SUMMER READING WITH THE BOOK JEANIE Lately I have been immersed in the world of the Bennetts, Jane Austin's family of early nineteenth century Derbyshire and the modern 21st century suburban Cincinnati Bennetts created by Curtis Sittenfeld. Of course these are two very different Bennett families, albeit sharing similar characters and romantic situations. Jane Austen is as fresh and witty today as she was two hundred years ago, with her sharp observations of class, social snobbery, and ingrained attitudes that still ring true today. The five Bennett girls live with their detached but supportive father and flighty mother whose main focus in life is finding suitable matches for her daughters: kind and beautiful Jane, witty and spirited Elizabeth, dull studious Mary, and the two younger girls Kitty and Lydia who are described as "vain, ignorant, idle, and absolutely uncontrolled." Our protagonist, Elizabeth Bennett, emerges as an early romantic femi