The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Eugenides wrote one of my VERY FAVORITE contemporary novels, "Middlesex." It did win the Pulitzer Prize. And I DID love the book. And not for its topic: hermaphroditism. But for the story, the saga of a family coming to America and all of the rich and captivating stories that follow.
So, I was so excited when  Eugenides' new novel was released. And I did enjoy this book. Not as much as "Middlesex," but I did like it. The book's title comes from the fact that the main character, Madeleine Hanna, is writing her senior thesis about Jane Austen, George Elliot and other classic authors who write about courtship and marriage and "happily ever after." But "the marriage plot" no longer exists in contemporary life and literature; it's the age of prenuptuals, divorce, living together, gay marriage and more. The courtships written about in those novels of yesterday are no longer relevant, except to Madeleine.
So the story unfolds in similar fashion to these classic novels, with Madeleine being courted by two men vying for her love and attention. But these men are so different from the ones we read about in Austen and the like. One of them, Leonard, battles mental illness, while the other, Mitchell, grapples with finding himself.
Who will Madeleine end up with? Which one will she marry? I won't tell, but will invite you to read it and enjoy the contemporary twist to the classic romance novels of the nineteenth century.