It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen's Bennet family is both complicated and endlessly entertaining. Katie Cotugno's razor-sharp, hilarious sophomore novel for adults, Meet the Benedettos, reimagines this famous clan as a washed-up reality-TV family in suburban L.A., living in a crumbling McMansion and struggling to find their way forward. When sweet movie superhero Charlie Bingley and his friend Will Darcy, a brooding stage actor, move in down the street, things get intriguing--especially for the two eldest Benedetto sisters, Lilly and June. Cotugno (Birds of California; How to Love) gives Austen's classic a delightfully 21st-century spin, casting Caroline Bingley as Charlie's sharp-eyed sister and agent; Charlotte Lucas as a successful chef; and Mr. Collins as Lilly's insufferable cousin Colin, a screenwriter who might be as talented as he is annoying.
Narrated mostly by Lilly and Will, Cotugno's fast-paced narrative gives readers the backstory on the Benedettos' rise to fame, which started with their father's successful chain of Italian restaurants and has led them to an indeterminate end. Cotugno expertly draws the complex relationships between quick-witted Lilly and her bevy of sisters: beautiful but fragile June; wild, impressionable Olivia; talented but overlooked Kit; and mysterious middle child, Mari. The repartee between Will and Lilly, as well as Will's struggle with mental illness, is modern and highly believable, and the conclusion--though, in part, predictable--manages to be both fresh and satisfying. Fans of the Bennets' adventures and Cotugno's witty writing will find much to enjoy in the saga of the Benedettos. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams