The Marriage Plot ~ Jeffrey Eugenides

I think Jeffrey Eugenides is a brilliant writer. Unfortunately, he has only written three novels so far, and I have now read them all.

The Marriage Plot, his newest release, might not be as compelling as The Virgin Suicides or Middlesex, but it's still a good read.

It follows the lives of three recent graduates of Brown University in the early 80s. Madeline, an English major, and the two men who are in her life: Leonard (the boyfriend) and Mitchell (the would-be boyfriend).

The story follows the three characters through the end of their college careers and the ups and downs of their lives in the year or so after graduation.

Mitchell has always had a religious bent and heads overseas for a year, traveling around the world while trying to find meaning in his life.

Leonard is brilliant but also suffers from manic depression, something which consumes and nearly destroys him.

Madeline struggles with finding where and with whom she belongs and wishes her life were more like the 19th century novels she studies.

Of course, the story is much more complex than I just made it out to be. If you want to know more you'll have to read it yourself.

I recommend this one, but with reservation because it is laced with profanity, and the characters are rather immoral. If I were giving out stars, it would get 3.5 out of 5.