Goodreads asked Gary Inbinder:

Who is your favorite fictional couple, and why?

Gary Inbinder I'll answer in two parts. First, as a writer I'll admit to a prejudice in favor of my own characters, Achille and Adele Lefebvre (The Inspector Lefebvre Series). In most ways, they're an average middle-class couple, married with children and a mother/mother-in-law, of that time (ca. 1890) and place (Paris, France). They're in love, but of course they have their problems and conflicts, like everyone else, which they try to work through together. In that regard, they're the opposite of literary marriages from hell, e.g. Emma and Charles Bovary.

Second, I'm fond of Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, for pretty much the same reasons I gave for liking my own Achille and Adele Lefebvre. The 19th century Realists criticized Austen for her "All's well that ends well" endings, and I understand their criticism from a technical standpoint. However, while I admire great 19th century realistic novels like "Madame Bovary" and Zola's "L'Assomoir," I feel much better about life after reading "Pride and Prejudice," and that should count for something.

flag