The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Book Description

England (circa 1985) is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë’s novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. 

Review

In The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde crafts a sly bookish adventure like no other. Part mystery, part portal fantasy, Fforde introduces us to Thursday Next, a literary detective with a knack for jumping into the pages of books.

Fforde set The Eyre Affair in an eccentric, alternate-reality version of 1980s England where the citizenry revere literature to the point of fanaticism. This world contains time travel, corporate goons, and literary police. So when someone kidnaps characters from the pages of their novels, Thursday jumps in to investigate.

Fforde’s world-building is nothing short of genius, blending elements of science fiction, fantasy, and classic literature. His wit and imagination shine through every page of The Eyre Affair.

I enjoy Fforde’s clever writing and humor. His endless literary references, nods to pop culture, and funny descriptions tickle my imagination. Since I’ve always been an avid reader, I’ve read most of the stories discussed in the book. Fforde’s torrent of literary references felt like a continuous inside joke! The novel made me think about characters and literature entirely differently. For example, before reading this novel, I’d never imagined what the characters in these stories did between readings.

This is the first book in a seven-book series featuring detective Thursday Next. I’ve torn through the first four and am presently enjoying the fifth.

Is The Eyre Affair ridiculous?

Yes.

Utterly, spectacularly, gloriously ridiculous.

Consider yourself warned. Now, go enjoy The Eyre Affair!

Content Warning

Crime, Death, Fire, Gun Violence, Injury, Kidnapping, Mental Illness, Profanity, Satire, Violence, War

The header photo is a composite image. Base image by Rey Seven on Unsplash