, as is pre-partition writing."

Darsee said, "My favorite parition novel is Attia Hosain's Sunlight on a Broken Column. Have you read it, Alys?

Alys shook her head.

"That book made me believe I could have a Pakistani identity inclusive of an English-speaking tongue. We've been forced to seek ourselves in the literature of others for too long."

Alys nodded, adding, "But reading widely can lead to an appreciation of the universalities across cultures."

"Sure," Darsee said. "But it shouldn't just be one-sided appreciation."

"I know what you mean," Alys said. "Ginger ale and apple pie have become second nature to us here, while our culture is viewed as exotic."

"Precisely," Darsee said. "At the wedding, you talked of a Pakistani Jane Austen. But will we ever hear the English or Americans talk of an equivalent?"

"Let's hope so," Alys said. 

Improving my Monday with a delicious meal (seriously, you’ll want to make this one) and a book I’ve heard rave reviews about.
How’s you’re Monday going?

Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal purchase link

Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Salsa Chicken slow cooker recipe

I doubled the amount of hot buffalo sauce and loved, loved the sweet spicy taste. Extremely easy to make! Highly recommend this one :)

Retelling of the classic Pride and Prejudice that takes place in modern day Pakistan. I really enjoyed this is a beautiful blend of Austin's story and a modern Pakistani family that fell from luxury and money to almost nothing. The lives of the Bennet and the Binat family run pretty much parallel with each other. I especially loved that Alys (Lizzy) loved Austin and would talk about her all the time. Alys and Jena (Jane) are English Lit. teachers at the local girls school, The British School of Dilipabad, and both looked down on because they haven't married yet. Mari, Qitty and Lady (Lydia) are pretty similar to their counterparts, Mari strict and overly religious, Qitty struggles with her weight and the constant reminder from everyone about how she would be prettier if she lost weight, and then there is Lady selfish, spoiled, crass, and wild. Mr and Mrs Binat aren't far off from the originals either.

Dealing with the social injustices the Binat's deal with aren't that different from the ones the Bennet's faced and Alys' feminist views and opinions are quite a bit more harsh than Lizzy's and I completely understand why Alys needed to be a bit more jaded than Lizzy. Kamal writes a more indepth family background for the Binat's but it also gives fuel to the fire when Wickaam feeds Alys his lies about Darsee. Mmmm Valentine Darsee, not only did he uphold the Darsy imagery as prideful, sexy, a good friend and brother he proved to be very intelligent and forward thinking. Alys and Darsee are able to talk about literature and a multitude of other topics even when Alys didn't like him she found he was easy to talk to.     

Overall, I really did love how this one played out and what Kamal did to the story to make it her own. It definitely shows that Jane Austen's works can be adapted to fit different cultures because of how relatable the characters and situations are. I enjoyed reading it because the similarities and the differences between the original and this one and I loved learning new things about a culture I knew nothing about before. It was easy to picture the beautiful Binat sisters in my mind and hear their voices in my head, which they all had British accents because apparently that's the default setting for accents in my brain. It was an excellent retelling of a classic story through the eyes of a different culture.